For a number of years, North Carolina filmmaker Neal Hutcheson produced a series of documentaries for PBS featuring Popcorn. Two months ago he posted onto YouTube a 2022 remaster of The Last One, which at the time was about Popcorn Sutton's alleged final brew of moonshine. It's well worth a watch if you're at all a fan of Popcorn or have an interest in Appalachian culture. It also boasts some awesome music!
Find more of Neal Hutcheson's work on his Sucker Punch Pictures YouTube channel.
This series must be a big deal. For one thing my Facebook front page was loaded with all kinds of numbstruck horror over the weekend because of the Downton Abbey season finale. And then there's the fact that Sesame Street has now spoofed it! Even without knowing the particulars of the source material, I thought this was pretty funny.
So here is "Uptown Downton Abbey"...
So what did I think of it? I watched many of the episodes of the original The Electric Company a few years ago when they ran on Noggin, and was surprised at how well the show had held up over the years. The Electric Company circa 2009 remains faithful to the purpose of its parent... but is a fresh and rapid-fire delightful update aimed at a new generation. And I was surprised at how many homages to the Seventies series there are: right down to paying tribute to Rita Moreno's immortal warcry "HEY YOU GUYSSSSSS!!!" Didn't spot an appearance by Letterman (no, not the late night TV host) but there was an animated spoof of 24, among other clever sketches. The one with the farmer and his mixed-up signs: can't help but wonder if the original show would have ever tried to be, dare I say it, "risque"? :-)
All in all, I thought that the new The Electric Company holds a lot of promise, and maybe even quite a bit of entertainment value for (ahem...) those of us among the "older" set. There's a lot of potential here for PBS to have another classic show on its hands.
Now all it needs is something on par with Morgan Freeman taking a bath in a casket...
Longtime readers of this blog know that I'm fond of posting classic clips from Sesame Street whenever I find them on YouTube. That should be a lot easier to do from now on 'cuz Sesame Workshop (the outfit that used to be Childrens Television Workshop) is on YouTube and putting up officially-sanctioned Sesame Street videos! You can't embed them in your own blog or site (yet, and let's hope they consider allowing embedding eventually) but you can certainly link to 'em and watch them. Like, f'rinstance, the now-infamous "Sesame Street News" where Kermit the Frog reports on Prince Charming's attempt to rescue Rapunzel.I'm glad Sesame Workshop is doing this, and I hope they post many more in the weeks and months to come. Especially Bert and Ernie sketches. Can't get enough of Bert and Ernie... :-)
The cast sings "That's All" for the final scene of the very last episode of the original The Electric Company
As it turns out, that's not all!
Before this day is over with, somewhere in New York City, the first filming will have been done for PBS's updated version of The Electric Company. The first episode is scheduled to air in January 2009.
Here's a taste of what's to come: Chris Sullivan as new character Shockwave...
The original The Electric Company was produced from 1971 to 1977, and then had repeats until 1985. Some years ago I found that the educational cable channel Noggin was showing repeats. I tuned in every time it was on, and was blown away by how consistently good this show was more than thirty years after it first aired. The Electric Company was created by Children's Television Workshop (today called Sesame Workshop, which is also producing the revived series) as something of a "companion piece" to Sesame Street. The Electric Company's format was geared toward helping older children learn to read, and as such it featured considerably more "mature" comedy (i.e. without Muppets, although Big Bird and Grover from Sesame Street did wind up visiting the show a number of times).
What most people will probably remember The Electric Company for though was the cast. What other show in television history can boast of having Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, and Joan Rivers? The regulars also included Luis Avalos and Jim Boyd, who never ceased to crack me up with his character of J. Arthur Crank.
Head over to The New York Times website to learn more about the new series. And I can't think of anything better to celebrate the return of The Electric Company than with the original intro from 1971...
Dear lord, will this madness ever stop?
I couldn't help myself. It just happened.
We were flicking through the high-def channels and I wound up on UNC-TV, the state's PBS system. And they were doing their annual "Festival" pledge drive. The moment I saw that 800 number, my lips quivered and my hands started shaking.
Lisa couldn't stop me. I ran to the phone, and I... did it.
After all these years, I still can't stop doing it.
I picked up the phone and dialed the toll-free number. A nice lady answered and asked would I like to make a pledge to support public broadcasting. I told her "yes".
Then I told her that I would like to pledge $10,000...
...but only if PBS brought back the old Doctor Who reruns.
Then I hung up.
This has been going on FOR ELEVEN YEARS NOW! Somebody please, make it stop make it stop make it stop!!
