The Sharpe Company, the licensing agent and consultant that manages Gerry Anderson's  Thunderbirds property in the US, has announced that an alliance with Tech TV is in the works.  Sharpe President Charles Day said, 'Thunderbirds are back!  TechTV will provide a national entertainment hub for the property that is perfect in today's media-savvy world, in which the Internet is playing such a major role.'  The TechTV presence will be both on the cable network and on its Website.  Irwin will be producing Thunderbirds action figures, vehicles, and playsets based on the British science fiction puppet hit for the North American market.  Although it's never been huge in the US, the Thunderbirds' weird retro funkiness may make it a good fit for the techno crowd that saw it on TV as kids.