Rating: - J. Arthur Crank and co. rock on!
Seventies children and lovers of TRUE kid tv take note-this is every bit as good as you remember it, and even better since you get more of the jokes.

The genius of the EC was its ability to teach valuable lessons in punctuation (remember that song from the show?) and basic English spelling and grammar with some memorable characters and slap-happy humor that had you rolling in the aisles. None of that cutesy Barney or New Zoo Revue garbage-this show had GUTS!

Joan Rivers does the narration for LETTERMAN, a super hero who foils the evil deeds of the Spellbinder. Then of course these's J Arthur Crank, a hilarious chronic complainer who lives up to his name. To give an example of the kind of humor on this show, some episodes feature a guy who decodes puzzling phrases called FARGO NORTH-DECODER (get it?). Young Bill Cosby provides some really hilarious early moments. Morgan Freeman mixes comedy and dignity in his legendary characters EASY READER, who convinced kids that it was cool to read, and "DJ Mel Mounds with groovy sounds that were righteous, brighteous, and outta-sighteous." Rita Moreno, one of the show's stars, proveds commentary on the disc (although she is somewhat hard to recognize 30 years later). Oh yeah, young Irene Cara rocks with the Short Circus.

However, you may not want the kiddies to see some of the edited scenes. The slap-happy humor of the show gets raw here. But as a whole, this set the standard as a SESAME STREET for older kids and was in the tradition of SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK (and READING RAINBOW for the current generation) in good "edutainment." You will treasue this DVD, adult or child.

Meanwhile, DVDs of it's nauseating 70s counterpart NEW ZOO REVUE and its modern spawn from hell BARNEY, the TELETUBBIES, ad nauseum would best be shown in Iraqi prisons to torture terrorists or by farmers to show to cows to induce them to produce fertilizer.