the buzz log

Hey you guys! You guys from the '70s, especially, who understand that reference: The "Electric Company" — the funky PBS show that tried to teach kids how to read through song and skit — is back.

The original show aired for kids who had outgrown "Sesame Street" but still needed help mastering the silent "e."

Kids these days are still struggling with the rules of English, and so after a three-decade break, the show is back. But aside from the name and the "hey you guys" yell at the beginning, the show has been re-charged for a new generation of kids who are more digerati than literati.

The show centers around a group of kids (teens this time around, not adults of the original) who use reading to outsmart the "Pranksters" gang. There are still cameos from celebs, but instead of a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, Gene Wilder, and Bill Cosby, and songs by satirist Tom Lehrer, you'll see Pete Wentz, Jimmy Fallon, Wyclef Jean, and Ne-Yo.

The new "Electric Company" has a definite hip-hop vibe and even includes a beatboxer to freestyle with the kids.

As the Los Angeles Times points out in its review, "Like everything else in the world, the show is faster, louder and busier, which would not necessarily seem to be the best environment for learning." (For comparison, you can check out archived shows here.)

But literacy rates are stuck at the same level they were in the '70s, when the show first aired, data that inspired the show to make a come-back in the first place. Which led us to ponder: Instead of more TV, why not just read a book?