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The Sunday Age
Sunday October 27, 2002
xfiles.com
Be warned: the truth is in here.
The official The X-Files site is chock-full of X-phile goodies, but it may also spoil the current, and final, series for avid watchers of this sci-fi stayer.
Keen fans who create their own material like X-Files computer wallpaper, have been embraced and their stuff is available on the site.
There are pictures from the set, merchandise offers and an extensive "scrapbook" area with still shots and video of your favourite aliens and monsters from the past, along with interviews.
Of course there's also the obligatory chat board where you can talk about it all with other addicts.
.nick.com
Continuing their fairly silly approach to life in the online space, the guys at Nickelodeon have built a colourful site with lots of animations (read: slow-loading)
There are pages devoted to the Rugrats and to new sensation Spongebob, but if you didn't already get the joke, it might not become any clearer.
For kids, there are links to online games featuring characters like Blue from Blue's Clues.
Beware the popup ads, which seem a bit unnecessary on a site that's really one big promotion.
abc.net.au
ABC TV is only a small part of the ABC media octopus these days; access the TV part of the site through a drop-down menu at the top of the main page.
Once there, you'll get downloadable previews of some shows, full programs of what's coming up, and some really useful stuff, like Kath & Kim's guide to becoming an, um, "hornbag."
The site's detail is exhaustive; travellers might like to look at the page showing TV and radio frequencies for the ABC nationwide.
tvshow.com
Fifty-seven channels and nothing on? Try this site, where there are thousands of shows listed. If you can't find a show you want to watch here, you just don't like TV.
The actual shows aren't here - the Web isn't that advanced yet - but there are links to definitive sites for everything from Mr Ed the Talking Horse to a swag of Neon Genesis Evangelion sites dedicated to the ground-breaking anime series.
Some categories are a bit thin; there is no excuse for an "animation" page lacking a listing for Ren and Stimpy. -- Jenny Sinclair
© 2002 The Sunday Age