Back when The Electric Company launched, in 1971, it was positioned as the hipper, more urban, slightly older-skewing version of Sesame Street. More than any specific bits, the thing that left the most lasting impression about the show on us was its theme song, a rallying cry for learning that was funky, bold, and empowering ("We're gonna turn it on / We're gonna bring you the POWER") in a way that only songs from that era of social upheaval could be. And now, after twenty-plus years of being off the air, the show is coming back to PBS beginning on January 19. We just caught wind of two preview clips from the revamped show which, kinda intriguingly, look and sound a lot like something you might see on Flight of the Conchords. However, we're sad to report that it looks like they've ditched their supremely righteous theme song in favor of a more generic contemporary-sounding hip-hop track. You can catch both the 2009 preview featuring vox from a Jemaine sound-alike and the badass original intro after the jump.

The nominations for the Writers Guild awards were announced this afternoon, and they give Batfans one more reason to get their hopes up: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan's script for The Dark Knight scored a nod in the Adapted Screenplay category. In addition to all the people whose names you would totally expect, other recognized scribes included John Patrick Shanley (whose Doubt has an equal shot at the much-coveted fifth top Oscar slot), Woody Allen (even though the threesome in his Vicky Cristina Barcelona left some disappointed), Robert Siegel (The Wrestler), and Tom McCarthy (The Visitor). See the complete list after the jump.

Although it's getting harder and harder to pinpoint an exact date as to when Oscar season officially begins, tonight's People's Choice Awards certainly signals that the awards season has begun in earnest. Because from now until the Oscars are broadcast on Sunday, February 22, viewers will be barraged with no less than six televised award shows celebrating the best film work from 2008 (the others being tomorrow's Critic's Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards). And just like Hollywood itself, there is a well-defined pecking order as to which of these social engagements earn a coveted spot on A- and B-listers' already crowded calendars. Suffice it to say, the People's Choice Awards has lost a lot of its draw over the last few years and today draws about as much star power as a potluck at Jason Biggs's house. But it wasn't always that way!

As Vulture continues to hold vigil in the hopes that poor sushi-poisoned Jeremy Piven might one day walk again, the New York Post's Michael Riedel reports that backers of Broadway's Speed-the-Plow are considering legal action against the ill star. The production was purportedly just one week away from breaking even on its $3.5 million budget when Piven was tragically struck down by a toxic sashimi and had to be flown back to Los Angeles. And now, says one source, the play's investors are hoping to "squeeze some money out of him" because he ruined "our chances of making a profit."

"Beyond the fact that I'm excited about pursuing that story and that world, I love the fact that, you know, you can make something and just put it up without, you know, without having to reshoot the whole thing."—Joss Whedon on why a Dr. Horrible follow-up is more exciting to him than Dollhouse [Sci-Fi Wire]

"Like, they were on an entirely black velvet set, wearing white bodysuits that they weren't allowed to sweat in, even though there was a bank of lights so powerful that they caused a brownout in Burbank. So they weren't allowed to sweat. They're running around in white suits on black velvet with these lights. And they were saying terms that for the time had no meaning for them. They didn't know what a 'program' was. Bruce [Boxleitner] was saying they were … pulling these things out of, like, sci-fi dictionaries. I mean, they had no idea." —Olivia Wilde on the difference between the first Tron and its upcoming sequel [SciFi Wire]

"I wanted to get some T-shirts made with an old pregnant bitch with a circle and a line through it." —Craig Robinson on cashing in on the popularity of his role as the club doorman in Knocked Up [A.V. Club]

"I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work every day, no problem at all. But we never hear that side of the story. I have no statement to make, I just wish people wouldn't sensationalize this thing that just exists. Some people are bad at taking drugs." — Lily Allen advocates that cocaine should get some more positive press [Word Magazine via PopEater]

The esteemed membership of the Razzie voting committee received their 2008 nominating ballots in the mail yesterday afternoon — and controversy abounds! While the official list of nominees for the year's worst movies and acting won't be released until January 21, the names on the ballot from which serious-minded voters are expected to choose are laughable at best.