Fox's 'Freakylinks' raises hair, ire

Angry demons, a resurrected sibling and mysterious psychopaths are
key figures in the premier of "Freakylinks," the

Fox Network's new, controversial fall series geared to teen-agers in which the hero investigates occult phenomena and urban legends.

Parents and activists are protesting the program -- originally called "Fearsum" -- which is scheduled to premier on Fox Friday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. Protesters say the show encourages teens to explore the occult, not just by the program's content, but by its accompanying website,

Freakylinks.com, which is already up and running.

A Fox spokeswoman told WorldNetDaily the network is trying to keep the connection between the website and the television show "quiet" for now. The website has been a successful marketing tool, since it is the premise of the television series. The show's hero is Derek Barnes, who posts the progress of his full-time investigations into the paranormal onto his website, Freakylinks.com.

In the TV premier, Derek discovers his dead twin brother -- who used to run a website called "Occultresearch.com" -- has resurrected. In the beginning of his quest to unravel the mystery of his brother's return from the grave, the hero consults with a disappearing psychopath and rumbles with angry, shape-shifting demons.

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Freakylinks.com includes various discussion boards where participants, many of them self-identified teen-agers, post messages about their interest and experiences with the supernatural. Numerous submissions are by teens looking for direction and instruction in Wicca, a pagan religion whose practitioners refer to themselves as witches.

One such inquirer posted:

"i think i'm a witch. cause i have this powers of doing stuff if i really belive in them. i can even predict what people are gonna say, or make things happen. like move stuff and other things. so i think this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. but it might also get me into trouble, because i'm thinking of dieing my hair black, but my parents don't want me to. wat shold i do. i want to get more in touch with my witch side."

Another discussion participant responded, saying:

"Just because you can do stuff like that does not mean your a witch. You could just have special mental powers. And coloring your hair black has nothing to do with witches at all. If you wanna get into your witch side go look up things about wicca. You can still color your hair black and all screw your parents its your hair but you gotta understands its got nothing to do with witchcraft."

Other posters talk about casting "spells," as did this participant:

"hey, i'm not any kind of devil worshiper, i'm a good christian kid (please, no criticism). How do you do all of that spell stuff? It would be pretty neat to perform some kinda spell, and since it's nothing religously wrong, i would like to try it."

Show creators are now prepared to facilitate special discussion forums for the "magically inclined" in response to this posting from Wednesday:

"We need a Chat for the Magically inclined, IE only for Magical People. I am trying to see all of the people for the magics in here but like eeveryone is saying 'How do you know you have powers' or 'Do I have powers?' These things are all going eeverywhere, we need ONE chat for ONE group of people the magical people ..."

Responding as "Lan," one of the television characters and fictitious "webmistress" of Freakylinks.com, show creators wrote: "Consider it done. ... Should be ready next week, so hang in there, folks ..."

Some of the website's visitors are apparently aware of its connection to the upcoming television show, prompting inquiries about its star, Ethen Embrey. "Derek" posted this reply:

"Some of you keep insisting on talking about some non-existent TV show I've never heard of. (creepygeeks? ...tiddlywinks? ...freakopinks?) Whatever, but if you want to talk about it and that Ethan guy (whoever the hell he is) I suggest going on over to ... a board [on egroups.com] set up just to talk about this mythical show. Tell 'em Derek sent ya."

All such inquiries and discussion about the television series were then removed from the website. But while there are those who recognize the fictitious nature of the site, there are also participants who believe "Derek" and his small band of freak-fighters are real. One poster, who calls himself "Gabriel," urged "Derek" to help him in his quest against occult figures.

"Help me spread the word against Moloch and the Knights Of Purity Being that I am only 15 years old I can't really tell all that many people but you can. PLease help."

Additionally, to add to the realism of "Derek Barnes," Fox arranged to have a real website created at

Occultresearch.com -- the website of the main character's dead brother. It includes very technical, dry descriptions of occult subjects and includes an archived message board with postings to and from "Adam Barnes" dated back to 1994.

The series has been described as a combination of Fox's popular science fiction program "X-Files" and the movie "The Blair Witch Project" -- not unusual since one of the show's two creators, Gregg Hale, also produced "Blair Witch." Hale and his co-creator, David S. Goyer, who wrote and produced ''Blade,'' quit the day-to-day running of the show and are now serving as executive consultants.

The Fox spokeswoman acknowledged "Freakylinks'" pilot focuses on the occult, though she indicated the program would gradually turn its focus toward more investigations of urban legends. Urban legends are modern myths couched in contemporary language and settings.

Letters sent to Fox by concerned parents prompted the network to change the program's original airtime from 8 p.m. on Friday nights -- an hour traditionally held for family programs -- to 9 p.m.

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