''FreakyLinks'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series that combined elements of horror, mystery, and

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

. It was created by Gregg Hale and David S. Goyer (under the pseudonym Ricardo Festiva), and aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

from October 6, 2000 until June 22, 2001, for a total run of 13 episodes. The feel of the show closely modeled that of ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'' and other supernatural-themed shows that were popular at the time.

Setting and plot

''FreakyLinks'' centered on Derek Barnes (played by

Ethan Embry Ethan Embry (born June 13, 1978), credited early in his career as Ethan Randall, is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, starring roles in the films '' Dutch'' (1991), '' All I Want for Christmas'' (1991), and '' A Far Off Pl ...

), who, assisted by his friends Chloe ( Lisa Sheridan) and Jason (Karim Prince), ran a

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

called "FreakyLinks.com" that sought out the dark and forbidden truths behind

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

phenomena and

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

s. Derek took over the site after his twin brother, Adam, died under mysterious circumstances. The show's episodes revolved around Derek and his friends investigating supernatural claims for the website and uncovering clues that might reveal the truth of his brother's fate.

Cast

as Derek Barnes / Adam Barnes * Lisa Sheridan as Chloe Tanner * Karim Prince as Jason Tatum * Lizette Carrion as Lan Williams *

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher Carrelli (born December 2, 1950) is a retired American actor whose film credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990), and '' Django Unchained'' (2012). Ear ...

as Vince J. Elsing

Production and marketing

''FreakyLinks'', originally titled ''Fearsum'' until a few months before airing, was developed by Haxan, the creators of the film ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. One of the most successful independent films of all time, it is a " found footage" pseudo-docume ...

''. Haxan decided to follow a marketing strategy similar to Blair Witch's and created a website, long before the show was set to air, called "Freakylinks.com," which was cleverly designed to look like an amateurish, home-brew website made by real-life paranormal enthusiasts. The website was fairly successful and seemed to create some amount of "buzz," but this did not translate into high ratings when the show finally aired. The show went on hiatus for a few months before returning to the air to finish out the season, but it was not renewed for the next fall television season. An online

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

was created to ask the Fox Network to bring the show back for another season; however, this was unsuccessful.

Legacy

In 2006, Lisa Sheridan reflected on the show:

“That was a blast. Probably the most fun thing about the show was that as part of the storyline, all our characters carried around video cameras wherever they went. There were portions of each script that our characters shot on video, and the show’s producers realized pretty quickly that it was far too time-consuming to have a cameraman dress up as one of us and shoot those sequences as opposed to us doing it ourselves. So little by little my fellow actors, Ethan Embry, Karim Prince, Lizette Carrion, and I wound up shooting a chunk of each episode. Funnily enough, there was a lot of improv on the show because of that. We’d be playing around with different shots and the editors would like what they saw and keep it in the show.”

Ethan Embry was also very enthusiastic about the show and said “people like it“: “I had a lot of fun making it. It was the Blair Witch guys that created that show. And when we did the pilot, it was a lot darker tone-wise. It was more about suicide and the devil and the Antichrist, but when they picked it up, a new showrunner came on and they scrapped the whole devil idea and made it a little more like popcorn fare. I think that decision was fine, but they were consistently trying to figure that show out the entire time we were working on it.“

Episodes

References

''Los Angeles Times''''Entertainment Weekly''''NY Daily News''''The Western Courier''''Entertainment Weekly''''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present''

External links

Freakylinks.com
– The original Freakylinks.com website, now part of Haxan's portfolio * * {{David S. Goyer 2000 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 2000s American comedy-drama television series 2000s American comic science fiction television series 2000s American horror comedy television series 2000s American mystery television series American English-language television shows Television series created by David S. Goyer Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series created by Gregg Hale (filmmaker) Fiction about urban legends Works about the Internet Television series by Haxan Films Fox Broadcasting Company comedy-dramas