Nbc Puts ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’ On The Internet
A naked corpse. A detective’s notebook. A prostitute’s rap sheet. Fingerprints. Yellowed cellophane tape.
Net surfers who click into the NBC Web site (http://www.NBC.com) this week will find more than just publicity photos of Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.
The peacock network has launched an interactive online spinoff of its acclaimed drama “Homicide: Life on the Street.” The online series (part of “Homicide: Life Online,” naturally) includes provocative crime-scene photos, saucy dialogue, creepy sound effects and a grim account of a serial murder in Baltimore. It also carries a warning urging parents to keep kids off the site.
Called “Second Shift,” the interactive series marks a first-of-its-kind marriage of the information superhighway and the established television community.
If successful, other online shows will surely follow, says producer Tom Hjelm.
“It’s a first step,” he says.
The online series is similar to the TV show in its dark, gritty look and story lines that examine the seedy underbelly of society.
But its characters are different. The cops featured in the interactive “Homicide” are the officers who come to work after the detectives in the TV show go home.
The online detectives sit behind the same desks as the show’s cops, but work on different crimes unrelated to the TV drama.
Users, in fact, can work on the “Second Shift’s” cases, too. In the initial episode, clicking here and there on the screen exposes clues to solving a string of prostitute killings.
NBC has two purposes in developing the series: It brings publicity to the TV “Homicide,” a critics’ favorite largely overlooked by audiences; and it creates a new product for advertisers to get behind.
For now, it also gives “Homicide” fans a place to go while the show is on hiatus. It returns to its 10 p.m. Friday time slot (NBC Channel 4) in April, just in time for May sweeps.
“Homicide” was selected as the first online series because the show already has a loyal following on the Internet, Hjelm says. Also, “Homicide’s” producers - Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana and Julie Martin - were “enthusiastic” about the idea, he adds.
“We have a very good relationship with the producers, and they’ve given us unprecedented access to the show,” he says.