CBS is taking real-time social engagement to a new level for an upcoming episode of its drama “Hawaii Five-0.” During the new episode to air Monday, January 14, a professor at a local college will be murdered, and the three suspects are his TA, his boss and one of his students. viewers will be able to vote on who they think did it on CBS.com and on Twitter. The suspect with the most votes will be revealed as the guilty party at the end of the episode.
CBS will conduct the experiment twice times that night, once for the eastern and central time zones, and again for the west coast. The alternate endings will be posted on CBS.com for those curious.
“I’ve always felt the most fun aspect of watching a mystery is trying to figure out ‘whodunit,’” says Executive Producer Peter Lenkov in a statement. “Now the ‘Hawaii Five-0’ viewers will actually get the chance to tell us who they think committed the crime and we will listen. I love that our dedicated and attentive fans will actually play a part in resolving our story.”
Real-time social engagement on TV shows is not new, but with the exception of live talk-shows and live specials, fans of programs on social media have not really had the chance to affect the content of their favorite programs.
The “Hawaii Five-0” experiment is a bold one for CBS, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.