Maybe it’s the strength of Nathan Fillion’s performance of “Richard Castle,” or maybe it’s the scope and skill from the writers of “Castle,” but the writer at the centre of prime-time procedural “Castle” has such a distinct character voice, with such a richly detailed backstory, that it almost seems effortless to create a believable website for this character.

RichardCastle.net is the official homepage for Richard Castle, a long-time author who has found inspirado shadowing a foxy NYPD cop. His site contains a blog which sees the writer reflecting on each week’s case, from lessons he’s learned, to sharing easter eggs such as wedding programs and other photos. The rest of the site includes a self-written bio, a Q&A, and a complete listing of his books, including the “out of print” editions that may not have covers (yet), but live on in proper “Castle” chronology. 

I love that the site also links out to Richard Castle’s Hyperion books author page (which to their credit, doesn’t break the conceit) as well as his Twitter and Facebook profile. But the best part of the whole thing is that they keep Castle’s voice consistent and active through every page, so you really feel like this is his site, and that he would say/write all of these things. 

And now, after reading Frank Rose’s “Art of Illusion,” I also appreciate one aspect of “Castle” that has made the show such a true transmedia hit; The world of “Castle” is richly detailed with a very specific mythology and well thought out, which makes world-extension natural and satisfying from a fan perspective. On the surface, “Castle” is another buddy-cop police procedural with a will-they-or-won’t-they storyline at the heart of it. The NYPD cops themselves don’t have too rich of a world of their own (besides New York city itself), they function just as players in solving weekly mysteries, but Castle… Castle is the perfect vessel for multi-platform storytelling. 

It comes down to details… and with TV, we can get those details episodically, morsel by morsel, because it’s not constrained by running time like films. And as those details come out, mythology is built… and it’s up to the creators of these shows to have at least some idea of what these details mean, or else it just adds up to one big shaggy dog story, ala “Lost” or “Prison Break.”

But Castle, as a man with many passions, experiences, friends in low places, high places, memories, talents, and a career, becomes a larger-than-life foil that can’t be contained through the episodic broadcast alone! And because he has all these things, he can name drop something without having to explain it in a big way, and that allows fans to imagine what that thing he named could be. A good example are the old book titles… he doesn’t go into what each old book was about, but fans can imagine. Then, a site like RichardCastle.net takes it that much further by creating a chronology and synopsis for all these Castle titles, allowing fans to go beyond “What’s it about,” to “What could happen”? In my opinion, this is when TV sites work best, and I love “Castle” and all the platforms they branch out to in order to bring one of the best characters on TV today to life. 

(Source: richardcastle.net)

To promote their new series, “The River,” ABC launched “Exploretheriver.com,” an interactive experience when pointing-and-clicking on various objects revealed videos, photos, “scares” and tweets related to “The River.” It also connects with your Facebook, and will give you a mission to look for your friends around the boat, as well as pull in a few of your photos. 

While it looks really awesome, and includes lots of interesting videos, the only problem I have with it, is that the “Find your friends” element just seems really shoe-horned in there, and in finding out more about the show, the “FB Connect” element seemed unnecessary. But despite that, it does a great job at introducing sets from the series, as well as some of the bigger mysteries about “the source,” as well as being true to the show’s aesthetic.

(Source: exploretheriver.com)

I’ve just caught up and finished the first season of “Homeland,” and it was incredible. Probably one of the better shows on “Showtime,” maybe even the best as “Dexter” continues to wane. I may disagree with the decision about what happened to “the terrorist,” which to me makes a way less compelling season two, but the first season works as a nice standalone story on its own anyways. Claire Danes is truly amazing in the lead role as CIA agent Carrie, and goes into really challenging territory exploring Carrie’s mental illness.

So let’s talk about web extensions! The first I want to look at with “Homeland” is their “polygraph” test, which is really well done. It has Facebook integration, and makes use of your web cam/microphone as well.

“Lie Detectors” seem like a bit of cliche when it comes to the “intelligence” genre, but what I like here is that this experience fits in with one of the earlier storylines from “Homeland,” which suggests that the web producers must have been working closely with the producers of the series to get a jump on content like this, especially considering the complexity of the “game.” 

It may not necessarily have much “narrative” to the experience and sits more in the “bonus/extra” territory, but its still fun and unique.

(Source: sho.com)

With an audience that’s hugely involved in social media, CBC’s Heartland extended its show into Facebook with it’s own “Farmville” type game, where audiences become ranchers. In “Heartland Ranch,” you’re given a farm house and a plot of land, and from there you plant crops, build silos, shop at Maggie’s and because this is “Heartland,” you spend a great deal of time with horses, from healing them, to training them and taking wannabe cowboys out on a dude-ranch trail ride.

Illustrated versions of characters from the show appear in game to give gamers tips on how to run their ranch, and give them a variety of challenges they need to complete. Weekly challenges are tied into episodic content from the show, so if Jack is seen riding on the tractor picking up hay in one episode, players are tasked to harvest their own hay for rewards. 

However, the game can’t be played in a bubble, friends need to have other friends involved in the game to really get the most out of it, in order to request items from their in-game neighbours to complete various elements.

The ranches also changes with the season, with bright red and orange colours decorating the trees in the fall, and white coats of snow descending in winter. There are special accessories you can purchase as well.

CBC created the game in partnership with OverInteractive Media Inc. (OMI), SEVEN24 Films Dynamo Films and the Bell New Media Fund.

(Source: cbc.ca)