'The X-Files' premiered 30 years ago today

My favorite episodes are the standalone monster of the week episodes.

Mine too, R1. I enjoy those a lot. My favorite was the called 'detour'. I love that the creatures used to be men from Ponce DeLeons expedition, and had evolved to the wilderness. I liked Mulder and Scullys chemistry in that. The Great Mutato, was creative as well. I loved that they took him to see Cher at the end. I always wondered if that was really Cher.

It wasn’t Cher. She was asked to be in it but declined because she thought it’d be ‘hokey’. I think that was the word she used.

When she watched the episode when it aired she said, ‘damn, I should have done it.’

I saw that on some behind the scenes X-Files thing. It would have been great had she been in it.

Watched the pilot today, which I don't think I'd ever seen before. Was shocked by the taut pacing and the snappy editing in something that aired in 1993, there's not a second wasted. Guess the slow moody vibe I associate this show with came much later. Duchovny and Anderson act like they've playing their roles for years, it was a joy to watch. And of course the lighting on this show is its own separate character right from the start.

I think I might watch the rest of the first season now.

One of the greatest drama series of all time. A classic.

Gillian Anderson turned so many women lesbian. I watched it for her. It was a fantastic show. I didn't like the monster of the week episodes but preferred the ongoing Alien plot lines. I remember the episode where Mulder finds a box car buried in the desert and how there were dead alien beings inside...all with small pox vaccination scars. Great episode.

The alien mythology thing was interesting for the first few years but then it became clear they were making it up as they went along.

Ever ‘shipped’ anyone? You can thank ‘The X-Files’ for that:

Rolling Stone ranked all the episodes for this occasion and the one with the disabled Indian guru in the luggage, which is one of a handful I can recall from childhood, was ranked second to last. Even as a kid I knew that episode stunk and that there was something weirdly exploitative about it.

I also recall having horrible nightmares after watching that sewage monster one. Was afraid to go to the bathroom afterwards for fear of that thing lunging out of the crapper and biting my winky off. My dad lost his patience after that and forbade me from watching the show again.

Before they were famous...

r10 Some of them honestly shouldn't have made it.

I was hoping against hope that sexy Billy from the pilot ended up in gay porn, but unfortunately he retired from acting in 2002 to focus on his law practice in Canada. Hot and smart!

I never watched an entire episode, but I like the theme song.

They largely couldn't stand eachother and were miserable cunts for the entirely of the show. They kept trying to get it relocated to LA because slumming it in the Canadian PNW was just too horrible for them to bear.

They're stupid, ungrateful cunts. The show wouldn't have had the same air of creeping dread and melancholy so befitting the subject matter, had it not been shot in BC. And thanks to the X-files both of these cunts had a career afterwards.

I just watched the third episode and two topical things happened. First, a colleague tells Scully their acquaintance made supervisor in the NYC Bureau two years out of the academy, adding "He lucked out into the World Trade Centre bombing." Yikes.

Also, they're dealing with a serial killer who murders every thirty years. Mulder says that if they don't catch him now, the next time they'll get a shot at it will be in... at which point Scully goes: "2023". Mulder then adds that she'll be the FBI director by then.

How time flies, eh.

[quote]The show wouldn't have had the same air of creeping dread and melancholy so befitting the subject matter, had it not been shot in BC.

I think you're onto something there. And I always thought Skinner was the standout character of the whole series.

I liked the conspiracy episodes, at least at first. Good ol' Cigarette Smoking Man and Ratboy.

R13 Seasons 1-5 (1993-1998) were shot in Vancouver.

Seasons 6-9 (1998-2002) were in Los Angeles.

“The alien mythology thing was interesting for the first few years but then it became clear they were making it up as they went along.”

Isn’t that what writing is?

You need to have an overall arc with an endgame planned if you're going to do a storyline that spans several seasons, and this show famously made the mistake of not having that. That's what that poster was referring to.

When it first came out I was dumb enough to think it was a documentary. I was quite young though.

To be fair, the pilot does open with "The following story is inspired by actual documented accounts." Which is one of those things that turn out to be meaningless once you think about them for more than one second – I can make a post on DL about having sex with an alien yesterday and it'll count as an "actual documented account".

That's why UNSOLVED MYSTERIES had this disclaimer before every episode:

[quote]This program is about unsolved mysteries. Whenever possible, the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you are about to see is not a news broadcast.

R19, I watched the original series, became somewhat obsessed with the show. One thing I was hoping for was a wrap-up at the end of the fifth season. Chris Carter, the creator is quoted in an early interview that the plan was five years, answers to the mysteries and done.

That did not happen... by season three it was obvious they didn't know where they were going with the alien and Muldar's sister's abduction storyline. So disappointing.

I loved cancer Man at the beginning as well as Krycek.

Never watched it, I don't like either of the two leads.

*

Thanks for that insightful contribution R25.

r12, the X-files theme and Downtown Abbey theme are very mashed up here. please to enjoy.

You are entirely welcome, R27. Here at the Datalounge, we are allowed (and encouraged!) to post critical and negative opinions as well as positive ones or just "meh" ones. Please do enjoy your visit with us.

Girls, not on 9/11 of all days, please.

The guy working in the office next to me at the time never missed an episode but always complained that it was visually too dark and he had to squint sometimes to see what was going on.

I feel like old shitty TVs really added to the mysteriousness of it all. Watching it in HD now and it's not nearly as atmospheric as I recall from my childhood.

I also was not a huge fan of pretty Billy's moles in the pilot. Some things are best left unremastered.

Thanks R3. I wish she had done it, too.

[quote] Ever ‘shipped’ anyone? You can thank ‘The X-Files’ for that, and by the way you’re a pathetic ultra-fan with no life, so seek professional help immediately

FTFY

I have been binge watching the old episodes.

It was always one of my favorites but I got over the alien crap early. Those storylines were just boring to me, but I know some people love them.

My favorites are “Jose Chung” with Charles Nelson Reilly; the two part “Dreamland” with Michael McKeon and “Three of a Kind”

Michael McKeon is so talented, he never gives a bad performance.

[quote]Michael McKeon is so talented, he never gives a bad performance.

Same with Mrs. McKeon.

I remember the 2 parter where Mulder finally sees his sister again as one of those twilight kids had me in tears.

In one episode of the spin off for the Lone Gunmen, one of them predicts someone will fly a plane into the World Trade Center.

Duchovney has not aged well. So sad.

My brother wrote for a sci-fi magazine in the 90s and got to visit the set in Vancouver. He was told not to make eye contact with Miss Anderson. I thought that was rude at the time but I’ve come to find out it’s not an unusual request amongst thespians.

Kerycek was gorgeous with those dark lashes.

Krycek was such a wasted character; they had no idea what to do with him. It was fun watching for gay subtext between him and Mulder (it was there at times.) He really was pretty.

It’s the sci-do show which, to me, came closest to the genius and energy vibe of the original “Outer Limits” I remember watching originally from only in reruns but was always blown away by. Fave episodes are the sewer monster, the bowling alley autistic premonitions guy, and where Scully and Mulder pretend they’re a couple living in the home development block. Been also binge-watching but finding too much doing so at night can really be a little too “dark.”

Enjoyed the standalones more than the later more continuous serialized episodes—but I could understand how at some point, they did need realistically to give more depth to these 2 characters who spent so much of their waking hours working and being together, beyond just that of their weekly monster meetings and investigations. Brilliant program.

Fun fact, the episode Home was only aired once on commercial tv but never again until much later. It was considered too risque for tv at the time. It's the inbreeding one where the brothers kept their disabled mother under the bed except when they wanted to fuck her.

R46, that one was fucking disturbing! Especially the scene where the sheriff gets attacked.

Gave me fucking nightmares.

Know your limits, watch responsibly.

I’m watching Detour right now.

Detour scared me with the red eyed creatures. Creepy to think they could be under my bed.

^ I was 11 when I first saw it

Skinner should’ve fucked Krycek instead of…

‘I’ll teach you to put nano bots in my bloodstream you ratfucker!’ Maybe slap him around first, of course.

I loved this show and watched it to the bitter end. If it had ended after 5 seasons or so, it would be currently held in higher regard. Instead it turned into a slog in later seasons and diluted its legacy as one of the greatest.. The Walking Dead is another example of this kind of thing.

R45 That episode with the evil HOA is called Arcadia, and it's one of my favorites. They pose as Rob and Laura Petrie. :) Love the nod to the Dick Van Dyke show.

[quote]I loved this show and watched it to the bitter end. If it had ended after 5 seasons or so, it would be currently held in higher regard

I think it's still pretty well regarded. We're still talking about it, and they've continued to (perhaps inadvisably) revisit it. But there's also the fact that if you were put put a gun to my head and asked me to pick a TV show that best reflected the national mood of the 90s, I'd pick the X-Files over Friends or Seinfeld any day.

[quote]They pose as Rob and Laura Petrie

But they pronounce it "PEE-tree."

[quote]But they pronounce it "PEE-tree."

Scully says "orangutanG" in the pilot. There's lots of that going around among actors just in general, it's always amusing.

Good show in the early seasons but got progressively worse as it went on and it became obvious the writers were making it up as they went. Still, it was and is a big part of 90s pop culture.

Jose Chung's From Outer Space is my favorite episode.

I love that episode. Mulder’s scream in this clip never fails to make me laugh.

[quote]Good show in the early seasons but got progressively worse as it went on and it became obvious the writers were making it up as they went.

But that was always the case. The mytharc stuff really only happened because they used Scully's abduction to cover Gillian Anderson's maternity leave. I always give Chris Carter massive amounts of credit for resisting Fox's calls to fire her both because it's just a shitty thing to do as well as the acknowledgment that the show's success rests on their dynamic.

I think that's why X-Files has one of my favorite pilots. Both Mulder and Scully come onto the scene more or less fully formed, and they cast the two perfect people. Anybody else in those roles, it never would have worked.

r58, that episode is perfection! You can tell the writers were using lines that fans had written about Gillian's hair being "too red."

It was a great show. Still one of my favorites. It fell apart when Duchovny left but there was some interesting chemistry between Anderson and Annabeth Gish.

Why did Duchovny leave? I can't remember. It was stupid of him to do so.

He signed on for seven years, did the seven years, and then wanted to move on. I don’t really blame him.

I liked Doggett and Scully. That one episode of theirs with the small town cult and the giant slugs was pretty good.

Mitch Pileggi in his prime.

On the X-Files he was so sexy... incredible. He just oozed sex. How does a man, fully clothed, do that?

I did not like Agent Doggett and he ruined every episode he he was in.

I did not like Robert Patrick in his role as "Doggett."

R65 I just don’t like Robert Patrick. Didn’t like him in Scorpion either.

He was good in S2 of The Sopranos though.

I watch reruns on Comet TV. I'm glad they're using the restored & enhanced footage; for years, TV reruns of X-Files looked like they did back in the original run; muted, grainy and too dark video. Now it looks great.

Watched some of the later seasons, like the episode where Skinner sees the spacecraft & abduction at the end of season seven, and is standing by Scully's hospital bed talking to her:

"They'll ask me what I saw; and what I saw I can't deny...I *won't*!" 😭😭😭

I often pretend that the show either ended at S7 or S8. Both of them were ideal, in different ways.

Although I'm still pissed off that once Duchovny was only a part-timer, he still got top billing in the episodes he did appear in. Anderson carried that show and everyone knew it.

I've never been able to stand Gillian Anderson in anything I've seen her in. Bleah.

I find it weird when she has her English accent. I know she lived there when she was young and lives there now, but I don’t think it’s her natural accent.

[quote]He signed on for seven years, did the seven years, and then wanted to move on.

Amusing in hindsight that his career never went anywhere, Californication notwithstanding. Too preoccupied with his sex addiction to properly apply himself? He and Leoni are both WHET-level celebs at this point.

I also just realised I've never actually seen Anderson's kid(s) and I have no idea how many she even has. I love it when celebs do that, instead of trying to force their offspring onto us through nepotism.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

^^For R71

Gillian Anderson's family is from the Midwest. She was born there. When she was a baby, her family relocated to England for her father's job. They moved back when she was around 10. She grew up in Michigan and went to college there.

In her twenties, she resided in Canada while THE X-FILES shot its first 5 seasons there. Then moved to LA for Seasons 6-9. The show ended when she was in her early thirties. That's when she moved to the UK and has lived there ever since.

Thus, the switching back and forth of accents makes no sense, particularly since she never did that when she promoted X-FILES in Europe in the '90s.

John Barrowman's situation makes more sense. He was born in Scotland but typically has an American accent because his family relocated to Illinois when he was under 10.

However, when he's around his family, he reverts to a Scottish accent. That's understandable. But he hasn't acquired an English accent despite living in London for years (like Gillian).

Barrowman's family still reside in the Midwest to this day.

R72 she has three kids. Her two boys are named Oscar and Felix, which makes me chuckle.

The daughter is Piper Maru-Chris Carter named an X-Files episode after her. I, too, hope they stay out of the Hollywood thing. David Duchovny’s daughter is an actress now. She was in that new Netflix OxyContin show with Taylor Kitsch. She was okay I guess.

i rewatched the first two seasons a while back and it's crazy how sexy they are as a TV duo no one has come close

[quote] i rewatched the first two seasons a while back and it's crazy how sexy they are as a TV duo no one has come close

The two of them dancing together at the end of “Postmodern Prometheus” was what pushed me over into being a shipper. I resisted as long as I could, but my resolve didn’t withstand them looking so gorgeous together.

How very dare you, Mulder!

Krycek checking out Mulder’s speedo

Mulder was originally going to wear a shorts style bathing suit, but Duchovny wanted the Speedo. He insisted that’s what Mulder would wear.

I wasn’t complaining.

I love the Christmas haunted house episode with Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin.

One of my favorite episodes was the piss take on "Cops." So funny.

r84 I was so scared watching that episode as a kid, had no idea it was supposed to be a piss take.

^That cop was so hot in that episode.

X-Cops was funny, especially the Steve and Edy scenes.

In their second scene you can tell that Duchovny is a second away from breaking character after Steve or Edy throws the rag at the other one. Actually, he does break character a bit by laughing.

I was fortunate enough to begin watching X Files with the pilot episode. I was trying to get friends coworkers and family to watch it as well. It was a great show, but it did somewhat lose momentum by season 8 & 9.

I was in college when the X Files was at the height of its popularity and the campus practically shut down at 9:00 on Sunday nights. The student lounges were full of people watching the X Files. It was a huge show with my age group.

Remember this was before streaming and DVRs. I don't think that kind of communal viewing experience exists anymore and it's a shame.

There were some very good television programing during that late 1980s- early 1990s period. Crime Story, Twink Peaks, China Beach, Northern Exposure, X-Files.

I was a die-hard for the first and second seasons, but lost interest after that, mostly because it became unbelievable that after all they'd gone through, Scully would still insist in every new episode that there wasn't anything supernatural going on.

This thread makes me want to go watch it again, and give the other seasons a chance.

[quote]I was a die-hard for the first and second seasons, but lost interest after that, mostly because it became unbelievable that after all they'd gone through, Scully would still insist in every new episode that there wasn't anything supernatural going on.

That was actually the thing that I liked about it. Scully actually didn't stay a skeptic for the whole run of the show. She was a true scientist, and adjusted her beliefs as she got more data. Mulder actually went in the opposite direction and became quite jaded and cynical.

I maybe should do a full rewatch, but aside from the first season coming out of the gate so well, I would honestly say Seasons 4-6 were the strongest ones. Gillian Anderson won her Emmy for S4's "Memento Mori," and if she'd submitted "Christmas Carol" for S5 (she instead went with "All Souls," which was a good episode, but the former was maybe her single best performance) I think she'd have won again. Plus S5 also had "Bad Blood," which is up with "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" in terms of being the show's funniest episode, and "Post-Modern Prometheus" which is a fun experiment and ends with the gorgeous shot of M&S dancing together.

I also just had the memory of the S5 opener, "Redux" and "Redux II" where Mulder confronts the FBI brass about the conspiracy against Scully. At one point, he tosses of the name of a company called Rousch, which is a biotech firm that was working with the Syndicate. Since this was still early days of the internet, people went to Rousch.com to see what was there. It turned out that the real Rousch was a subsidiary of Pillsbury, and they got into the fun by having the link redirect to a picture of a shadowy Pillsbury Dough Boy smoking a cigarette with the motto "Believe the Pie."

It was very well liked at my college. There was always a little crowd in the student center. We did an X Files night right before winter break in 1995. Lotsa fun.

I still have the I Want to Believe poster. I bought it at Media Play (ouch) and kept it rolled up and stored through several moves.

The material appeals to me, but I've still never seen so much as an episode. We only had two channels when I was growing up, and that wasn't aired on either one. At this point, I have more time invested in avoiding it.

I was only two, so I missed it. Should I buy the blu ray set? I think Dave Duchovny is sexy btw. I heard he was a sex addict. I wish I could have helped him...

Another favorite episode is "The Kindred." It was an early episode, maybe season 1. Mulder and Scully encountered an isolated Amish-like community in the woods. It was very good.

Sorry, the actual name of the episode was "Gender Bender."

Omg, that Gender Bender episode reminds me of the "gay episode" of TNG where they tried to tackle homosexuality in a respective way, but just ended up conflating gay, trans, intersex, and traditional gender role issues. At the end, those freaky Amish aliens just sort of beam out, and gay people are never addressed again. Because they all beamed out, you see.

Peter Stebbings' legs looked amazing though, and those loose undies with just the hint of the cockhead were kinda titillating as well. He still works in lots of different shows.

r99 you read way too much into it

I mean, I read it within the context of the time period it was created in. It's your choice to treat it as a non-issue that it is today, as it is my choice to look deeper. To each their own.

It's entertainment you aspie fuck.

"Darkness Falls" was my favorite episode. It was so suspenseful, especially with the generator about to give out, and then finally doing so when just in the nick of time when dawn breaks.

I also loved "Eve," which is the episode that has stayed with me so much. The scene where the little girls kill their adult clone (Harriet Sansom Harris) is so upsetting.

Darkness Falls was great. Preteen me thought the Forest Ranger (Jason Beghe) and the environmental activist (Titus Welliver) were so hot. The Ranger should’ve come back on the show and ended up with Scully, I thought.

I like "Darkness Falls" a lot, but Jesus, the whole thing hinges on them being so stupid they don't think to, say, build a fire.

R104 [quote]Jason Beghe And David Duchovny went to high school together at Collegiate Prep in New York. He was the best man at DD’s wedding to Téa Leoni.

Darkness Falls S1E20 - The X-Files Revisited.

Damn! Where has the time gone?! I remember watching the first episode and loving it. It was on Friday evenings in New York City.