Fametracker was a popular culture

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

which called itself "The Farmer's Almanac of Celebrity Worth". The site was started in 1999 by Tara Ariano (screenname Wing Chun), a sometime

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

.com contributor, and her husband David T. Cole (screenname Glark), who lived at the time in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and also co-created ''

Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...

'', along with friend Adam Sternbergh. Fametracker was known for its monthly Fame Audits, in which a particular celebrity's level of fame was assessed in comparison to other celebrities. Other regular Fametracker features included "2 Stars 1 Slot" in which two similar celebrities sparred for a single dubious title or niche; and "Hey It's That Guy!" which traced the burgeoning career of an unknown but recognizable actor. The "Hey It’s That Guy!" feature was inspired by legendary character actor

J. T. Walsh James Thomas Patrick Walsh (September 28, 1943 – February 27, 1998) was an American character actor. His many films include ''Tin Men'' (1987), ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987), ''A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' Hoffa'' (1992), ''Nixon'' (1995), ' ...

, who appeared in over 60 films but was not well known by name. The creators expanded upon this idea in 2005 by publishing ''Hey! It's That Guy!: The Fametracker.com Guide to Character Actors''.Amazon.com: Hey! It's That Guy!: Books: Tara Ariano
/ref> For over five years, Fametracker also operated extensive message boards, which were frequented at one point by over 100 posters. The message boards closed in March 2005 when the moderators could no longer afford the excessive bandwidth. The final new article was posted on Fametracker.com on 26 February 2007 - since then, the site has displayed a message saying "Fametracker is on hiatus until further notice", though the existing content archive remains available to site visitors. Many of Fametracker's functions have since been merged into Television Without Pity.

References

External links

Fametracker

Canadian entertainment websites Internet properties established in 1999 1999 establishments in Canada {{entertainment-website-stub