FreakyLinks
{{more footnotes needed|date=November 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| alt_name =
| genre = Horror
Mystery
Comedy
Science fiction
| creator = Gregg Hale
Ricardo Festiva
| developer =
| writer =
| director =
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = Ethan Embry
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer =
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 13
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer =
| editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 60 minutes
| company = Haxan Films
Regency Television
20th Century Fox Television
| channel = Fox
| first_aired = {{start date|2000|10|6}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2001|6|22}}
| related =
}}
FreakyLinks is an American science fiction series that combined elements of horror, mystery, and comedy. It was created by Gregg Hale and David S. Goyer (under the pseudonym Ricardo Festiva), and aired on Fox 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 and other supernatural-themed shows that were popular at the time.
Setting and plot
FreakyLinks centered on Derek Barnes (played by Ethan Embry), who, assisted by his friends Chloe (Lisa Sheridan) and Jason (Karim Prince), ran a website called "FreakyLinks.com" that sought out the dark and forbidden truths behind paranormal phenomena and urban legends.
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
- Ethan Embry as Derek Barnes / Adam Barnes
- Lisa Sheridan as Chloe Tanner
- Karim Prince as Jason Tatum
- Lizette Carrion as Lan Williams
- Dennis Christopher 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.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2000/tv/news/net-pilot-slates-filling-for-fall-1117776282/ |title= Net pilot slates filling for fall |publisher=Variety|access-date=October 20, 2024}}
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.{{cite book |last1=Higley |first1=Sarah |last2=Weinstock |first2=Jeffrey |title=Nothing that is: Millennial Cinema and the Blair Witch Controversies |date=2004 |isbn=0814330649 |page=78|publisher=Wayne State University Press }}
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 was created to ask the Fox Network to bring the show back for another season; however, this was unsuccessful.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
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.”{{cite web | url=https://scifiandtvtalk.typepad.com/scifiandtvtalk/2012/05/sci-fi-blast-from-the-past-lisa-sheridan-invasion.html | title=Sci-Fi Blast from the Past - Lisa Sheridan (Invasion) }}
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.“{{cite web | url=https://dailydead.com/interview-ethan-embry-on-the-devils-candy-his-time-on-the-walking-dead-and-freakylinks/ | title=Interview: Ethan Embry on THE DEVil's CANDY, His Time on THE WALKING DEAD, and FREAKYLINKS | date=14 March 2017 }}
Episodes
{{No plot|section|date=August 2021}}
{{Episode table
|background = #74d898
|overall = 5
|title = 30
|titleR = From the Writers Guild of America, West catalog: {{cite web |url=https://apps.wga.org/coveredprojects/default.aspx |title=Signatory Project Confirmation [search: "FreakyLinks"] |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West |access-date=2017-11-14}}
|director = 15
|writer = 25
|airdate = 15
|airdateR =
|prodcode = 10
|episodes =
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 1
|Title = Subject: Fearsum
|AltTitle = Pilot
|DirectedBy = Todd Holland
|WrittenBy = Gregg Hale & Ricardo Festiva
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|6}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF79
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 2
|Title = Subject: Threethirteen
|DirectedBy = Stephen Cragg
|WrittenBy = Michael R. Perry
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|13}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF02
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 3
|Title = Subject: Edith Keeler Must Die
|DirectedBy = David Straiton
|WrittenBy = Juan Carlos Coto
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|20}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF03
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 4
|Title = Subject: Coelacanth This!
|DirectedBy = Jef Levy
|WrittenBy = Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|10|27}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF01
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 5
|Title = Subject: Desert Squid! Myth or Legend?
|DirectedBy = Scott Lautanen
|WrittenBy = Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2000|11|3}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF04
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 6
|Title = Subject: The Harbingers
|DirectedBy = Jay Tobias
|WrittenBy = Juan Carlos Coto
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|1|5}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF05
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 7
|Title = Subject: Still I Rise
|DirectedBy = Joe Napolitano
|WrittenBy = Adisa Iwa
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|1|12}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF06
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 8
|Title = Subject: Me and My Shadow
|DirectedBy = Thomas Wright
|WrittenBy = Mark Verheiden
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|1|19}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF07
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 9
|Title = Subject: The Stone Room
|DirectedBy = David Grossman
|WrittenBy = Juan Carlos Coto
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|1|26}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF08
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 10
|Title = Subject: Live Fast, Die Young
|DirectedBy = David Barrett
|WrittenBy = Michael R. Perry
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|6|1}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF10
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 11
|Title = Subject: Police Siren
|DirectedBy = Randy Miller
|WrittenBy = Adisa Iwa
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|6|8}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF11
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 12
|Title = Subject: Sunrise at Sunset Streams
|DirectedBy = Bill Norton
|WrittenBy = Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|6|15}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF09
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 13
|Title = Subject: The Final Word
|DirectedBy = David Straiton
|WrittenBy = Mark Verheiden
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2001|6|22}}
|ProdCode = 1AEF12
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 74d898
}}
}}
References
{{reflist}}
- [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-01-tv-30676-story.html Los Angeles Times]
- [http://www.ew.com/article/2000/09/29/fall-tv-preview-freakylinks Entertainment Weekly]
- [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/freakylinks-web-drama-clicks-article-1.881160 NY Daily News]
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/04/arts/tv-notes.html The New York Times]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160601051720/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/786429/FreakyLinks-is-a-mystery.html?pg=all Deseret News]
- [http://westerncourier.com/32279/news/wiu-alumni-show-off-talents-on-foxs-freakylinks/ The Western Courier]
- [http://www.ew.com/article/2000/08/30/blair-witch-producer-backs-away-foxs-occult-tv-series Entertainment Weekly]
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22FreakyLinks%22&pg=PA501 The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present]
External links
- [http://www.haxan.com/archived/freakylinks/ Freakylinks.com] – The original Freakylinks.com website, now part of Haxan's portfolio
- {{IMDb title|id=0247095|title=FreakyLinks}}
- {{Epguides|FreakyLinks|FreakyLinks}}
{{David S. Goyer}}
Category:2000 American television series debuts
Category:2001 American television series endings
Category:2000s American comedy-drama television series
Category:2000s American comic science fiction television series
Category:2000s American horror comedy television series
Category:2000s American mystery television series
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series created by David S. Goyer
Category:Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Category:Television series created by Gregg Hale (filmmaker)
Category:Fiction about urban legends
Category:Works about the Internet