This week, ‘Fringe’ and ‘Glee’ will be all a-Twitter

Is that a Twitter you see on your TV screen?

If you watch Fox’s “Fringe” rerun on Thursday or a repeat of the “Glee” pilot on Friday, it will be.

As in many other sectors of American society, Twitter has become all the rage in the television industry, with networks and studios using the snappy, direct communication with viewers to promote shows, while writers and actors tweet their hearts out on sound stages from Los Angeles to New York.

But in an unusual use of social media, Fox will feature on-screen Twitter feeds -- “tweet-peats” -- by producers and actors during the broadcasts of “Fringe” at 9 p.m. Thursday and “Glee” at 9 p.m. Friday. (This is a repeat of the “Glee” pilot that previewed in May, not the “special director’s cut” that airs on Fox at 9 p.m. Wednesday).

During the episodes, viewers will be able to follow the cast and producers’ tweets online via Twitter and on the air via a scroll on the lower third of the screen. The actors and producers will provide commentary, answer questions and offer insights about the coming season.

The “Fringe” participants will be executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman and actors Joshua Jackson and John Noble. The “Glee” participants will be actors Lea Michele, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley and Chris Colfer.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez