28 November 1998
By David Fenigsohn
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At first, Noel Crane does not seem much different than thousands of other college students. As he puts it, he had "too much
time on his hands" and wanted to show off his graphic design skills, so he set up his own Website at www.noelcrane.com.
Noel posted his résumé, a class project, and since he is a resident advisor at a New York college, a schedule of student
activities.
But unlike other collegiate Webheads, Noel Crane doesn't exist. He's a fictional character on the WB's new hit show Felicity. A geeky if charming sophomore played by Scott Foley, Crane is one of the first television characters to author his own Web page. Not that you'd know that from visiting - the site provides no clue that Noel is anything but a real-life college student. There are no trademarks, no links to the show's official site (www.felicity.com), nothing but Noel's hello to the world. In fact, no one would have known about the site if Crane hadn't mentioned his URL in a bit of dialogue on a recent episode. Asked about the site, series creator J.J. Abrams makes it clear that as far as he is concerned, the site is entirely the work of Noel. Abrams was, however, able to offer some insight about why a fictional character might step out on his own. "When I would play video games, I was always intrigued by the areas of the chart you couldn't go," Abrams said. "Like if it was a driving game, I wish you could drive off the track and drive through that city in the distance ... This kind of felt like an amazing opportunity for Noel to go off the linear path, and to allow people on their own time in their own way to interact with him."
Abrams says he is careful to respect Noel's privacy by not overly publicizing the site but points out that many of the
show's 20-some fan sites "It is not about getting a lot of people to see [the site]," Abrams says. "It is about having a certain group of people who care enough about the show or are intrigued enough by the mention of a character's Web page, to check and see if it is there ... There is value, not in terms of getting millions of people to watch the show, but in terms of respecting the audience, and give them a treat for watching .... I think it is sort of a fun bonus." Abrams also admits he has snooped in Crane's mailbox and has been amazed at what he has found. Noel himself is unable to receive mail at the moment through his own site, but readers have contacted him through www.felicity.com. Some have asked if the character on the show is based on this seemingly real Webmaster. Noel has even received some mail from other residents of the fictional Kelvin Hall complaining about heat or roommate problems. Says Abrams, "People have written 'It is so cool that you expected me to be smart enough to look this thing up, and you rewarded me with an actual page. Most shows wouldn't have done that.' " And that, he says, is just what Noel was hoping for. |