In an updated blast from the past, PBS will air a new version of the 1970s children's series "The Electric Company."

Production on the 21st-century model of the PBS show for 6- to 9-year-olds was set to begin yesterday on the streets of New York City and in a New Jersey studio, according to producer Sesame Workshop.

The series, aimed at reducing the literacy gap between low- and middle-income families, will promote the idea that "reading is cool" with help from online and community-based activities, Sesame Workshop said in an announcement Monday.

Weekly episodes of "The Electric Company" are scheduled to air nationally in January on PBS Kids. (Associated Press)

A TV movie about the life of Holocaust hero Irena Sendler, who died Monday at age 98 in Poland, is being readied for production and will air next season on CBS.

"The Irena Sendler Story" is based on an authorized biography of the woman credited with rescuing some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, producer Hallmark Hall of Fame said Monday.

The film, which had yet to be announced, is in pre-production and will be filmed in Poland. Hallmark said it acquired movie rights to the book and struck a deal with Sendler and her family in 2007.

Sendler, a social worker in Poland when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939, devised risky rescue operations to save Jewish children, some of whom were smuggled out in baskets. She died at a Warsaw hospital, daughter Janina Zgrzembska told The Associated Press.

John Kent Harrison, who became familiar with Sendler's bravery while in Poland three years ago filming a CBS miniseries about Pope John Paul II, wrote the script for the Sendler film and will direct.

The movie is drawn from the 2005 book, "Mother of the Children of the Holocaust: The Irena Sendler Story," written by Anna Mieszkowska. (AP)

NBC and Ryan Seacrest want to help single men find a good woman -- provided the guys' mothers approve.

The network has greenlit a reality series called "Momma's Boys," which takes the awkwardness of the home-visit episode of "The Bachelor" and builds an entire show around it.

The show, executive produced by Seacrest and Andrew Glassman ("Average Joe"), is scheduled to premiere in late summer, following NBC's Olympics coverage.

The show will feature a group of mothers and their "complacent sons" -- just what every girl is looking for, no doubt -- living together with several potential mates.

The moms will evaluate the best matches for their boys, and presumably comedy and drama will ensue. (Zap2it.com)

Former CBS "Early Show" anchor Hannah Storm will return to her sportscasting roots as a 9 a.m.-to-noon ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor on Aug. 11. ... "Private Practice" has jettisoned show runner Marti Noxon ("Buffy the Vamprie Slayer"), who was previously bounced from ABC's "Brothers & Sisters." ... Justin Timberlake's company will produce a new game show for MTV called "The Phone," which sends contestants racing around major cities in search of cash prizes. It premieres this fall. ... The 21st edition of MTV's "The Real World" has begun production in Brooklyn, N.Y. ... ABC has upped its order of "Lost" episodes from 16 to 17 for its final two seaons to make up for two episodes lost to the writers' strike during the 2007-08 TV season. (Wire reports)