TV Notes (Published 2000)

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In late August The Weekly World News had quite a scoop.

This supermarket tabloid reported that one Derek Barnes had discovered a reproduction of an apparently authentic Civil War-era photograph of Union soldiers near the carcass of a recently deceased pterodactyl.

The photograph, the article said, could indicate that ''prehistoric monsters survived extinction.''

Funny that Derek Barnes is the name of the lead character of Fox's new science-fiction series ''Freakylinks,'' which begins on Friday night and has Gregg Hale, a producer of ''The Blair Witch Project,'' as a co-creator.

Even funnier that the picture in question and the story behind it in The Weekly World News was posted months ago on the ''Freakylinks'' Web site (www.freakylinks.com), which follows the adventures of the fictional Mr. Barnes, an investigator of the paranormal (its producers created the picture).

Certainly Mr. Hale and his new partners at Fox are laughing.

This would seem to be the pinnacle of what they had hoped to achieve with the Web site for the television program, which was clearly modeled after the one that was set up for ''The Blair Witch Project.''

The ''Blair Witch'' site was hailed as a marketing breakthrough, building hype for the film before it made its debut by helping to make the plight of its fictional characters -- who disappear in the woods in search of ''The Blair Witch'' -- seem real. The Web site developed a cult following, which gave a boost to the low-budget film. The ''Freakylinks'' producers say they hope that their Web strategy will help them build a sizable audience for the program.

''Freakylinks'' is about a young man -- Mr. Barnes, played by Ethan Embrey -- who investigates supposedly paranormal events and posts his findings on his Web site.