Looking for SEVERE FreakyLinks.com wisdom.

[FreakCentral]

Hey Freaks,
I was curious to find out if anyone knows the original launch date of FreakyLinks.Com. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Hurdy Gur,
-FC

[Shadow]

Hey FC,

Been doing some online digging for the answer to your question. I found this at GMD's site:

In late 1999, Haxan Films' Gregg Hale had an idea: take part of the pilot money from a television show deal and put it into a Web counterpart. In January 2000, Freakylinks.com launched and was the #3 television show website by the show's debut in July 2000.

I don't trust all the dates though. As we ALL know, the FreakyLinks show didn't premiere until October. I also checked with archive.org and their first listing for freakylinks.com was May 11, 2000.

Just from what I've been able to piece together, the pilot was still going through script revisions in Feb. 2000 and was shot sometime around March 2000. So a May launch date isn't too unbelievable. This would give some lead-up time for FOX to approve of the pilot and site, then order a full series with Coelacanth This! shooting sometime around Aug. 2000.

I'll keep on it but thought I'd report in.

~Shadow

[MondoStrange]

Found this article written back on Oct 5 2000 from the New York Daily News

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-10-05/entertainment/18161383_1_web-mistress-derek-barnes-lizette-carrion

...Fox claims its real-life Freakylinks.com Web site has been attracting huge numbers of visits since it was activated in July

[FreakCentral]

Wow, Eric Mink really seems to have disliked this show. This is a very harsh article about our beloved show. I'm still investigating, trying to pin down an exact date. And I thought Lizette and Karim were spot on. Karim seemed a little goofy, and his personality changed greatly from "Subject: Fearsum" to "Subject: Three Thirteen" but that's what happened to everyone. Derek seemed less serious as the show progressed, Jason seemed to be a little goofy yet hiding from his past, and Lan seemed less and less gullible. In my mind, Chloe changed very little. But you know what? That's how 20-somethings act. It's not acting when all you have to do is act like a goofy 20-something who goes out looking for what goes bump in the night. This show is very close to how my team actually interacts with each other on FreakCentral.NET. We're all a little goofy, we do stupid sh*t with each other, and we have our own personal jokes that we tell while doing our investigations. It's not built off of the show, but rather the show reflects how young paranormal investigators actually behave. Sorry for the rant, it's just how I feel about it.

[MondoStrange]

Just sent an email to GMD Studios, Brian Clark asking him for the launch date of the Freakylinks.com website. Let's see what the reply will be.

[Shadow]

That was a very good thought, Mondo.

I'm thinking that since the site turned up as in existence at archive.org on May 11, 2000 that it launched around that time and wasn't heavily promoted with banners and ads on other sites until July. By July they'd know they had a green light on a series.

FC, as for Eric Mink's comments---

EVERYONE was sharpening knives for FreakyLinks. They didn't like the premise, the title, the actors, just about everything has been criticized about the show at one time or another. I guess most critics were just in a rotten mood when it came to our little show. Everyone had od-ed on the downward spiral of The X-Files. A sacrificial lamb for the slaughter, I guess. It surely didn't gain them anything better. Look at the state of TV these days. I know TV series' that have never achieved the ratings that FreakyLinks got and they're sadly still going on.

That's one thing I've always liked about FreakyLinks as a website and a show; the fan loyalty. We get it and we like it. As long as Haxan, GMD, and Chiller are willing to indulge us, we're generally happy to know that we're still going and that's not something many short-lived 11 year old shows can claim.

~Shadow

[MondoStrange]

I agree Shadow, I think the May date is probably the closest to when it came online.