TVSquad

The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog is reporting that Apple is having meetings with TV networks to see if they'd be interested in having their programs available on iTunes in a deal where viewers would pay a monthly flat fee to watch the shows.

Obviously, many networks already offer various shows on iTunes, but this would be a scenario where Mac and PC users of iTunes would pay a $30 a month subscription in order to watch TV shows. And that would be all shows, not just paying for each show that you want to watch.

If you have any doubt about the power of television in the selling of music and making stars, this story should convince you that there is a definite correlation. Fox's Glee has produced a solid gold successful single.

The Glee version of "Don't Stop Believin'" has been certified as Gold in digital sales of half-a-million downloads. That's 500,000 people who've heard the song on the TV show and wanted it on their iPod or cell phone or some music playing apparatus.

"Don't Stop Believin'" was the first big song from the pilot, but it's not the only song that has been popular. Seven songs from Glee now occupy spots in the top 200 of iTunes' Top Songs chart. On November 3, there will be a compilation CD of the best numbers from the show, called Glee: The Music, Volume 1.

The Colbert Report's The Word is one of those iPhone applications that takes advantage of that sort of portable player. The Word is one of those segments that doesn't translate well to a book, unlike Letterman's Top Ten Lists. Video clips better convey the emotion of the segment.

Basically, the application is all the clips of Colbert's most famous segment, and I mean all of them. The app requires a WiFi or data connection to work (because you don't want all those clips taking up memory) but they're constantly updated. I'm not sure if this will be forever or until they get bored with it and figure out another way to make money.

Since we've already covered one television-based iPhone and iPod Touch game with Dexter, I thought I'd try my hand at a different one: the recently-released South Park Mega Millionaire.

The game plays like a missing episode from the television show. Unlike the last game South Park Imaginationland, this one is not based on a pre-existing episode (unless it's one of the upcoming ones). The plot is that the boys appear on a Japanese game show in an effort to win money. Each boy then goes through various mazes on roller skates with embarrassing obstacles along the way.

The funniest bit is the dialogue between the Japanese game show host and the boys. While the game has no sounds (which is my only complaint about the game as I would love to hear Matt Stone and Trey Parker speak the lines), it does have word balloons. From that, you get a sense of how the lines would sound. It wouldn't surprise me if Trey and Matt themselves had a hand in this game. The app also allows you to listen to any audio track on the iPod while playing the game.

The characterizations of the Japanese in the game could be perceived as racist, but anybody who watches the program knows that such crass characterization is in the spirit of the show. Some of the prizes awarded include references to the show such as Chinpokomon. The game itself plays like such classics as Sonic the Hedgehog or one of the Super Mario Bros. games. It's simplistic but fun.

Currently the game is on sale for $1.99 (down from $4.99), possibly in anticipation of the new upcoming episodes. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and like South Park, I recommend it.

"Epitaph One" didn't air as part of Dollhouse's first season. But fans at the San Diego Comic-Con got to watch it, as do those that plunk down their hard-earned cash for the Season One DVD. But, if you're still on the fence about the show, now you have the opportunity to watch "Epitaph One" to make up your mind via iTunes.

And if you found absolutely anything at all to like about Dollhouse, then you owe it to yourself to check out "Epitaph One." Not only is it by far the best episode of Dollhouse yet, it's one of the best single episode installments of any science fiction premise I've seen; I go on and on like this in my review of "Epitaph One" from a few weeks back.

With the new season gearing up to go soon, this is a brilliant move. "Epitaph One" is one of the best reviewed episodes of the series, and one of the most buzzed about "lost" episodes in quite some time for any series.

G.I. Joe and Transformers climbed to their lofty perches atop Hollywood's food chain from their iconic beginnings on 80's television.

Now, IDW Publishing is helping to bridge the gap between those classic 80's shows and their 21st Century big screen adaptations with new series of digital comic books based on the adventures of Snake Eyes, The Baroness, Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Made especially for online devices like iPods and the iPhone, these digital comics should be a welcome site for hardcore fans of the original TV hits as they're not blown away by the CGI-driven movie adaptions. Yes, the animation of those after-school cartoons was about one frame every four minutes, but they had such purity and charm to their morality plays.

Do you remember a long time ago when you had no options to watch a TV show if you didn't see it when it aired (you had to wait for a repeat)? Of course you don't, you people with your Twitters and your iPhones and your space-age Saran Wrap. But there was a time when if you wanted to watch, say, The Magician, you had to stay home and watch it. No iTunes, no Hulu, no YouTube, no DVDs.

Then came the VCR, and everything changed. Only $1000! (Full-sized ad here.) Notice the fine print at the bottom: "Caution: The unauthorized recording of television programs and other materials may infringe the rights of others."

The time and nation that Stephen Colbert couldn't reveal where he is taking his show has been revealed. And because elite Army ninjas have not sneaked into his studio and whisked him away to an interrogation room for breaking the military code of silence, it's been confirmed by the network.

Stephen Colbert is taking his Colbert Report to Baghdad for the troops next week. The network claims this is the first time the USO has brought a television show into a combat area for a week of shows, if you don't count, say, the news.

Colbert has landed in Baghdad and underwent some basic military training to prepare for his visit to the region at Camp Victory, the former home of Saddam Hussein's Al-Faw Palace. That alone should provide hours of hilarious material for the show. But there's more going on than just producing something to keep you entertained during your post-work Kraft dinner.

When I first saw this I thought to myself, Jeff, a show like Seinfeld actually would survive if you stuck with it and didn't cancel it, just like NBC did back then. You don't have to cancel shows even today just because they don't get great ratings after two episodes.

This is a clip of NBC boss Jeff Zucker being interviewed at the All Things D conference. He talks about Hulu, iTunes, NBC's woes, and how the industry has changed over the years. (This is highlights from the interview - full report here.)

It looks like Nickelodeon is getting a little further into the games business by releasing both SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and Dora The Explorer learning games for the iPhone. They will be available later this year.

My question is this: do children of that age really use the iPhone or iPod Touch that much? Most of the people I know who own one or the other are adults or at least teenagers. While I can see some market for SpongeBob SquarePants (which has some adult crossover appeal), I just don't see the grown-ups buying iCarly or Dora.

How hard is it to write a Flight of the Conchords song, really? I wrote one just now:

"Look at you pretty lady
You make me mess like a baby
Your sexiness doesn't even stop
For the crosswalk or for the cops
It runs right over that crime scene
Screwin' with forensic science and makin' me scream
Oh, oh, oh-oh,
You're gonna bulldoze that 60-story office building that survived four earthquakes and some really strong winds
With your super sexy sexiness, lady."

Yeah, I know, it's bad, but it would probably sound funny over some video of Bret and Jemaine making obscene gyrating motions on the streets of New York City. Just picture it.

America's favorite megalomaniac takes on America's least favorite megalomaniac and for once in this karma-deprived universe, the megalomaniac we were rooting for has won.

Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report called on his legion of fans/cult-like followers who would not only follow their leader into the gates of Hell, but also take his place in the seventh circle (the one that only gets QVC, C-Span 2 and late night knife infomercials) to help him vanquish his foes. In the past, he has used his followers to take on enemy combatants such as Chuck Norris, indie rock group the Decemberists and Oshawa, Ontario mayor John Gray.

This time, he's taken down someone more feared, despised and loathed than all three of those figures combined in a tragic teleportation device accident.

If you were wondering just what that extra dollar buys you when you upgrade to HD in the iTunes store, you can get a free look. Our pals over at TUAW made note of a number of shows that have free episodes available, in HD. The files are large, with the HD versions clocking in at right around 1.5GB, so it will take a bit to download. Something that isn't helped by the fact that iTunes downloads the SD version as well.

I've been taking a look at them and I grabbed screenshots from Heroes, Life, and Battlestar Galactica to give you an idea of the difference in the picture. It's fairly dramatic. Those captures, and the full list of free episodes, with the iTunes links, are after the jump.

If you have been playing along with the home game, you'll no doubt remember last August when Apple and NBC had a little squabble over pricing. That led to NBC content being removed from the iTunes store, and lots of he said/she said over who was at fault. It would appear that time, and potential revenue, really does heal all wounds. NBC is returning to iTunes, and an HD option is being added.

The new deal was announced at the "Let's Rock" event, where Apple unveiled updated iPods. You'll also find shows from ABC, Showtime, USA, and Sci Fi in the HD mix. The shows are already available and have returned at the $1.99 per episode price for SD. The new HD option comes in at $2.99 per episode. Prices for seasons are a little less consistent. Upgrading to HD for season two of Heroes will cost you an extra $10. $12 more for season four of Lost. And apparently, medical shows are really awesome in HD, as Grey's Anatomy adds $15 to the season four price, and season four of House jumps $16 to $47.84.

I guess it's the flexibility brought about by the nature of the Dr. Horrible production. Or maybe it's just a good way to keep making noise so people find the show. Either way, as announced on the Dr. Horrible Twitter feed, the formerly iTunes-exclusive episodes are back online over at Hulu, with a few changes.

The episodes now come with short sponsor messages, and you also have the option of watching the whole thing in one big 42 minute burst. Go ahead, your boss won't mind. If they didn't want you to be watching wacky super-hero hijinks on the company computers they would have prevented it at the server, right? In addition, the move to the regular Hulu site also enables embedding. See for yourself, as the full episode has been added after the jump. And in case you missed it, Keith has added video from the Dr. Horrible Comic-Con panel to his post.