In 1997 the list began to grow.  Several more members signed up for the group as the popularity of The Pretender grew.  Soon the list consisted of a few dozen members, each of them starting and engaging in lively and informative discussions about one of the best dramas on TV.

In the summer of 1997 the list suddenly disappeared.  Jessi could no longer run the list so there was no activity for a few months.  Then Jeremy Pratte, one of the original members, offered to run the list.  After a rocky re-start, which involved members of the Pretender list and another getting mixed together, the list was back in action!  During this period of time not a lot of members joined up.  Word-of-mouth was the only way potential members found out about the group.  Even so, the list was still very active, even if it didn't have a lot of members.

Later that same year, Jessi returned from her hiatus and offered to take the list over again, and Jeremy handed it back over.  So once again, the list had a List Mom, but not for very long.  In early 1998, again, and permanently, Jessi had to give up being a list moderator because of conflicts with college.  Jeremy Pratte took over again as the permanent list moderator.

Since Jeremy was the author of The Ultimate Pretender Website, he decided to use it as a vehicle for getting new members, offering them an email like to request to join.  As the list began to grow  he realized the list needed a name.  Until that point, it was only know as The Pretender Mailing List.  It needed something different so Jeremy held a vote between members on possible names.  Using a combination of a few suggestions and an idea of his own, Jeremy finally decided on The Centrenet.  

So the list had a name, but it needed something else.  The process Jeremy was using to moderate the list was arduous and inefficient.  Then he heard about Egroups.  Jeremy checked it out and decided that the email list server would become the new home of The Centrenet.  On September 16, 1998, The C-Net entered a new era by moving to Egroups.  With the Ultimate Pretender website, a new website just for the Centrenet that Jeremy created, and Egroups, the C-Net began to grow exponentially.  During this time of growth Jessi said goodbye to the list and unsubscribed herself.

Over the next two years, The Centrenet grew to be one of the most popular Pretender email lists around.  It even gained members who met, knew, and maintained websites for Patrick Bauchau (Sydney) and John Gries (Broots).  The C-Net became more than just a list, it became a network of people from across the globe.  Some members were also members of other lists about The Pretender, including The Pretender Webring and Operation: Save The Pretender (O:Stp), a group that formed during worries of cancellation in 1999.  In May of 2000 The Pretender was cancelled, sparking a fan effort of letters and emails to save the show.  Their efforts paid off, in a way, when the cable network TNT decided to do Pretender movies.

In late-August 2000 The Centrenet's website was taken offline and had to be redesigned.  In October 2000, the same month TNT began filming the first  Pretender movie, the site was redesigned.  And the rest is, well, history.:)