Twitter + Television = Twitter-vision?

If you've spent the morning searching for a flight to L.A. so you can be first in line to audition for Twitter's new TV show, I have good news and bad news for you.

A few days ago, breathless reports of a new Twitter TV show began to surface but have since been roundly denied by its co-founder Biz Stone. The reality is that while the folks at Twitter have signed an agreement with a production company, it's not an exclusive contract and leaves the door open for shows to use Twitter in a variety of ways.

Twitter on TV? Well, the idea has possibilities:

Survivor Tweet: Contestants have 140-characters to explain why they shouldn't be voted off the island. Outwit. Outlast. OutTweet.

Who Wants to be a Twillionaire: Contestants can phone-a-friend or type-a-Tweet when Regis stumps them with a question (no re-Tweeting allowed).

American Tweeters: Contestants Tweet on a BlackBerry as eloquently as they can for three minutes, then get insulted by Simon Cowell. Winner gets a year's worth of carpal tunnel treatments.

For the kids: Spongebob Tweetpants and his animated friends teach kids about hashtags and perform skits with the Fail Whale.

All kidding aside, I'm actually rather happy to see Twitter making its way onto the small screen. One key to the wide-spread adoption of social media tools like Twitter is to make them familiar to more than just tech-heads and geeks, and television is a perfect vehicle for that.

There's been plenty of speculation about how Twitter intends to make money and contractual agreements of this ilk may hint at the company's broader plans. Product placement on television is a proven marketing strategy, as is audience interaction. It seems to me that reaching a public saturation point via TV can't help but make Twitter some cash.

Of course it will probably be a while before we see the big picture (so to speak), so go ahead and buy those plane tickets. You might make it to Hollywood in time for the casting call of CSI: Twitterverse.

What benefits (or drawbacks) come to mind when you think of Twitter on the tube? Let me know in the comments.