The Electric Company has evolved since the iconic program first aired in 1971. Since the show was revived in 2009, we have utilized a variety of media to ensure that the show’s rigorously researched educational material, which has a renewed focus on math, helps six to nine-year-olds acquire the academic skills they need to achieve their full potential. Prankster Planet is at the heart of the show’s transmedia approach.

At the end of each episode, Marcus and Jessica will go on an adventure to try and stop tricky prankster Francine from causing chaos. But the story doesn’t end once the show is over. Kids are encouraged to go online to the new Prankster Planet website where they can play games that help them learn simple math equations, graphing, and data collection, representation and analysis.

Since the introduction of Prankster Planet 1.0 last season, millions of kids have visited the show’s website to have fun, interactive adventures, all the while building up their math and literacy skills. The show has won three Emmy’s for Outstanding Children’s Series in a row – every year since it was revived – and was also a recipient of the Parent’s Choice Gold Award for Television.

Click here to learn more about the story of The Electric Company’s revival, or visits PBSKids.org to play the new Prankster Planet 2.0 games.

The Sesame Workshop Blog

Congratulations to The Electric Company team for being awarded two Emmys. In particular, congratulations to Executive Producer Karen Fowler, Supervising Producer Carol Klein, Producers Adam Peltzman and Ryan Cunningham and Line Producer Mark Santora for receiving an award for Outstanding Children’s Series and to Editors Nick Mougis, Andrew Mednels and Paul Viskup for receiving an award for Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Editing.

Sesame Street was awarded seven Emmys. The Emmy for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Series was awarded to Executive Producer Carol-Lynn Parente, Co-Executive Producer Kevin Clash, Senior Producer Tim Carter, Coordinating Producer April Coleman, Producer Ben Lehmann, Producer Melissa Dino and Line Producer Stephanie Longardo.

The Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children’s Series was awarded to Head Writer Joey Mazzarino and writers Molly Boylan, Annie Evans, Christine Ferraro, Luis Santeiro, Belinda Ward, Emily Kingsley and John Weidman.

The Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Children’s Series was awarded to Directors Joey Mazzarino, Kevin Clash, Nadine Zylstra, Ken Diego, Scott Preston and Matt Vogel.

The Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing was awarded to Tim Carter, Supervising Editor Todd James and Editors Jesse Averna and John Tierney.

The Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Live Action was awarded to Supervising Sound Editors Chris Prinzivalli, Michael Barrett and Michael Croiter, Music Editor Jorge Muelle, Sound Editor Chris Sassano and Sound Effects Editor Dick Maitland.

The Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Live Action was awarded to Production Mixer Chris Prinzivalli and Re-Recording Mixers Michael Croiter, Michael Barrett and Dick Maitland.

The Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control was awarded to Technical Director Tom Guadarrama, Senior Video Director James Meek and Camera Operator’s Frankie Biondo, Jerry Cancel and Shaun Harkins.

The Sesame Workshop Blog

On Sunday, January 29 Isabella and her family came from their home in Connecticut to New York City, where they had lunch with Jenni Barber, Priscilla Diaz and Josh Segarra, who play Lisa, Jennifer and Hector on the show. Jenni, Priscilla and Josh were so excited and humbled to get to know such a brave young girl as Isabella.

Isabella’s father Roneil wrote about the day on her family’s blog. From the sounds of it, they had a pretty wonderful time:

The most exciting time of the lunch was when the three of them made Isabella an actual member of the Electric Company!  She had to first agree to the terms of becoming a member, then they presented her a certificate to prove her membership!  Afterwards, they serenaded her to one of her favorite songs “Silent E”.

As lunch wound down, we took a bunch of pictures with them and they also signed a bunch of things for us.  We said our goodbyes, and although our time with the Electric Company was done, our Make-A-Wish day was not done yet.

Isabella and her family spent the rest of the day taking a carriage ride through Central Park and filling up on tasty treats at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Read about the rest of Isabella’s Make-A-Wish day on her blog and check out the slideshow her parents made from all the photographs they took that day.

The Sesame Workshop Blog

On November 5th, Sesame Workshop launched a new collection of resources for military families at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Families who attended the celebration on Nov. 5 were greeted by Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Commander, Colonel Carl R. Coffman, Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Principal Director of Military Community and Family Policy, Charles Milam, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Director, Navy Captain Paul S. Hammer, and Sesame Workshop president and CEO, H. Melvin Ming. Families experienced interactive performances by Sesame Street and Electric Company characters, explored the Military Families Near and Far website and the free Feel Electric! mobile app; as well as participated in other family fun activities. In addition, families saw the debut of the new “Let It Out” music video, which further supports self-expression and feelings vocabulary.

The new initiative was created in cooperation with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. The goal of these resources are to extend the reach and effectiveness of the already existing program. This includes a bilingual website with information designed to connect families to one another and provide information to how to deal with the unique problems facing military families. In addition, Sesame Workshop is especially excited about FeelElectirc! a mobile app that encourages children to explore and express their emotions.

To date, Sesame Street’s military families initiative has provided significant resources for military families with preschool children experiencing the effects of deployments, when a parent returns home changed because of a combat-related injury and coping with the death of a loved one. With the help of The Electric Company, this new phase expands efforts to reach elementary school kids, 6 to 9 years old, find the right words to express their emotions as they experience difficult military transitions.
“Sesame Street and The Electric Company are thrilled to introduce Military Families Near and Far, which expands our Military Families Initiative to elementary school children and their parents,” said H. Melvin Ming, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop. “During this month of the military family, I can’t think of a better way to renew our commitment to military families and to let them know we care and are here to help.”

For more information, see the full press release here.

The Sesame Workshop Blog