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Any tripod will work.  Any camera with a remote will work as well, though digital will be easier when you composite everything.  You won't need more than 800x600 resolution on the pics (TV is 720 x I can't remember... 540?), but some sort of remote shutter button would be a boon.  Many digital cameras come with a remote control to do that.  If you don't have one, just be careful not to move the camera when you snap the pics, and in that case a very sturdy tripod would be better than an el cheapo model like I have. 

You could composite the pics inot a movie with software as simple as QT Pro.

The only other thing that you need is a whole lot of patience.  Stop motion takes a lot of time to do, and you'd be better off (much better off) by taking more frames than you need as opposed to less.  It can be a real pain to line everything up the way it was just to add a few frames you could have just shot in the first place.

Hmmm... well, without a remote I'd go with a very sturdy tripod.  It ought to do the job as long as you're careful.

I remember the old mechanical remotes that were a lot like a springy syringe type thing.  In fact, I think there's one at my Dad's house.  Though I doubt your camera has a receptacle for one of those. 

You know, we have a claymation studio at our school, and sometimes I help them out.  Basically, it's A LOT easier to do this with a video camera.  With nice ones like the Sony 900 or 950, you can even have it automatically only record 5 seconds.  So you go rec. it records 5 secs and stops.  You move the clay, do it again, and speed the whole thing up later.

So basically, you want a good tripod, a DV Camcorder and a remote.  The nicer ones like the 950 are around $2500, so you should probably just go with a low end one, and just time the 5 secs on a stopwatch.  It won't be exact, so the motion might look kind of bizarre, but it will be acceptable if you are very precise.

Thx for the tips everyone.   I came up with a script for a Mac spoof (not  switcher).  The  first scene is basically roughed out in my mind, but I bet people would want to know what comes next.   On the other hand, maybe just one scene is enough.