Method and apparatus for coordinating an interactive computer game with a broad-cast television program

In order to allow viewers to interact with a television broadcast, a central control establishes a virtual environment in which viewers participate with characters designed by them. Viewers can create a character with the aid of a computer and then submit the character to the television show on disk or transmit the character via a web site. In order to create characters, a user "preprograms" a character by setting certain parameters and characteristics. Thereafter, the character would operate autonomously. During the television broadcast, some of the characters submitted to the television show or web site can be selected for appearance on the show by any conventional means, such as by lottery, sequentially or based on the merits of characters submitted to the television show, etc. Characters may also be submitted before the show and selected based on a "virtual interview."