Birdy's Shrines: The Electric Company (2009)

Hey you guys!! Welcome to "The Electric Company (2009)" shrine! This obscure PBS Kids show was an important piece of my childhood and I want to document my love for it, and hopefully keep the memory of it alive! Note that this page mainly focuses on the 2009 reboot rather than the original series from the 1970's.

What is "The Electric Company" (The Original)?

While this page focuses on the 2009 reboot of the show, it might help to provide some context from the original "Electric Company."

"The Electric Company" originally debuted on PBS on October 25, 1971, and was produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) now known as Sesame Workshop. Spanning 780 episodes across six seasons, the show featured a star-studded cast consisting of Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin and Skip Hinnant. The cast members used sketch comedy and other skits to educate children on reading and grammar skills. While its premise and goals mirror the CTW's other show, "Sesame Street," this program's target demographic was children who had "graduated" from the younger group of "Sesame Street" and thus had a more mature sense of humor.

The live-action portions were interspersed with various educational segments and cartoons. While there are many original skits and characters created for these, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, and Spider-Man would also make regular appearances. However, unlike "Sesame Street," "The Electric Company" did not have many marketing and merchandising opportunities outside of the show itself. In 1977, CTW made the difficult decision to end the show to focus more on "Sesame Street" instead. The original series has lived on in reruns and home media releases, leading to a small cult following.

What is "The Electric Company" (The Reboot)?

Over 30 years after the last episode of the original show aired, the reboot debuted on PBS as a part of their afternoon "PBS Kids Go!" block. Like the original, this show aimed to focus on the reading and grammar skills of children aged 6 to 13. Along with the miscellaneous cartoons, sketches, and music videos, each episode would consist of a storyline designed to teach four or five vocabulary words with hip-hop or R&B music mixed in.

"Each story revolves around the Electric Company, a group of tween and teen literacy heroes who battle a group of neighborhood vandals dubbed the Pranksters. The heroes' headquarters is the Electric Diner, where their friend Shock, a beat-boxing short-order cook who also appears in the short-form segments, resides. In a nod to the original series, each episode's opening has a Company member call on the others to assemble by yelling "Hey, you guys!!" - a line that (as yelled by Rita Moreno) led off the opening sequence of seasons two, five, and six." -via the show's Wikipedia page

The Electric Company Members

The Electric Company consists of five friends: Hector, Jessica, Lisa, Keith, and in season 3, Marcus. They possess the ability to create "wordballs," blue magical balls that create letters and words on any surface. Each member also has a "Special Skill," which is bestowed upon them when they take the pledge to join the group.

Hector Ruiz

Played By	Josh Segarra
Age	20-22
Special Skill	Visual Recall
Traits	Athletic, Leaderly
Likes	Basketball

Jessica Ruiz

Played By	Priscilla "Star" Diaz
Age	13-15
Special Skill	Audio/Oral Recall
Traits	Confident, but Brash
Likes	Rapping, "Mighty Bright Knight"

Lisa Heffenbacher

Played By	Jenni Barber
Age	17-19
Special Skill	Anagram Unscrambling
Traits	Book-Smart, Clumsy
Likes	Science

Keith Watson

Played By	Ricky Smith
Age	13-15
Special Skill	Image Generation
Traits	Cool, Artistic
Likes	TBA

Marcus Barnes

Played By	Coy Stewart
Age	11
Special Skill	Math Skills
Traits	Naive, But Eager to Learn
Likes	TBA

The Pranksters

The Pranksters are a group of friends who cause chaos and mischief around their neighborhood. The group consists of Francine, Manny, Danny, Annie, and in season 3, Gilda. Like the Electric Company, each member has their own special ability or trait. However, Danny and Annie are the only members with a unique word-related power. Francine only has the wordball power that all Electric Company members have, Manny makes up for his lack of powers with his robotic proficiency, and Gilda is simply a "Prankster in-training." *(Please note that the ages are my personal headcanons, but an official character bio sheet lists all of the Pranksters to be "between 17-20 years old" at the beginning of the series, which takes place over two years. Gilda, being much younger than the other Pranksters, doesn't have an age listed, but is headcanoned to be around 12 as this would've been around the age of the actress portraying her.)

Francine Carruthers

Played By	Ashley Austin Morris
Age	17-19*
Abilities	Wordballs
Traits	Selfish
Likes	Science, Attention

Manny Spamboni

Played By	Dominic Colon
Age	20-22*
Abilities	No Powers, Mechanical/Robotic Skills
Traits	Rude, Loud-Mouthed
Likes	Robots, Video Games

Danny Rebus

Played By	William Jackson Harper
Age	17-19*
Abilities	Rebus Puzzles
Traits	Sensitive, Dramatic
Likes	Theatre

Annie Scrambler

Played By	Sandie Rosa
Age	18-20*
Abilities	Word Scrambling, Hypnotism
Traits	Sly, Bratty
Likes	TBA

Gilda Flip

Played By	Carly Rose Sonenclar
Age	12*
Abilities	None
Traits	Enthusiastic
Likes	Pranksters

So... Why?

Until I was 10 years old, my family didn't have any fancy cable TV or streaming subscriptions, as they were simply too expensive. Therefore, PBS was the only channel that aired children's content on weekdays. While a lot of kids were growing up on Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon, I was a PBS kid. I'd start my day with reruns of "Arthur" and "Sid the Science Kid" as I got ready for school. When I was 8, "The Electric Company" reboot premiered. I was in the prime demographic for it, and I was drawn in by the fun, upbeat music and colorful cast of characters. I watched every episode of Season 1 as it aired on the PBS Kids Go! block. After the first season, I didn't keep up with the show as much. In 2011, my family moved towns and we got cable TV at our new home. PBS got turned away in favor of "SpongeBob," "The Amazing World of Gumball," and other shows that I finally had access to after being the odd one out of my friends for so long.

Flash forward to autumn of 2019 and I'm a freshman in college. Amidst a really uncomfortable transitional time in my life, I discovered that nearly every episode of the show was available to watch for free on the PBS Learning Media website. Watching a few episodes, I remembered why I loved this show all these years later. Is it a perfect show? Absolutely not. But the heart is 100% there. Among all of the janky special effects, weird world-building, and the logic of how useful these powers actually would be in real life, there are messages about passion and doing things for the love of them.

For example, in the 18th episode, "Pop Goes the Easel," Danny, Lisa, Jessica, Keith, and an artist are trapped in a magical set of paintings. It's up to Hector to complete the last painting of the series and free his friends. Danny and Hector are both hesitant about Hector's art skills, but through a wordball message from Lisa and a song, the group enforces the fact that "there's no right or wrong in art." You can make the clouds purple and the grass red, and that's okay! Hector ends up painting a pretty good castle and successfully rescues his friends. As corny as the song is, it's genuinely helped me grow comfortable with my art skills over the years and allowed me to improve at my own pace.

During the pandemic, I binged the entire series, which is an incredibly rare thing for me to do. Most of the time, it does not matter how much I like a TV show or movie, you WILL have to sit me down and force me to watch it otherwise I will simply forget it exists... With the interspersed educational segments in each episode, "The Electric Company" spoonfeeds five minutes of plot to me at a time, which makes it a great show to do something else to. About once per year, I will have an "Electric Company" kick where I'll watch a few episodes and draw some fan art. I'm fully convinced I am one of the few people on the planet that cares about this show. The few others I'm able to find that update fandom wikis or write a rare fanfiction usually abandon it. Unlike any of my other interests, I can't join a fan Discord or follow a Bluesky hashtag because it'd simply be a population of me. Instead I try to spread propaganda and make fan art to make people remember this show that existed only in the back of their mind.

Questions, Headcanons, World-Building...

I know that this is a show made for children, but that is not going to stop me from theorizing about the way this world works.

The Logistics of Powers

Let's address the glaring issue of the "special skills" in The Electric Company. Most of these powers would be completely useless in real life. Oh, you can make rebus puzzles or throw some words on a wall? Cool powers, dude. How are you going to save someone's life or make the world a better place exactly? If the Pranksters were out of the picture, the Electric Company would have very little use for their powers on a day-to-day basis. However, this is a world where aliens live in New York City so I think any logic is thrown out the window. Even still, there's a plethora of questions that I have that I can only theorize on.

What We Know

Wordballs: This is the most common power in the show, as six characters are known to have it: all Electric Company members and Francine. Discovering you have the wordball power is the first sign that you have "The Gift."
Special Skills: When a character discovers they have the wordball power, they can take the pledge to join the Electric Company. After one takes the pledge, they will gain a "Special Skill," a unique power that is exclusive to that individual. (Each Special Skill can be viewed by character in the table on the right!)

Special Skills can be traded among individuals upon reciting an oral agreement or the pledge. In the first episode of the show, Francine butts in during Keith's initiation and steals the power from him. While having Keith's power, she is able to use it just as easily. Later in the episode, Keith is able to trick Francine into giving him the power back.
Like many other power systems in media, these powers are affected by one's stamina. "War of the Words" makes this a central plot point, as Hector's powers fade when he is fatigued. As the Pranksters lose their energy over the course of the episode, this happens to them as well.

Individual Abilities

Hector: Visual Recollection

Hector has the ability to remember anything he has ever seen. He is able to display a holograph-like screen out of thin air in order to show others.

He can zoom in or out on these images with complete clarity.
This screen will only display static images, not moving ones like a video. If Hector needs to show a sequence of events, he can display images one at a time like a slideshow.
The projection can be grabbed onto, implying it may have some kind of mass, but it can also be walked through.

Jessica: Oral Recollection

Jessica has the ability to recall anything she has ever heard. She is able to display the waveform of the noise as it plays.

This waveform can be either held between Jessica's fingers or thrown onto a surface and played.
Words sometimes appear as they are played in the recall, acting like a transcript.

Lisa: Anagram Unscrambling

Lisa has the ability to unscramble any anagram she finds. She describes her head having "a word computer," allowing her to crack scrambled codes and phrases with ease.

She can manipulate pre-made letters on signs, papers, and other surfaces, not just words created by a Wordball.
Outside of the Wordball power, she can swap out individual letters with a snap of her fingers.

Keith: Image Generation

Keith has the ability to create images in mid-air. These are typically used to demonstrate and clarify words and concepts.

These images can be either 2-D like a flat picture or 3-D like a model.
In "Skills," Francine creates alligators using Keith's skill. The alligators snap their jaws at the Electric Company, who try to swat them away. This implies that these images can have mass, being actual objects instead of projections.

Marcus: Math Skills

Marcus possesses math proficiency, like an internal calculator. He can create small images or text to illustrate math concepts, such as counting coins.

This skill doesn't inheritly improve his math skills, but Marcus can use this power to help him visualize and solve problems.

Francine: Wordballs

Like the other Electric Company members and UNLIKE the other Pranksters, Francine possesses the Wordball power. These work the exact same as the Electric Company's Wordballs, except hers are a vibrant purple instead of bright blue.

If Francine is tired or fatigued, her Wordballs will not form properly. They'll appear smaller before shattering.

Annie: Anagram Scrambling

Annie has the ability to scramble words and phrases with a stomp of her foot. She uses this power to confuse others, turning the Electric Company's sentences into complete gibberish.

The stomping of her foot is implied to actually shake the ground beneath her. It has caused others to lose balance and even car alarms to go off.
She can manipulate any visible text, from pre-made signs to Wordball text made by others.
Similar to Lisa's power, Annie can swap out individual letters. Stomping her foot will cause an old letter to crumble and a new letter will take its place.

Danny: Rebus Puzzles

Danny has the ability to create rebus puzzles onto surfaces. He usually uses these to provide clues or riddles about his antics to the Electric Company.

His puzzles can be flat against a wall or page, or three-dimensional and hovering in mid-air.

We don't get much in-depth outside of these main facts and there isn't much of a need to persist in the show. But there are still so many questions.

Why does Francine have the Wordball power, and why is she the only Prankster that has it?
For Keith, Marcus, and Hector, the first sign of having "The Gift" was accidentally creating a Wordball. They only got their Special Skill after taking the pledge to join the Electric Company where it is bestowed upon them. If this is the case, how did Annie and Danny discover their powers?
If Special Skills are so unique, why do Annie and Lisa have the same power?
If Special Skills can be so easily traded or stolen, why haven't anyone tried to steal all of them or tried to give one Electric Company member all five powers?
Are there any limits to the Wordball? Can you swear?

Skeleckians

Okay so space aliens exist in this universe and they live in New York City. Skeleckians are a humanoid race of aliens that come from the planet Skelecky. They are easily identifiable by the necklace worn around their neck, but otherwise appear fully human. When it comes to their personality and antics, they may act strangely or awkwardly, but mean no harm to the human race. The members of the Electric Company have a few Skeleckian friends, and are very eager and interested in various Skeleckian customs and culture.

Everything We Canonically Know About Skeleckians

The Planet of Skelecky

Population: In "The Wordball is My Oyster," a Skeleckian named Della tells Annie that she is live-streaming their play performance to approximately 16 million Skeleckians on their home planet.
Biome: In "The Flube Whisperer," Keith remarks how a biosphere for a Skeleckian animal contains "Skeleckian air," implying that the air is different on Skelecky than on Earth, but when Keith and Manny wind up in the biosphere later in the episode, they have no problems breathing. However, Skeleckian water is different than human water, as they cannot wash their clothes in Earthling soap and water without them reeking afterward.
Plants: There are at least two episodes where we see Skeleckian plants: "The Skeleckian Hiccups" and "The Flube Whisperer." In the former episode, it's revealed that many Skeleckian medicines and medical remedies are plant-based, and doctors work in gardens. Jessica and Hector visit the garden of Dr. Pinklepurpy-Goozibindanansky, once again showing that Skeleckian plants can thrive in environments on Earth.

Glitter Tree: A tree that appears to grow sparkly tassels. Leaves from this tree are apparently a fast-acting cure for baldness. (Dr. Pinklepurpy-Goozibindanansky claims to grow a full head of hair in six weeks eating these.)
Ringendorfen Zalia: A flowering plant that appears similar to Aechmea fendleri. However, the leaves have quarter-sized holes scattered across them. The inner leaves, which also have these holes, appear similar to collard greens and are used as a remedy for Skeleckian hiccups. They reportedly taste bad.
Unnamed Plants: Dr. Pinklepurpy-Goozibindanansky is seen eating various plants from his garden. He claims one is good for his kidneys, another plant is good for his nose. Other plants are seen, but not brought up in conversation, like plants that grow food items like waffles and pretzels.

Flubes: Flubes are a type of Skeleckian creature that are common pets. They need to be kept in a certain temperature and familiar environment in order to hatch from their egg and thrive. Flube biospheres are marketed to children in comic book ads, like sea monkeys.
Neighboring Planets: In "The Skeleckian Hiccups," the doctor remarks on the different ways the citizens of other planets say "Aah" when opening one's mouth for a doctor to look inside. Aside from Skelecky, he mentions the planets of Flinka and Ongledorf.

Identification

Names: Surnames of Skeleckian characters tend to be combinations of human words or otherwise long-winded names. Some notable examples include Dax Bluster Blooperment and Mrs. Enkleinachtinstuppen. Despite the names sounding silly or hard to pronounce, the human characters never joke about them and instead treat their names respectfully.
Necklaces: Every Skeleckian in the show is seen wearing a collar-like device. Whether it's a device that allows the Skeleckian to survive on Earth or simply a cultural fashion item is completely unknown. Hector is heard describing them as "necklaces."

Biology

Skeleckian Pressure Release: In "Lost and Spaced," Dax, a Skeleckian friend of Lisa's, pulls on his ear to release built-up steam. This steam builds up inside the Skeleckian's head due to high levels of stress. When Lisa first asks Dax what it was after he releases the pressure from his ear, he awkwardly replies "Excuse me." This implies that a pressure release might be a Skeleckian equivalent to passing gas. This pressure release smells of burnt toast, as confirmed by multiple people in the episode.
Sweat: In "Dirty Laundry," it's revealed that Skeleckian sweat differs from human sweat. If Skeleckian sweat comes into contact with human soap and water, it ends up "smelling worse than 10,000 rotten eggs" according to Todd in "Dirty Laundry."
Disease: Skeleckians have also brought at least one form of sickness from their home planet to Earth. In "The Skeleckian Hiccups," Jessica gets this ailment, confirming that humans can get Skeleckian diseases. Skeleckian Hiccups cause the inflicted person to blurt out an internal thought after a hiccup. Jessica, who is prepping for a chess match against Danny, has to visit a Skeleckian doctor, who prescribes her eating a species of raw leaf.

Customs and Culture

Mythology: In the same episode, Dax mentions that the Big Dipper constellation reminds him of the Skeleckian constellation for "Klizoks." Klizoks was a Skeleckian hunter who got trapped in a cave. This implies that Skelecky has a similar mythological history like the Greeks or Romans of Earth.
International/Intergalactical Relations: In "The Potato Custom," Jessica is named the Junior Ambassador of Skelecky. She speaks at a conference similar to how different countries might have.
Insults: In this episode, Annie scrambles the words of Jessica's speech, resulting in her accidentally saying something very insulting in the Skeleckian language. It is never directly stated what Jessica said in English, but given everyone's reactions, it was something too bad to be repeated on children's television.
"The Potato Custom:" In an act of asking for forgiveness from the Skeleckian people, Jessica participates in their "potato custom." ADD MORE INFO ON THIS
Cheese: Skeleckians prepare a unique kind of cheese by placing it in a unique capsule and sending it into orbit, as seen in the episode, "Fromage Here to Eternity." By allowing it to orbit, the cheese gets a fluffy texture.
Smelling Feet: A Skeleckian allowing someone to sniff their feet, particularly with fresh and clean socks, is a way of saying "thank you." This takes place in the final scene in the "Dirty Laundry" episode, where the Electric Company participate in this custom. Lisa comments how they smell like chocolate chip cookies.

Holidays/Festivals

The Orangachoke: In an episode of the same name, a Skeleckian named Lottie is in possession of an "Orangachoke," a magical orange fruit that resembles an artichoke. Each Skeleckian child is given one upon their birth. If she holds it during a total eclipse of the sun, she will gain a unique talent. She invites everyone at her school to watch the eclipse and partake in the festivities. This implies that this event is extremely important and celebrated as some kind of coming-of-age ritual like a quinceanera or bar mitzvah.
Sockfest: Sockfest is an annual Skeleckian festival where families show off their most unique and clean socks. Competitions are held and prizes are given out for the best socks.
Spangerdankinpuddin: This is a ten-day Skeleckian rubber band festival that is briefly mentioned in "The Flube Whisperer." Many Skeleckians take time off of work for this occasion.

Technology

Power of Meteorites: "Dirty Laundry" establishes that Skeleckians have the ability to correctly predict exactly when and where a meteorite will fall. These fallen meteorites are a crucial source of electrical power for Skeleckians, and according to a Skeleckian named Todd, one of these can contain enough electricity as a lightning bolt. If this is correct, a meteorite contains one billions joules, or about 277.7 kilowatt hours. This math concludes that a Skeleckian meteorite could power an average American home for about 7-9 days.
Skeleckian Shrinkanator 3002: An invention that can shrink anything to a very small size. Seen in "The Flube Whisperer" and "Shrink, Shrank, Shrunk!" This technology might also be the same which shrunk Dax and Lisa for their science fair project in "Lost and Spaced."
Gravity Spray: A special spray that increases the weight of things upon coverage. Seen in "Gravity Groove."
Pet Biosphere: A high-tech enclosure that contains Skeleckian natural resources and an internal heating/cooling system. This product is marketed to children and commercially sold, allowing users to hatch their very own Flube egg. Seen in "The Flube Whisperer."
Bestandenfingals: Skeleckian washing machines. Much like human washing machines, but instead are powered by meteorites and therefore are specialized to remove Skeleckian smells and sweat from clothing. These machines must NOT use human soap and water. Seen in "Dirty Laundry."
Cheese Capsule: A special capsule that can be sent into space carrying cheese. As the capsule flies in the Earth's orbit, the cheese freely rotates and acquires a fluffy texture. Seen in "Fromage Here to Eternity."

The Inherit Connection of Annie x Lisa

Annie Scrambler and Lisa Heffenbacher have the exact. Same. Power. Annie scrambles, Lisa unscrambles. Only they can truly understand each others' power.

What should I call this ship? AnnieLisa? Lannie? ScrambleBacher? Do I even call them a "rare pair" if there's barely a fandom and shipping wars to contend with?

Notable Annie x Lisa Moments

Scrambled Brains

There were so many body-swap episodes in kids' media in the 2000's, and TEC was no exception. In "Scrambled Brains," Sigmund Scrambler, Annie's uncle and master hypnotist, uses his ability to make Annie and Lisa switch brains. (Please don't ask me how they switch brains with hypnosis. This show is a fever dream.) Annie wishes to use Lisa's body to make Lisa look bad. After being confronted by the Electric Company, Sigmund says that both parties must consent in order to reverse the body-swap, and if Annie never agrees, Lisa could be stuck in Annie's body forever. Of course, the gang is able to convince Annie to go through with the reversal after they make "Lisa" look even better than before. So, would Annie have actually stayed in Lisa's body forever? Why would she be willing to stay in Lisa's body for so long?

My theory is that Annie really hates herself or has some kind of confidence issues. She doesn't want people to hate her, but she knows that as a Prankster it's unavoidable. Lisa is loved by everyone. She's kind, friendly to all, and a straight-A student. By swapping bodies and tarnishing Lisa's reputation, Annie can make Lisa just as hated as she is. However, Annie must really like Lisa's looks if she's willing to be in her body for a long time. Does Annie like Lisa's body so much that she wants to keep it all to herself, even from Lisa? Not gonna lie, that's sounding preeeeetty sapphic. Is now a good time to mention that this is my favorite episode of the entire show?

The Wordball is my Oyster

In this episode, members of the Electric Company AND the Pranksters are performing in a play directed by Hector. Lisa gets stage fright during rehearsal, preventing her from remembering her lines. Annie gets the idea to sabotage the show by scrambling Lisa's lines as Jessica feeds them to her from backstage. Under pressure from Danny, who has the lead part but threatens to quit the cast if Lisa can't remember her lines, Lisa swaps roles with Annie. On opening night, the stage-fright spreads to Annie when she finds out the show is being broadcast live to 16 million Skeleckians. Annie confesses her sabotage to Lisa backstage, and in the last possible second, Lisa takes back her initial role, putting on a flawless performance and saving the show.

There's not really too much to go off of in this one. Annie is one of the few characters to shed real tears in the show, and she seems to express true vulnerability to Lisa because of her stage fright. That being said, theatre is a very common hobby and outlet for LGBTQ+ people, so I have to give points for the "gay theatre kid" trope. (Don't worry, I am saying this as a theatre kid who was a closeted bisexual in high school.)

Fromage Here to Eternity

WIP

Friends or Aunts

WIP

Revolutionary Doughnuts

WIP

Bananas

WIP Now THIS episode is probably the one that contains the most fuel for this ship.

Merchandise Collection

I love collecting merchandise of my favorite characters and creating real-life shrines! It's always felt like a way to turn my love into something tangible, dedicating sections of my shelves to the things that inspire or indulge me. There's just one little problem... There's barely any merch of this show. No figures. No toys. No clothing. So how am I supposed to make a shrine with virtually nothing? Simple: work with what I've got.

~~ The Electric Company (2009 Reboot) ~~