Dallas Native's Gonna Turn it On, Gonna Bring You the Power

Good news for nostalgists with kiddos: The Electric Company makes its return to PBS January 19th, when the network sneak peeks the easy-reader with a two-hour marathon in advance of its official January 23 debut. Alas, no Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno or Bill Cosby this go-round, but says the media...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 18, 2008

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Good news for nostalgists with kiddos: The Electric Company makes its return to PBS January 19th, when the network sneak peeks the easy-reader with a two-hour marathon in advance of its official January 23 debut. Alas, no Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno or Bill Cosby this go-round, but says the media release we received this a.m., there is a local on the show: William Jackson Harper, familiar to patrons of the Dallas Theater Center, the Courtyard Theater and Dallas Shakespeare Festival. The 28-year-old also has a lengthy off-Broadway résumé, including, recently, Queens Boulevard (The Musical).

Harper's character's name on the show is Danny Rebus, described thusly in the media release: He "leaves riddles in rebus form, creating havoc within the neighborhood and the people in it. He is super touchy and offended by the most innocuous perceived transgression. His good traits are that he's a whiner, a grudge-holder and an all around bitter pill." To which I can totally re-late, relate. --Robert Wilonsky

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