Rita Moreno was off the hook on this show!

This is what an EGOT winner does. Helps teach millions of kids how to read better and gives it everything she has. QUEEN!

Man this was what growing up in the 70's meant. The EC was a great show.

I absolutely loved this show and never missed it. Those were the good ole days of television. Rita Moreno and all the others were perfect!!!! This is one of my favorite songs from the show.

@clarencecoats6498

4 жыл бұрын

Mine too, as a kid i even danced to it!

@louisrothwax2780

3 жыл бұрын

Better than frankie vallas grease too

There is an interview that Rita Moreno did for the Actors Guild a few years ago..she said doing The Electric Company was the most rewarding shows she had ever done and nothing but praise for Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman. She said that her only regret was that she wished she stayed with the show.

They all looked like they had a lot of fun filming this. Rita Moreno looked pretty hot too!

@MrBronx61

5 күн бұрын

Rita always looked hot....check out her strip-tease in "Marlowe"

How could you not get up off the couch or the bed when you were a kid watching this and sing and dance along to this??? So much energy, it can hardly be contained! I like "Phantom Of Love" a little more, but this one's right up there with the greatest E.C. songs, I'll tell you. =)

Rita was in her 40's and so energetic!

@mrstacyj9496

4 жыл бұрын

rockin those hip-huggers

@Wolfmanluv

Жыл бұрын

hey i am in my 40's and energetic too

@Kaisimone4u

Жыл бұрын

😅 Well this was 7yrs ago…..I don’t know how old Renee was when they made this comment about Rita still having energy when she was 40…but…perhaps you don’t think 40 is old anymore. Today’s 20 yr olds move like they’re in their 60’s…seriously. Anyway…..I think 40 is still pretty young. My dad is 80…and I’m just seeing him now (that I’m an adult in my 50’s) as old. Such is life. ❤ Don’t take time for granted!! 😊

"Grease" was premiering on Broadway when this song was on EC. Just to give you that cultural connection.

From 1973, right when the 50s revival was starting to really pick up steam; love that wiggling “grease” at the bottom of the screen

Rita Moreno...what a lady.❤❤❤❤

These were some of the finest performers of their generation, just having a great time. XD

Love Freeman's baritone voice!

WOW! I almost let this one get away from the memory bank! This is classic!

This has never really left my head from when I first saw it as a kid…

I will never forget Rita Moreno saying "HEY YOU GUYS!". Lol funny

@clarencecoats6498

4 жыл бұрын

Nobody does it like rita!

Wow! I have not seen this in over 40 years! Phyllis & The Pharoahs were one of my favorite skits of the whole Electric Company series! This song is better than any song you will hear in the radio nowadays and I mean it!

I sang this all the time for my friends and relatives throughout my childhood! Never thought Morgan Freeman would end up so famous later. Now my 13-year-old son, Sanjay Jr., and I sing it together! ~ Dr. Sanjay Kumar Sr.

this song was stuck in my head for years

The idea for this skit, Grease the play, Grease the film and Happy Days were inspired by Sha Na Na. The 50s revivalist act Sha Na Na was a big hit in the early 70s that started playing in 1969.

grease is the word

I've only seen this once when I was 3 or 4 yrs. old and it's been stuck in the back of my brain ever since. At first I thought I would never see it again but now thanks to you I can watch this over and over again.

This is probably the sequence that made me fall in love with Rita Moreno at age four. Thanks for sharing!

OMG! This song was my favorite growing up. Love how Rita cuts loose and does the twist towards the end as she sings "Grease, greasy, greasy..!" Does anyone remember "Don't Blame The Blonde?" What a hoot!!!!

I remember this particular part. It's amazing how seeing something from a long time ago can open so many great memories

This was great.

Definitely one of my all time faves!😂🤣😂🤣👏👏👏

This is so freaking cute!!!

What a catchy song

1:07 is great, where Skip and Jim sing together into the mike,"Grease makes you sticky,grease makes you tough!" Yes,I did see this frequently on 1970s EC, and yes, I,too, had always noticed its similarity to "Phantom of Love." You will find this one, on Vol 2, of Best of EC, Volume 2--it was featured in the episode, which first aired on March 6,1973(Season 2, of course-you will also find Phantom of Love, on that DVD box set, from earlier in Season 2, on 11/17/1972.) Although I cannot for the life of me recall seeing the third "Phyllis and the Pharoahs"concert skit,"Is it love?" on the show, I have seen it both here on KZread, AND, on Best of EC, Vol 1--it was featured in a Season 5 episode, on January 27, 1976. ALL THREE "Phyllis and the Pharaohs"songs are just EXCELLENT!

Wow. Never thought I would hear this again!

Man keep this up. Looks like the beginning of the makings of GREASE. It's pre Sha NA Na and the wording looks like the title. Love my PBS from way in the back days.......sigh.

This skit was NOT influenced by the movie Grease. The musical Grease...yes, but not the movie. The movie Grease didn't come out until about six years after this skit was created.

I haven't seen this skit in ages. I'd forgotten how they were dressed in typically Seventies disco costumes, but sang and danced in Fifties doo-wop style. And God bless Rita Moreno...ever the ball of fire and the real energy source of the Electric Company. (Morgan Freeman supplied the cool, and they all brought the funny.)

Thanks! I have not seen this in WOW, 38 years, Where did my life go???????

"BUMBUMBUDDY, A BUM BUM BUDDY!!!" That's one part of the song I can't get out of my head-very reminiscent of your typical 1950s doowop song. Morgan's deep low (background)bass voice has always reminded me of the backup bass voices in ShaNaNa, and in the Shields' 1958 hit,"You cheated, you lied." Yes, the quartet of the Pharoahs-Jim, Skip, Morgan, and Luis,as well as Phyllis(Rita),really get into it with pure spirit!

I remember watching this! I was around 7. Thanks for posting!!!

LOL - I used to think they were singing "We're gonna grease his tongue." At the time I never questioned what greasing a tongue was. Maybe I should have.

Again, THANK YOU(!) for uploading this clip - my all-time second favorite on KZread. With this and the lick-a-lolly song, I can now live happily ever after!

Ha, this is such good stuff. Of course, I was born in '75, so I have an excuse, but the only thing I ever remembered of The Electric Company was the opening and Spider-Man! Now I want the DVDs!

This is from the Best of the electric company DVDs!!

Wow I stand corrected. She was born in 31 so yes Rita was 40 in 71. She’s incredible

Phyllis and The Pharaohs brings back my childhood memories

Wow! They took a movie based off of a rather adults-only play and remade it as a fun-for-all piece to smile to, and is nicely sung on top of all that. Good video effects for the typeface too.

@Alan Bishop, he's name is Luis Avilos. He's a character actor, who played the principal on first season "Hangin With Mr. Cooper".

The only thing I will never from from Rita Moreno was her famous "HEY YOU GUYS!", it still makes me laugh 40 years later.

Gotta love this group, i really think rita moreno was enjoying herself!

Morgan Freeman was awesome as the bass singer when Rita done this song, totally cool video. :)

Let's be honest. Us boys watched the Electric Company for one reason 😎😍

@MrBronx61

5 күн бұрын

Actually two reasons....Rita Moreno & Hattie Winston😁

I’m glad this video is here, because if I had told people Morgan Freeman and Rita Moreno had ever been in such a thing, I’d think I was nuts.

I wonder if I was the only one that was mesmerized by the way the word "grease" wiggled....lol

@MrJamieMurph4141969

5 жыл бұрын

I too was always impressed by that, and the way the word "phantom" moved up and down in Phantom of Love, when I was a kid.

Rita Moreno played some amazing characters!

I just discovered this clip yesterday!! I actually vaguely remember it when it first it aired!! This was another song by Phyllis and The Pharaohs eventhough its not listed as that I cant believe they were doing DooWop skits on the Electric Company in the height of 70s disco!! haha but Im an oldies fantatic so I love it!!

@MrJamieMurph4141969

10 жыл бұрын

There were three "Phyllis and the Pharaohs"songs on Electric Company, "Phantom of Love"(possibly the first),this, and "Is It Love?" I,also, am into oldies music, in particular doowop music, from the 1950s--Morgan's bass voice reminds me of the bass singer in the 1958 oldie,"You Cheated,You Lied,"by the Shields. I really do not care for any of this wild music, from the 1980s(my teenage years), which still is popular today; 1950s songs should make a comeback, in my opinion.

@Goldenoldies4ever

10 жыл бұрын

MrJamieMurph4141969 - Im VERY much into oldies & doowop music, its my life!! LOL. Did you know all 3 videos of Phyllis and The Pharaohs songs are posted? Im young (37) myself for old music but its the best kind!! how old ru?

@MrJamieMurph4141969

9 жыл бұрын

+Paul Errante Hi, sorry I'm finally getting around to replying, but, anyway, I'm 46,born in 1969,so naturally, I am among those who grew up with 1970s Electric Company and of course, "Old School Sesame Street." As I had said a year ago, I really am into oldies music, especially doowop songs, from the 50s-it was the movie "La Bamba,"about Ritchie Valens, that got me into oldies. And yes, I have seen all three videos of Phyllis and the Pharoahs, both here on KZread, and on my box sets.

@MadameLil

8 жыл бұрын

+Paul Errante I enjoyed these numbers when they originally aired on PBS. I also remember groups like Sha Na Na being popular at the time.

@square-on-wheels

5 жыл бұрын

This is also an answer to the musical "Grease."

Ah.. childhood memories of the early 70s! Phyllis and the Pharaohs skits like this one and "Phantom of Love" and "Is It Love" were funny, along with Short Circus' "The Blob" and "Smarty Pants" -- This was the time when Don Kirschner was doing Rock And Roll Revivals and 50s music was making a come-back and styles like this was being appreciated in the 70s! :)

loved this show

Man o man, charity educational television and are they ever doing their best =) They rock

Childhood memories coming back to me. ha ha ha I love the Electric Company!

Seasons one through four were awsome!

WOnderful! Good to see this again!

@Leecogic Well,Electric Company ceased production in 1977,but PBS still aired reruns up until 1985.That's about all I caught of it while I was still old enough but still young to appreciate it.

I just love this song!! and after this is the one with Morgan and the chicken!!

@MrJamieMurph4141969

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, that's right.

Grease is the...err, a word! Very catchy song!

That's two Oscar winners side by side doing a Grease parody.

Now check out Rita's "Un song" with her great Tina Turner impersonation !!

Morgan has a great baritone voice!

Another outrageous skit courtesy of Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, and company! Was it me, or was everybody turned on by how hot Rita looked back then?

I was born in late 72 and I don't remember this. I'm 36. But I used to watch TEC all the time when I was a little kid.

Maaaaaaaan, I remember THIS!!!!! :-)

I remember this all too well

Rita = Goddess

I would have automatically assumed if I was watching this at the age I did that the movie Grease was what inspired this because I didn't even know new shows weren't being produced after 1977(the year before the movie Grease premiered)until a few months ago.

Rita was in great shape too. I believe that she was in her 40's when she appered on this show.

As a kid, I've always thought that Jim Boyd was the young Jack Nicholson, and didn't think much of it. Growing up, I saw a couple of Jack Nicholson movies and asked... "What the hell happened to that nice man I used to watch at The Electric Company?"

This song is better than ALL of "Grease" the musical.

Coincidentally, I first saw this skit shortly after the film was released, despite that TEC canceled a year before.

Rita Moreno at her sexiest.

Love this

@MrBoofoo - Our teacher used this song to teach us that "ea" make the "e" sound. I still remember this song and never forgot the lesson I learned. :)

Awesome Powerful Harmonies in a note perfect Parody from the talented quintet of Skip Hinnant, Jim Boyd, Rita Moreno (goofing on early Diana Ross no less), Morgan Freeman, and Luis Avalos!🎤🎸🎹🥁🎼😇❤🌹☕☕🇺🇸🥞🧀🥩🍝🍜🍷🍫🚘🌊🐘🏈🏆😂B.W.

@BigLudie1964 And we also found more to watch and entertained ourselves on just a handful of cable channels,as opposed to the 200+ of cable TV's modern digital era.

Now I know TWO songs named 'Grease'!

Don't know who the goofy one on the far left is but he was always my favorite one love this song I'm glad I came across it!

@MrJamieMurph4141969

5 жыл бұрын

That's Skip Hinnant,whose characters included JJ and Fargo North,Decoder.

Too cool

Rita has quite a bit of energy, doesn't she? ; )

OMG!!! Who wrote THIS SKIT! ROFL I couldnt stop laughing, Rita Moreno was Buggin out!! lol

Loved how that late Cuban character actor Louis Avalos far right acted in this segment.

@clarencecoats6498

4 жыл бұрын

I knew about jim Boyd's death but i didn't know avalos was gone!

@jim6820

4 жыл бұрын

Clarence Coats Louis Avalos passed away 1/22/2014 at age 67. Such a great and underrated Cuban character actor.

@clarencecoats6498

4 жыл бұрын

@@jim6820 he sure was!

@jim6820

4 жыл бұрын

Clarence Coats played a whole assorted characters in the series.

@andrebeck1444

4 жыл бұрын

@@jim6820 I had biased liking towards the late great Luis Ávalos because he looks so much like my dad(♡RIP♡) except Luis has a mustache, very thinning hair on top and he was shorter. He looked like he had aged nicely in the Best of TEC DVD. Very friendly and down-to-earth man. Complications from a heart attack took his life too soon at age 67.😓💔

The skit was to teach kids the "gr" sound in words.

"Grease on a spoon, like Reese Witherspoon?" :> Nah, sounds like something ending with "My good man, we're gonna grease..."

@arqivist2077

Жыл бұрын

The lyric I'm pretty sure is "grease from a spoon to grease the monkey man", as in grease monkey, slang for a mechanic.

rita moreno was indeed in her 40's when the electric compnany premeired.

@ourtravelingzoo3740

4 жыл бұрын

michael thomas she is not almost 90

Amen. A moment of silence, because we'll never again see the like.

I love her hair

After that a movie starring with Stockard Channing John Travolta

This almost sounds like a parody of Sha Na Na, with Rita Moreno doing Pamela Myers-styled voice. What year did this song first air? I'm guessing 1974 or 5.

@DavidBDavis-lz7bt

3 жыл бұрын

I'm guessing the 1973-74 season, because that's when I remember seeing it. Your guess is as good as mine, though(lol). I definitely remember Pamela Myers, though. What a talent she was/is! Not only was was she very funny, but she also got to sing in various sketches. She was also the show's announcer; still get a thrill when she exclaimed, "Now, here they are, all greased up and ready to sing their brains out! SHA NA NA!!"😁

Can we all say this one was just "grand"?

Wasn't there another one called "I Was A Smarty Pants"? Haven't seen that one in decades?

@MrJamieMurph4141969

9 жыл бұрын

+Maxwell1901 Yes, there was, and you're not alone in looking for it, I have been after it myself, from time to time. Morgan was the lead singer in that--all that I remember best about it, was Morgan's backup singers singing "Smarty"over and over(and the word "smarty"on the wall behind them would flash, as they said it),and as they sang,"SmartyPants,doowop!"Morgan goes,"You know that's not my name now." I believe that was from the last season, 1976-1977. Anyway, hopefully someone will find and post that one, as well; those parodies of '50s doowops, on both Sesame Street and the Electric Company just STOLE THE SHOW!

I FORGOT SECOND CITY TV AND JOHN CANDY!

RITA is perfect!! What a talent! She perty too!Nell from RHPS ain't got nuthin on RITA.

Rita Moreno & Morgan Freeman ❤

@johndalar4888 Actually, they aren't confused at all. This skit DID come out before the movie, but the movie wasn't the first 'Grease'. The ORIGINAL 'Grease' was a stage musical and the movie was based on that. The musical came out in 1971, a year BEFORE this skit, so in reality this '50s skit IS based on Grease. :)

There was a song years ago from the electric company show a doo wop style and I think they sang a song to " Randy" ?? Guy singer had a hat and a girl was sitting in a chair watching him sing to her was a street scene? Sound familiar at valley? I'd love to see it again. Kind of a ballad type 🤔