# Seame Street/Electric Company cancellation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936 "2007-12-14T00:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/1 "2007-12-14T00:46:31Z")
Decades after it first went on the air, Sesame Street is still going strong. So why was the Electric Company canceled? It’s another great educational show for young children, why keep one going strong while killing the other one? I can’t find any reason for cancellation online… anyone know the history? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/2 "2007-12-14T03:35:33Z")
Since this is a question about a tv show, let’s travel over to Cafe Society. **samclem** GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/3 "2007-12-14T03:49:50Z")
Wow, I can’t believe it only ran in original episodes for [six years](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company)- it seemed like more than that. Favorite show growing up, and my celebrity crush on Morgan Freeman apparently started in grade school… :eek: 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/4 "2007-12-14T03:53:10Z")
I’m not exactly sure. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company) states the show stopped production in 1977 but continued to run on PBS until 1985. Sesame Workshop has revived the series through merchandising and two DVD boxed sets, and a new version of the show will appear on PBS in 2008. (This isn’t the first PBS kids’ show to get a revival- a new version WGBH’s _ZOOM_ ran from 1999 to 2005.) The WGBH series _Between the Lions_ is almost a cousin to _The Electric Company_ as they are both the next step up from _Sesame Street_- whereas _Sesame_ teaches letters and basic words, these shows teach how to use phonics to pronounce words and use words to read and construct sentences. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/5 "2007-12-14T04:39:44Z")
It’s a good question, but I imagine much has to do with the demographics of the intended audiences - the \*\*Electric Company \*\* target audience was at an age that was much more fickle than the \*\*Sesame Street \*\* one, not to mention that that would be the age where kids would be out playing on their own instead of the more monitored age group for **Sesame Street** , where parking your kid in front of the television was more likely. So…probably not the same viewrship figures. I would think that the merchandising potential was much, much lower on \*\*Electric Company \*\* as well, considering that’s where a good portion of the bankroll for the CTW came from. Those are all wild-ass guesses, but reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/6 "2007-12-14T05:49:38Z")
No muppets. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/7 "2007-12-14T05:57:29Z")
I knew _Electric Company_ was long gone, but my heart skipped a microbeat when the thread title implied _Sesame Street_ was gone, too. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/8 "2007-12-14T11:06:04Z")
_We’re gonna turn it offff We’re gonna cut off the powaaah_ 🙂 Fun show. I read early, but I liked the humor and characters. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/9 "2007-12-14T18:05:37Z")
I loved the show. I watched Sesame Street, mostly because it came on so much, (four times in a row on Sunday!). But Electric Company had my heart. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/10 "2007-12-14T18:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated] I loved the show. I watched Sesame Street, mostly because it came on so much, (four times in a row on Sunday!). But Electric Company had my heart. [/QUOTE] Well said! I don’t care how many movies he’s made, Morgan Freeman is that guy from the Electric Company. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/11 "2007-12-14T20:01:36Z")
Oops didn’t mean to imply Sesame St was gone… sorry! I forgot about Zoom. Wow! I lived in Boston in the mid 70’s as a kid, and had we lived there another year or two I wanted to audition to be part of the show. In fact, my friend’s older sister was part of the cast. Zoom! Z-double-Oh-M Box 350 Boston Mass oh-two-one-three-four send it to Zoom! As for demographics and merchandising for Elec Co… good answers, as is the older kids not parked in front of the TV. But as much as I played outside, and even though I was reading long before I watched EC, I still caught every episode I could. As did most of my friends. Still not sure why it went away. Glad to hear it’s coming back, though! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/12 "2007-12-14T20:20:33Z")
But what about Naomi? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/13 "2007-12-14T20:29:54Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] Well said! I don’t care how many movies he’s made, Morgan Freeman is that guy from the Electric Company. [/QUOTE] Same goes for Rita Moreno. She can sexily strut around West Side roof-tops all she wants, she’ll still be the exasperated movie director trying to get the actors to read the cue cards correctly. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/14 "2007-12-14T20:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] But what about Naomi? [/QUOTE] Oh, for the love of…! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/15 "2007-12-14T21:53:18Z")
Spaghetti with a spoon! Spaghetti with a spoon! Spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti with a spoon! Anyone remember Luis Avalos as the florist with Maurice, the grumpy little plant? It was like a takeoff on Little Shop of Horrors… Jennifer of the Jungle and Paul the Gorilla! Spider-man, where are you comin’ from? Spider-man, nobody knows who you are! ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/16 "2007-12-15T02:33:29Z")
My wouldn’t let me watch Electric Company (I don’t know, it was too hip and edgy for her, or something), so I used to sneak and watch it when she wasn’t looking. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/17 "2007-12-15T02:44:34Z")
[QUOTE=Helena] My wouldn’t let me watch Electric Company (I don’t know, it was too hip and edgy for her, or something), so I used to sneak and watch it when she wasn’t looking. [/QUOTE] Maybe she figured the show was as racy as [another of Skip Hinnant’s projects.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Hinnant) Fritz was X-rated and animated! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/18 "2007-12-15T02:54:41Z")
Sesame St died when that disgusting, squeaky-voiced little bloody tampon Elmo took over the thing. It used to be a gutsy show with basic Spanish lessons, bluegrass music, and crabby characters. Now it’s just McKidsshow. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seame-street-electric-company-cancellation/429936/19 "2007-12-15T03:49:20Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] But what about Naomi? [/QUOTE] [Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Foner_Gyllenhaal)