US broadcast network, CBS, has announced plans for an advertising-sponsored, week-long "micro-series," entitled "The Courier." The first episode of the series, which will be 60-seconds long, will debut on CBS on January 24th, some time after 9:00PM, during the first-act break of the popular crime show, "CSI: Miami." The remaining episodes--which will be 40-seconds long and which will also run in the first-act breaks of CBS shows that begin at 9:00PM (except on Sunday, January 29th, when "The Courier" will air immediately after "Cold Case")--will be presented on seven nights over nine days (no episodes will air on Saturday, January 28th or on Tuesday, January 31st). The series' finale will air on Wednesday, February 1st, during "Criminal Minds."
After watching each broadcast episode of "The Courier"--which, according to CBS, tells the story of "a mystery man named 'iiro' who races against time to uncover clues and perform a sequence of death-defying tasks in a desperate attempt to rescue his kidnapped wife"--viewers will be able to go to CBS.com to find out more about "iiro" (who is actually a real person--a fairly well-known magician and BASE jumper) and his adventures: the Web site will offer each episode for viewing on-demand after its broadcast, and, according to CBS, will "flesh out [the show's] cryptic narrative via rich video and text components." In addition, CBS says, the site will provide a second, interactive storyline with its own set of clues, which will offer viewers the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a Pontiac Torrent automobile (note: Pontiac is the sole sponsor of "The Courier": a commercial for the car will run at the end of each episode, and the car will also be incorporated into the storylines of three of the episodes). Each episode of the micro-series will also be available on-demand on Verizon's V Cast mobile TV service. According to CBS, "The Courier" is the brainchild of producer, animator and conceptual designer, Pete Pepe; it is produced by Plum Productions and Sam Swisher, and was directed by Gavin Bowden.
(Note: this article was published in the January 18th issue of the InteractiveTV Today [itvt] email newsletter.)
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