This is the way the Internet is supposed to work: Something amazing happens on TV on Thursday night and everyone talks about it, and watches it, on the Web on Friday.

Today’s example: David Letterman’s startling admission, broadcast on his CBS show last night, that a network employee had tried to extort him.

That’s something you’re going to want to watch, right? And sure enough, the world’s largest video site obliges, even if it’s a little bit unwilling.

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Here’s the big media deal everyone has been waiting for. Or at least, here’s the report: Sharon Waxman of TheWrap reports that cable giant Comcast is buying all of NBC Universal from GE for $35 billion. Comcast says the report is “inaccurate.”

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Don’t say they didn’t warn you: Last week, Yahoo formally rolled out its new $100 million-plus marketing campaign. Today, the TV ads begin. Here’s what you’ll be getting if you watch AMC, ESPN, USA, Comedy Central, Bravo or any of the broadcast networks in the U.S.

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Yes, Viacom is still suing Google for a billion dollars, because it says too many of its videos showed up on YouTube. But that doesn’t mean Viacom and Google can’t work together to prevent the cable giant’s videos from showing up on YouTube.
Want to see this in action? Go to YouTube and try to find a clip of the Kanye West/Taylor Swift/Beyoncé incident from Sunday night’s Video Music Awards.

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Pumped for some pigskin this Sunday? Me too. But actually watching a game this weekend, or most of the year, may be tricky for a big swath of the NFL’s fans. Will they be forced to look in the Web’s dark corners to get their fixes?

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College Humor dude Ricky Van Veen has graduated from his old gig to a new one, running a TV and Web video production company for Barry Diller. But he’s not leaving his old crew behind: They’re about to pack up and follow him to Diller’s IAC headquarters.

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There is no shortage of places to watch TV shows free on the Web. There’s a glut of them, really. But here comes another: AT&T Entertainment. How is it different than Hulu, TV.com, Sling.com, Fancast, etc.? It’s not.

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Sure, you’re watching lots of video on the Web. But that doesn’t mean you’re cutting back on your boob-tube time. At least not yet.

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Big, beautiful high-def TVs are so plentiful and so cheap that nearly everyone who wants one has one. So what can TV manufacturers do to goose sales? Add new features and hope consumers clamor for them.

Hence, Sony’s announcement that it’s making a big bet on…3-D TVs. CEO Howard Stringer is using the IFA Technology Show in Berlin to announce that Sony will make 3-D Bravia sets.

And 3-D Vaio laptops. And 3-D PlayStation3s. And 3-D Blu-ray DVD players.

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In order to move from money pit to profit center, YouTube has to spend less, which is hard for the site to talk about. And it needs to sell more ads on more videos–which YouTube is happy to talk about. Hence, yesterday’s news that YouTube would start selling against “viral videos.”

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Another feather for the “we’ve got real stuff” cap that YouTube is showing off these days: Google’s video site has hammered out a deal with Time Warner to show clips from the media conglomerate’s cable networks, TV shows and movies. But you won’t be seeing full-length shows or movies from Time Warner on the world’s biggest video site–it’s saving those for cable companies that play along with its “TV Everywhere” plan.

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Yet another sign that revenue-free start-ups can still attract investors, given the right pitch: Boxee, the software company that makes it easy to get Web video onto your TV, has raised a $6 million B round led by General Catalyst. I’m told the new round pegs the company’s value in the $25 million to $30 million range. What’s the appeal? The chance that the company could play a role in the disruption of the $70 billion TV business.

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As predicted, TV ad sales are down. And as predicted, TV networks are hoping they come back sometime in the next year, along with the economy. In the meantime, what do cheap TV ad prices do for Web video sales?

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Yet another addition to the growing list of programmers signing on to Comcast’s “On Demand Online”: CBS will join the cable provider’s trial program, which will allow subscribers to get Web access to shows they get on TV.

CBS will join previously announced partners Time Warner, which is offering up programming from its Turner channels and HBO; Liberty Media’s Starz, and smaller players like Scripps, Rainbow and A&E. The twist is that CBS is the only broadcaster to sign up for the trial.

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Let’s be honest. You’re not getting anything productive done with the rest of the day. Why not sit back and watch a couple of interesting ads before the weekend starts?

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