UnREAL, one of this summer’s breakaway hits, is a comedic but almost frightening parody of the popular dating reality show archetype.

Lifetime’s summer comedic/reality/drama breaks boundaries of genre, and audiences as well, so the network wasn’t entirely sure how its audience would respond. The show follows the cast and crew of a reality dating series, so viewers transcend Scandal-like drama and the reality dating world of The Bachelor, while also appreciating a good parody.

The social team found that rave reviews were being posted online once people saw the premiere episode, so they knew that once they got people to watch, others would follow suit. Seeing that strength in the show, Lifetime dropped the show’s first four episodes online to encourage binge viewing, but had to attract viewers back to the series when the fifth episode went live.

The question then became how to lure in viewers to appointment viewing using what Lifetime’s VP of Social Media Ann Marie Granite is calling “appointment social.”

Lifetime knew it wanted to do something special with UnREAL’s talent, and having experimented with Periscope for its show Bring It, decided the platform would be a perfect launch pad for the show’s fifth episode.

Partnering with Marie Claire, Lifetime’s PR department set up a Periscope with the cast during the episode at Constance Zimmer’s house (UnREAL’s badass executive producer of the faux reality show Everlasting, Quinn).

“Marie Claire allowed us to get an audience we were not getting,” said Granite. “And it helped fans form an emotional connection with the characters.”

Marie Claire posted the Periscope, with Lifetime and the cast all pushing their followers to it. The Periscope was a huge success for UnREAL, with social engagement jumping 81 percent that week. UnREAL is also bringing in Lifetime’s youngest audience ever, with a nod toward the reality genre much of its audience know and love.

It was so successful, in fact, that Lifetime was able to secure more press partners for future Periscopes, including Entertainment Weekly’s for the finale on Aug. 3. The network also has plans for a Periscope for its upcoming season finale of Devious Maids.

And for UnREAL, Periscope is not where the social stopped. From the very beginning, Lifetime knew that the show would provide excellent social fodder for several platforms, the social team just had to wait and see where it performed best. So they took a look at the content they had and created social versions of everything.

“We didn’t know what would work when we first went into UnREAL,” said Granite. “It was nothing like anything we’ve ever done before, and it pulled the curtain on reality TV, which is kind of the bread and butter for us too.”

Most of this content lives on the Everlasting social hub, a site launched close the launch of the show where fans could find information about the show, but also the show within the show.

This was the place to meet the suitor, meet the contestants, meet the crew. Lifetime included character bios, quotes, memes, Vines, GIFs – all for fans to see and share.

“From there, we hoped to get feedback to see what was working really well on what platforms,” said Granite. “But from a social standpoint, we were everywhere and we created everything.”

She added that Lifetime always knew certain aspects of the show would stand out, it was just a matter of which ones would take off on a week-by-week basis. For example, Quinn is a very quotable character, and memes and GIFs of her moments exploded on Twitter.

UnREAL has since been renewed for season two, so Lifetime’s job is ramping up this summer, keeping fans engaged and curious/casual fans hooked so they return next year.

So what is the network’s take on Periscope? Granite says the platform is primarily being used at Lifetime for its most passionate fan bases – the groups who will tune in for “appointment social.”

“I think since it’s such a small group of people right now, it’s all about the early adapters,” she said.

Lifetime is planning a similar press partnership for the Devious Maids finale Periscope on Aug. 24.

“Fans who are passionate enough take that extra effort to into Periscope,” said Granite. “It just feels a lot more personal than seeing a cast’s tweets.”

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