Elaine Cassidy, star of CBS' new midseason murder mystery, "Harper's Island," was born and raised in Ireland, where she taped her winning audition in her Dublin living room. If she told you where she was now, CBS would have to kill you.
"Normally, I'm not this secretive," said Cassidy on the phone from an undisclosed studio. "Even just e-mailing friends and family, they have questions about what you're doing, and you can't really answer them."
To reveal Cassidy's -- or any cast member's -- current location, producers fear, would tip their hand as to how long said actor's character survived, and with "Harper's Island," such a misstep could prove fatal. The network sees its drama, which premieres on April 9, as a 13-part mystery event, a sort of romance-crime show-"Ten Little Indians" hybrid, in which each week a different head rolls. Executive producer Jon Turteltaub -- who also was behind two seasons of "Jericho" at the network -- is thinking bigger.
"I don't know whether it's a mega-series versus a miniseries or a macro-series versus a micro-series -- I don't know how to put it," he said. "It's the notion of taking something like 'Friday the 13th' and combining it with 'Survivor.'
"Reality shows really changed the way we watch television, and the dramatic programs haven't yet figured out how to capitalize on what the reality shows discovered in the audience's viewing habits."
The unscripteds, he believes, created a demand for self-contained event programming that scripted entertainment could easily fill, and networks are just beginning to understand that.
"When we pitched the show they kept asking us, 'What about Season 2, what about Season 2?' And we kept saying, 'Season 2 would be a whole new story, a whole new cast, a whole new adventure,' which is really fun for an audience. . . . And light bulbs started to go off."
It wasn't hard to see the light, according to Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment.
"Jon Turteltaub is our 'treasure,' " she wrote in an e-mail. "We knew this idea developed and produced under his banner would be different and exciting, while reflecting those elements that work on our schedule." After all, CBS does have a way with crime dramas, but "there is also a strong emotional hook to the story -- Abby's return home to confront her past," Tassler continued. "Our audience responds to themes of redemption and second chances."
