The Electric Company Is Back!

Hey, you guuuyyyys!

Great news from the past: The show that convinced your children that reading is cool is back. And ready to help your grandchildren learn the same thing.

In January 2009, The Electric Company, which aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977, is set to return with all-new shows. Produced by Sesame Workshop, the same nonprofit educational organization that produces Sesame Street, The Electric Company will air on PBS Kids.

You can probably still hear actress Rita Moreno shouting, "Hey you guuuuyyyys!" as each episode opened. The new series began production earlier this year. The goal of The Electric Company is the same as that of the original show: Combat the literacy crisis in the nation, especially the gap between low-income and middle-income families, and to use music, dance, animation, and comedy skits to teach children that reading is cool.

"The literacy crisis today is as pervasive and alarming as it was in 1971 when we created the first version of The Electric Company," Scott Cameron, director of education and research for Sesame Workshop, said in a statement. "We know that if struggling readers don’t get the literacy help they need by the end of second grade, they are in danger of never catching up."

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that first-graders who cannot read at their grade level have only a ten percent chance of becoming proficient readers.

The original series was aimed at 7- to 10-year-olds, and the show opened with Moreno's beckoning to viewers followed by the anthem that you surely remember:

The new series will focus on 6- to 9-year olds; obvious improvements in technology will offer multiple media platforms, including an online site.

Linda Simensky, senior director of programming for PBS Kids, told The New York Times that the "show will have elements of High School Musical and a Dr. Pepper commercial," along with "a touch of Fame."

The premise of the new Electric Company will be the same. A group of do-gooders keep the neighborhood safe with their literacy super-powers. The four main characters include three teenagers — one with the power to turn words into graphics and animation, one with the power of total aural recall allowing her to replay and display speech as text, and one with the power to solve any world problem at lighting speed — and a college student who has the power to visually recall things he’s seen and note them with text.

"Our goal with The Electric Company is to reach the kids who are struggling, and who might think that reading isn’t cool or isn’t useful, and we hope to do that by creating compelling and high-quality television, web, and outreach materials," Cameron said.