why not re-encode it as good old standard Divx/Xvid & mp3 .avi?

That's strange. When i used to use my PSP to watch videos, I'd easily just plug in the PSP stick into the PS3 and the PS3 would play the MP4's without a problem... but then again.... I downloaded the AVI and converted myself so there was no DRM involved.

Yeah, I converted them using a program that was specifically meant to take out DRM's (TuneBite I think it was called, not at my computer anymore) but still haven't had any luck.

try to burn them into a cd (audio cd)
and rip them with the ps3.

Be aware that Quicktime is NOT the same as MP4. The MP4 container format was created as a subset of Quicktime, but a strict MP4 demuxer (like the one in the PS3) will not be able to play a Quicktime file.
If you want to play Quicktime files on your PS3 you must find a remuxer which can convert the files to ISO compliant MP4 files.

mp4box (http://www.videohelp.com/tools/mp4box) is a tool I heard people use for this (I use linux myself so I haven't tested mp4box myself)

LOL

that is just hilarious, Twesterm, a guy who spits as soon as he can on people against DRM and internet pirates, tries to make a pirated copy of a file to bypass DRM... and fails.

So what is your excuse for trying to bypass DRM? you bought the product so you should be able to use it as you like? You want to watch the file on your TV and not just your computer?
How is this different than people wanting to instal their games whenever or how many times they want?

It's interesting how selective people can be about standards when convenient.

Best and only legal ways to watch iTunes TV content on your TV is... buy iTV as your set top box, or move your PC into the living room/TV room (or build another PC media center) and hook it up, assuming you have a PC with HDMI out, or a TV with DVI in.

If not, and you still want to watch video downloads on your TV with your PS3 then... maybe the iTunes store is not the best place to buy your video media.

Download your favorite TV episodes through P2P recorded via DVR if it's that much of an issue.

Cracking the DRM on legit file purchases would be just as illegal.

My laptop actually has an HDMI port but there was no sound when I hooked it up. I would actually much prefer to watch these things on my PS3 or 360 but just haven't had any luck.

Any idea why I wasn't getting any sound when I hooked up my laptop to my TV through the HDMI port? I thought I had just needed that one cable.

That was the general idea of HDMI in the first place: DVI with audio.

I've used the HDMI out port on my video card to connect with my TV, but same thing: no sound output. Probably because it's only pushing the video signal, not to say that there isn't a way to configure the sound to output as well that I haven't bothered to figure out.

I'll have to do a little sleuthing, but my initial guess is that the HDMI ports on *some* PCs are more like convenience ports for additional video output for the purpose of connecting to HDMI only displays.

Some PC monitors today have replaced DVI ports with HDMI ports (2 HDMI ports, 0 DVI ports and a legacy VGA port), which is somewhat odd.

The cobbled set up I've used is the same as the DVI/audio out to DVI/audio in solution; still uses two cables, regardless of whether using the HDMI or DVI ports. Kind of pointless.

Does your laptop specify whether it sends out audio through its HDMI port? Sounds like a really stupid question, since it should be a given, but since it's not working plug and play style...

I was under the impression that laptops with Blu-Ray players for instance, could use their HDMI ports to send the AV signal to an HDMI TV.

I'll have to look around tonight on my laptop, I only fiddled with it for a little bit last night. If all else fails I can do what I use to do with my old laptop and use a cable through the headphones jack and hook that up to my TV. Nice surround sound is, er, nice, but I can live without it for one episode.

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it!