Paul the Gorilla was a recurring character who appeared in both the 1970s and 2009 reboot of the "Electric Company."
1970s Show[]
In the 1970s show, Paul the Gorilla would sometimes appear in certain sketches with cast members, but was more well known for appearing in a recurring sketch of the 1970s show called "Jennifer of the Jungle." In these sketches, Jennifer (Judy Graubart), would often teach Paul a certain topic depending on what an episode would be focusing on. An example of this is in Show 65, where Paul learns about Silent E with some help from Jennifer. Jim Boyd (who played Crank, Andy, and Pedro's plant Maurice), portrayed Paul in the old show, where he never talked in full words. Throughout Paul's appearances on the show, he used words by using mumbles and grunts, just like Maurice, Pedro's plant did.
2009 Reboot[]
In the 2009 reboot, Paul the Gorilla was brought back to the cast, this time around rather than Jim Boyd performing the titular character, Steve Freitas portrayed him. Though his usage of grunts and mumbles was still used on the revival. Paul first made his debut in the 6th episode of the show, titled "Trouble Afoot." But not all of Paul's appearances in the reboot have been filmed in live action. Between July to August 2012 a full year after the reboot ended in April 2011, the show was rebroadcast on "PBS Kids Go!," where eight select episodes of the show (from Seasons 1 & 2) were edited from they’re original 2009-2010 airings. These 2012 rebroadcast feature an animated version of Paul the Gorilla, who appeared in new intros, in between sketches, and closings, mainly to promote "Prankster Planet" on the PBS Kids Go! site. The episodes edited in the 2012 rebroadcast are "Lost and Spaced," "War of the Words," "The Limerick Slam (Episode)," "Franscent," "Out to Launch," "Friends or Aunts (Episode)," "Oh, Danny Boy," and "Madame President." These episodes not only edited out segments from they’re original broadcasts and added animated Paul bumpers, but the endings were edited to feature Prankster Planet segments at the end of episodes, a similar format to what Season 3 was doing (even though third season did have any altered episodes to feature animated Paul the Gorilla segments).