TVSquad

AMC.com has been holding a contest for the past few months where they asked fans of Mad Men to send in video tapes where they re-enact a scene from the show. The network supplied the specific scene and script and you had to film your version of it. They got tons of entries. Here are the 18 finalists.

Almost all of them are quite good, and you can see that many of these people could be actors (not that a few of them aren't already). My favorites are actually the ones where a male will take a scene featuring a female like Betty, Joan, or Peggy and really recreate the scene. Jacob Crumbine's video is in the lead right now, and it's great. Even if Mad Men didn't exist, I'd watch whatever show this was. Rebecca De Ornelas recreates one of Betty's psychiatrist office scenes and does it very well. Mike Kimmel does the same scene and he's a natural. Valerie Long's drunken chat with a lamp works too. Sabina Maschi's entry is very, very clever.

Earlier this week we told you about the diaries that Survivor contestant Nicole Delma was selling on eBay. The listing was taken down suddenly and now we know why: CBS asked her to take it down (this has been confirmed by CBS).

The bidding for the diaries somehow, some way, got up to over $2000, then CBS called and asked Delma to stop the sale because it was in breach of the contract she signed. Delma thinks that CBS might have been a little antsy about certain parts of the diaries where Delma describes scenes of the hit reality show being staged and even scenes being re-shot. Of course, this news is nothing new, we've heard talk that certain scenes on Survivor (and other reality show) are re-staged or re-shot for the camera. The only comment CBS would release about the controversy is that they thinking the diaries are "boring" and that they asked her nicely to stop the auction.

Her solution? She's going to release a "novel," because there's nothing in her CBS contract that can stop her from releasing a work of fiction. That's actually kinda clever. I side with CBS on this though, if she did indeed sign a contract that stops her from revealing behind the scenes info.

Wouldn't it be great if a famous Survivor contestant like Richard Hatch or Tina Wesson or...um...one of the other people that won the top prize (Fantasia? Omarosa?) on the show kept a diary during the show and was now going to let fans of the show read it? You'd be able to see what the audition process was like, what it was like staying on the island for over a month, get some cool behind the scenes info about the show. Wouldn't that be great?

Well, that's not available, but until last night you could have read the diaries of Nicole Delma, a contestant from the 2003 "Pearl Island" season of the show. She didn't win the top prize, in fact, she was voted off in the very first episode. But still, those diaries must be really interesting!

We really do live in a very different television landscape.

NBC has decided to put five of its shows online a week before they even premiere on TV, to build buzz. The network has decided to use Hulu to show the first episodes of new show Knight Rider and returning shows 30 Rock, Lipstick Jungle, Life, and Chuck.

Of course, putting episodes online is nothing new. All of the networks do it (sometimes they even "leak" the shows themselves to create buzz), but this seems to be a true attempt by NBC (which needs the help) to change the way they schedule, promote, and debut shows, a change in the way they program.

Can't get enough It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? The irreverent FX comedy is back September 18th (10/9 Central) for a fourth season of shenanigans unlike anything live action non-sketch television comedy has ever given us. Except for those other shows you are about to fill the comments with. If you're anxious for the show to start, and want more of Charlie, Mac, Frank, Dennis and Sweet Dee then have I got a treat for you.

Okay, well that's not fair. I really didn't have anything to do with it. But show writers Patrick Walsh and Sonny Lee aren't here to take credit for it, so we'll just say it's all me. That's right, come check out Paddy's Pub, the new production blog for the upcoming season of It's Always Sunny. It features cast interviews as well as excerpts from Dennis' erotic memoir and even an advice column written by Frank. Now there isn't much there right now, but it only launched August 26th. I mean seriously, what the hell do you people want from me ... I mean from staff writers Patrick Walsh and Sonny Lee.

If you're a fan of Twitter, the site where you microblog using only 140 characters max for each post, then you might have heard that several Mad Men characters have been on the site too. At first many people thought that this was cool marketing by AMC or the producers of the show, but actually they were accounts created by fans and AMC didn't like that. Now they've forced Twitter to take down the accounts.

The accounts affected include Don Draper, Peggy Olson, and Joan Holloway, though several other Twitters from other characters on the show seem to be safe (for now). The official word on it is that it was a copyright infringement problem.

This is really too bad. Some of the most creative, fun posts on Twitter are being done by fictional people (not just Mad Men but others as well). I would hope that AMC would hire some people to take over the accounts for each character, to be the official Twitter bloggers for the show. It's a great way to market it.

Update: AMC and Twitter have restored the accounts!

I was one of those thousands of geeks who lined up for a shiny new iPhone 3G last month. But I had a good reason! My boss told me to get it before I went on a trip, so I could test it out. Man, what a slave driver.

Anyway, if you yourself have an iPhone or iPod Touch, all of the blogs in our network have been given an iPhone-friendly look, via a specific URL: http://i.tvsquad.com/. As you can see from the image to the right, it's got that familiar iPhone-styled look for diving down into articles to read. Proceed on, and you can also read and leave comments.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

The marriage of the internet and television production continues to mature. The latest entry, launching this week, is Gemini Division. While it's too early to tell how the 50 episode saga is going to ultimately be received, it's still worth talking about. Gemini Division is another big step for the future of internet-based productions.

The show is being produced by NBC Universal Digital Studios, which, among other things, means a much larger budget. Something evident in the cast which includes the star of the show, Rosario Dawson. That's a pretty big name for what is ultimately another experiment in the medium. She's joined by Justin Hartley, Danny Woodburn, John Kapelos, Kevin Alejandro, Fransois Chau, and Elizabeth Bogush, among others. It's not exactly Ocean's 11, but those are all pretty recognizable actors.

Have you thought about creating a MySpace page but thought it was too general and want to make something that's a little more focused, something that celebrates something you're really interested in? You might want to join HoffSpace.

It's the new social network from David Hasselhoff. The Baywatch/Knight Rider/America's Got Talent star has set up a network on his site where fans from around the world can network with each other. Well, I don't think he actually set it up. I doubt he's in front of his computer at midnight doing HTML and making sure the servers are up, but it's on his site (if you're wondering, hoffspace.com is already taken by someone else).

There was a time during the early days of television where what happened on a scripted show remained within the confines of the small screen. Then came the wonderful world of the Internet and the amazing potential that it had. Soon enough, reality and imagination began to merge. Now, it's a near given that a TV show will utilize the Internet to maximize its viewing potential.

Take Psych for example. In a conversation that took place during last week's episode Shawn made reference to the fact that his father Henry was angry because he didn't have as many friends on Facebook as his son. Of course, that signaled the purveyors of the World Wide Superhighwaynet to take a look to see if it was true. Turns out, Shawn was correct: he has more friends than his father does. Henry only has two friends -- Shawn Spencer and Shawn Spencer. Poor Henry! Meanwhile, Shawn has a total of 50 friends over two different profiles.

However, neither of them can compare to one Burton "Gus" Guster. When it comes to friends on Facebook good ole Gus has a total of 108 on two profiles. Now we really know who everyone loves on Psych!

If there is one problem with the Olympics it's this: it's international. Now, hold off before you begin calling me a fascist, isolationist pig. All I'm saying here is the "globality" of this massive sporting event causes problems for television viewers who wait four years for the games to take place. This is particularly true when the Olympics take place halfway around the globe from the North American continent.

Take this year's event, being held in China. For those of us in the United States (and Canada, we can't forget about you), we are getting the back end of the coverage, since many of the events that will be broadcast on NBC will be pre-recorded from several hours before. Of course, if you are a die-hard Olympic fan, or fan of an individual personality, you can probably tune in during the wee hours of the morning to watch some events being covered by USA Network, MSNBC, or one of their various online outlets. You can also record these on your DVR, but that will destroy the feeling of watching them live. Meanwhile, your friends over in the Asia-Pacific region will mockingly text you and let you know who won the Archery competition before you watch it on TV. And, there's nothing that irks you more than knowing the Archery results ahead of time.

I know, I know, you're feeling dejected about the whole thing. Fret not, though, as there may be a solution thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet. Click ahead to read on.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• What Would Don Draper Do?
• Excellent! Robert Forster to play the Petrelli dad on Heroes.
• Mark Burnett has countersued the guy that was suing him.
• Check out the first single from David Archuleta's debut album.
• In advance of tonight's season finale of Robin Hood, Richard Armitage answers your questions.
• Help save Mister Rogers!
• Will Lance Bass get a male dancing partner on Dancing with the Stars?
• Which former ER star is coming back to the show in October?

And thousands of Heroes fans around the world say "well, duh."

Heroes creator Tim Kring admits that there might be a little bit too much going on in the show's universe. At a NATPE LATV Festival panel discussion, Kring says that there might be so much content going online -- and so many employees working on the online content -- that it sort of takes away from the experience of the show and the storyline, especially if you have a creative team working online that really isn't close to the team that works on the TV show. Sounds like he's referring (strongly) to the much-maligned second season of the show.

He also thinks that all of the product placement and corporate sponsorship that the show has doesn't help either.

Amazon and TiVo are teaming up to make short work of the infomercial. Well, that's not exactly how the companies are promoting the new "Product Purchase" feature. TiVo customers will be able to order items from Amazon using their TV, TiVo, and remote control. No web browser or computer necessary. And no need to place your order in the next 15 minutes to get a free bonus gift.

Users will see links to products popping up in various parts of the TiVo interface. For example, if you're looking at a listing for a late night talk show, you might find links to buy books, CDs, or DVDs from that night's guests.

The advantage of ordering from TiVo is that you can make impulse purchases while watching a program, while recording the rest of the program in the background for later viewing. Of course, as anyone with a penchant for picking up candy and trashy magazines in the grocery store checkout lane can tell you, it'd be nice to have the choice to opt-out of the service in order to avoid impulse purchases.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Best Week Ever lists the 10 Emmy nominations you should be psyched about.
• Nikki Finke has the latest on a possible strike, here and here.
• TV stars wear glasses and try to look smart.
• Hey kids, it's the trailer for High School Musical 3!
• Could Fringe be the big new hit of the fall?
• Remember those "what would you do for a Klondike Bar" commercials? They're holding a contest!
• Jimmy Fallon answers a bunch of odd questions.
• Too Much Free Time has been redesigned.
• An interview with Smallville executive producer Darren Swimmer about season eight.