History Series / TheElectricCompany1971

--->Rinky-dink-dink\\
Three men in a sink\\
The butcher, the baker, and Freddy the fink\\
Fred gave a tug and pulled out the plug\\
And I think that sink will soon sink

* WithCatlikeTread: In "O-U (The Hound Song)", a hound sings very l'''ou'''dly about how he dare not make a sound.

* FreudianExcuse: PlayedForLaughs in the "Spidey Super Stories" sketches, which usually gave each VillainOfTheWeek a ridiculous reason for turning to crime. Examples include the Thumper, who took to dressing up like Napoleon Bonaparte and punching people after she didn't get a yellow pony for her birthday as a child; the Mouse, who didn't get cheese on his Big Mac and so wears a mouse costume to swipe dairy products whenever he sees them; and the Funny Bunny, who had a bully sit on her Easter basket as a girl and now dons a rabbit costume to do the same to other kids.

* FakeFood: In the 'Who Stole The Show' Spider-Man short, Spidy misses dinner again stopping the villain, and takes a bite of an apple only to find out its a prop from the show.

* FormerChildStar In the Spider-Man short 'Who Stole The Show' the villain of the day, Winky Goodyshoes is one of these who always stole the show. Now an 'ordinary grown-up' she chooses to steal the show literally. After Spider-Man stops her, she finds out that she hasn't been forgotten by her fans after all and the crew gives her a open spot in the performance!

* GloryDays: "Spidey Fixes the Hum" the rock star Hum Dinger was a huge fad when he hummed his songs because he forgot the lyrics in the 1950s, but as soon as the fifties were over, so was his career. Now he makes humming noises to make people think their TV or radio is busted and charges people to 'fix' them. The girl of the family he cons, ironically turns out to be a fan of his.

* JumpingOutOfACake: In a "Spidey Super Stories" sketch the Birthday Bandit thinks Spiderman is hiding in a kid's birthday cake. Spiderman comes up behind him while he's smashing it with a mallet.

* NeverSayDie: Surprisingly averted in the very first Spider-Man short where the villain The Spoiler, outright says he hopes for the people of New York to cry out that Spider-Man is dead.

* PopularityPolynomial: Happens in two different Spider-Man shorts. The villains Winky Goodyshoes and Hum Dinger were both popular in their day, but then fell out of popularity. At the end of the shorts, both discover they aren't as forgotten as they think they are.

-->'''Jim Boyd's cowboy:''' Rat
-->'''Luis Avalos' cowboy:''' Snake
-->'''JB cowboy:''' Worm
-->'''LA cowboy:''' Weasel
-->'''JB cowboy:''' Skunk
-->'''LA cowboy:''' Dirty dog
-->'''JB cowboy:''' Pussycat

* WhosLaughingNow: Spider-Man short gives us a lighthearted, fairly literal version in the Prankster, who is revealed at the end to be the school principle who was sick and tired of being pranked every day and chose to prank back the students.

* WordSaladLyrics: Often, the only thing the words had in common were similar sounds or consanant blends, such as this birthday song parody:

** One skit sees a character played by Jim Boyd sleeping in front of a TV broadcasting an ad with a pitchman voiced by Morgan Freeman. The pitchman declares, "Put some ''Sh''ip ''Sh''ape on your face after you ''sh''ave, and you'll feel ''sh''arp all day!" Jim continues sleeping, and a slightly irritated Morgan clears his throat and repeats the pitch. When this still doesn't rouse Jim, a hand reaches out of the screen and slaps him across the face, a parody of the Mennen Skin Bracer after-shave lotion commercials of the early 1970s. Jim finally wakes up and sarcastically says, "Thanks! I needed that!"

'''Fargo:''' Hello, fire department? This is Fargo North here! ''(laughs)'' Fine, yourself?... Wife, kids?... Good, glad to hear it. ''(the smoke gets ever thicker)'' Oh, yeah, I'm still in the old decoding game. Sure am. How 'bout you? Still fighting fires, eh? Terrific, because... '''''[[SuddenlyShouting MY DESK IS ON FIRE!!]]''' (slams down the phone, grabs a vase of flowers from on top of his file cabinet, and empties the water (and flowers) over the fire)''

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Check out Rita Moreno performing "Wild", complete with VictoriasSecretCompartment.
** The accompanying animation for the Music/TomLehrer song "L Y" features a moment where the protagonist is standing naked shivering while his clothes dry on a bush. No sign of any X-rated body parts at least.

* FunnyForeigner: With his AnthonyQuinn-like ability to do a plethora of accents, Luis Avalos frequently played this. Also, Skip Hinnant sometimes did mangled British accents.

* SuddenlyVoiced: Franchise/SpiderMan on the ''Super Spidey Stories'' album.

EdutainmentShow that ran from October 25, 1971 until April 15, 1977 on Creator/{{PBS}} (the last two seasons reran until October 4, 1985) from Creator/SesameWorkshop. Its main purpose was to teach reading to reluctant readers by using SketchComedy, but its clever writing, memorable characters (such as Easy Reader, Fargo North Decoder, J. Arthur Crank, Jennifer of the Jungle, Paul the Gorilla), appearances by Franchise/SpiderMan, animated inserts with the superhero Letterman, and psychedelic Scanimation visuals made it a cult hit with all ages.

** In an animated ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' parody, the [[TheSkyIsFalling iconic phrase]] appears on the top of the screen and the wolf thinks he has dinner when the sentence ''falls'' on him, [[LaserGuidedKarma sending him to the ground.]]

[[caption-width-right:340:''"We're gonna turn it on, we're gonna bring you the power!"''[[note]] Pictured: the main cast of the first season. From left to right: Judy Graubart, Creator/MorganFreeman, Rita Moreno, Creator/BillCosby, Lee Chamberlin, Skip Hinnant.[[/note]]]]

The cast was made up of a diverse group of performers such as Rita Moreno, who was already a well-known actress in her own right. Creator/BillCosby was a cast member in Season 1, and "The Adventures of Letterman" shorts featured the voices of Creator/GeneWilder, Zero Mostel, and Creator/JoanRivers. But most notable was a young and then-unknown Creator/MorganFreeman, who played Easy Reader ([[OldShame and has been trying to live it down ever since]]). Other cast members included Skip Hinnant (best known as the voice of ''WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat''), Judy Graubart (a member of the improvisational comedy troupe ''The Second City''), Luis Avalos, Jim Boyd, Hattie Winston, and Lee Chamberlin. In addition to the adult cast, there was a FakeBand called the Short Circus, which consisted of 11- to 17-year-olds; [[TwoFirstNames June Angela]] was the only member of the Short Circus to stay the whole series' run. Other notable members included Irene Cara, later to become a hit-making solo artist; Todd Graff, brother of ''Series/MrBelvedere'' actress Ilene Graff, and Creator/DeniseNickerson, at the time known for playing Violet Beauregarde in ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory''.

** Creator/MorganFreeman was guilty of this quite frequently. One example was during the taping of a first-season Otto the Director skit (known by fans as "The Director and the Musketeer") wherein after Creator/BillCosby flubbed his line ("all for one and one for all") one last time, Otto (Rita Moreno) kicked Cosby's shin and took his props, running off crying as both Freeman and Judy Graubart (who played the cue card girl in this installment) visibly began laughing.

* LastSecondWordSwap: In the "Menu song" sketch, a waitress (Rita Moreno) sings the various types of soup, sandwich, salad, and ice cream on the menu to a customer (Creator/MorganFreeman). At the end of the list of ice creams, she lists sarsaparilla, manzanilla, caterpillar, and plain old-fashioned... gorilla. The customer, who was clearly expecting the last flavour to be vanilla, gives up and goes to the laundry across the road for a bowl of soap flakes.

[[caption-width-right:340:"We're gonna turn it on, we're gonna bring you the power!"[[note]] Pictured: the main cast of the first season. From left to right: Judy Graubart, Creator/MorganFreeman, Rita Moreno, Creator/BillCosby, Lee Chamberlin, Skip Hinnant.[[/note]]]]

->"Who's the dummy writing this page?"

** One skit sees a character played by Jim Boyd sleeping in front of a TV broadcasting an ad with a pitchman voiced by Morgan Freeman. The pitchman declares, "Put some ''Sh''ip ''Sh''ape on your face after you ''sh''ave, and you'll feel ''sh''arp all day!" Jim continues sleeping, and a slightly irritated Morgan clears his throat and repeats the pitch. When this still doesn't rouse Jim, a hand reaches out of the screen and slaps him across the face. Jim finally wakes up and sarcastically says, "Thanks! I needed that!"

* SuddenlyVoiced: SpiderMan on the ''Super Spidey Stories'' album.

* GloryDays: "Spidey Fixes the Hum" the rock star Hum Dinger was a huge fad when he hummed his songs because he forgot the lyrics in the 1950s, but as soon as the fifties were over, his was his career. Now he makes humming noises to make people think their TV or radio is busted and charges people to 'fix' them. The girl of the family he cons, ironically turns out to be a fan of his.

** The "Spidey Super Stories" comic.

EdutainmentShow that ran from October 25, 1971 until April 15, 1977 on Creactor/{{PBS}} (the last two seasons reran until October 4, 1985) from Children's Television Workshop, the company that previously brought the world ''Series/SesameStreet''. Its main purpose was to teach reading to reluctant readers by using SketchComedy, but its clever writing, memorable characters (such as Easy Reader, Fargo North Decoder, J. Arthur Crank, Jennifer of the Jungle, Paul the Gorilla), appearances by Franchise/SpiderMan, animated inserts with the superhero Letterman, and psychedelic Scanimation visuals made it a cult hit with all ages.

* XMeetsY: Series/SesameStreet meets Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn

** Season 1 Easy Reader is basically Music/JimiHendrix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u8MY7PjSXU

* PunnyName: Fargo North, Decoder (Fargo, North Dakota); J. Arthur Crank (British film producer J. Arthur Rank); Dr. Dolots (''Literature/DoctorDolittle''); Julia Grownup (Julia Child, "The French Chef"); Morgan Freeman's Easy Reader (''Film/EasyRider''); Short Circus ([[MakesSenseInContext short circuit]]); Johnny Charge (Music/JohnnyCash).

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Sweeney (Luis Avalos) the Film/TaxiDriver in the "Swerve, Sweeney!" sketch. Lee Chamberlin played the very frightened passenger.