On television, CBS’s The Big Bang Theory is a traditional, half-hour sitcom about two super-smart dweebs fumbling around their sexy neighbour. On the Internet, that premise is cut to its essence on “Talk Nerdy 2 Me,” a series of clips from the show that last for less than two minutes.

They’re the creation of Eyelab, a small division within CBS Corp.—all of its workers under 30 years of age—whose job it is to slice and dice the network’s programming and distribute it online.

Eyelab produces 20 to 50 clips each week to give to nearly 200 websites, like AOL, MSN, Juiced, CNet, Bebo and dozens more that are part of CBS and its affiliates. The idea is to draw attention to the TV shows by using a form of entertainment that can be enjoyed independently.

Some of what Eyelab produces look much like the promos commonly seen on television. Others offer amusing twists: a compendium of slaps doled out on How I Met Your Mother; the various times David Caruso dramatically removes his sunglasses on CSI: Miami; and “Smut Whisperer,” a clip of dialogue from Ghost Whisperer with words bleeped out to pretend the characters are talking dirty.

Eyelab offered a fast-moving 100 reasons to love the just-cancelled Jericho, including “chicks screaming in sign language,” “the only cyber-cafe in Kansas” and “high-tech umbrellas.”

Ron Scalera, executive vice-president and creative director for CBS Marketing Group, said he specifically went after people with no mainstream advertising experience. He wanted people who saw the world differently.

“The bottom line is we just don’t want to create something that you can see anywhere else,” said Scalera.

CBS believes strongly most computer users prefer short material to watching a full episode of a television program. People might spend 40 minutes on YouTube, but they’re watching two-minute clips, said Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive.

Smith was intrigued some time ago when he found the Seven-Minute Sopranos on the web—a lightning-fast compilation that summed up the series’ storylines, one minute per season.

He tracked down the person who made it, a recent college graduate from Connecticut, and called to offer him a job. “He said, ‘I would love to, but I’ve just started a job at HBO,’ ” Smith said.

Eyelab was also busy a few weeks ago posting clips of Britney Spears’ guest shot on How I Met Your Mother, with the buzz around that appearance succeeding in lifting the show’s viewership by about a million people.

CBS believes the online content does not steal away TV viewers. Smith noted how the CBS SportsLine website has spikes in users while the network is showing NCAA tournament basketball action, meaning many people are checking out something on the computer the same time as they’re watching a game.

“They are massively complementary,” Smith said. “People do not watch the same thing on the Net as they do on television.”