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Scully Leaving X-Files
Thomas M Hughes sent us a link where Gillian Anderson announces that Sculley will follow Mulder's footsteps off the X-files after this season. (And since I'm in Germany for LinuxTag I get to post something before I usually even get up!)
Is it a X front-end for a file server or a FBI spy program ?
Well I just did a 'ps ax | grep xfiles' and it doesn't show up.
So it's not running. I think.
Maybe the process died.
Oh wait ! There is something in my crontab scheduled sunday at 9PM EDT. Is that what we call a zombie process ?
I think she's off to the West End in London, to work in the theatre for a while.
-dair
Of course, one can argue that MST3K fell into the trap, with all the changes between season 6 and 10, but since much of the creative talent was still on the show, it didn't suffer as badly (most people still argue that Joel was better than Mike in an infinite number of ways).
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
> Anderson says she's leaving Chris Carter's long-running sci-fi hit so
> she can spend more time with her daughter,
> "Now, when I am with her, I don't work," she told the Times . "But for
> the first seven series it was very difficult. She spent a lot of time
> on the set. We all operated under the illusion that was enough.
> Outside of TV, Anderson has been working to shed her Scully image,
> appearing a bit more feminine as a socialite in last year's The House
> of Mirth.
Whew. More feminine eh. Amazing how times change. I remember when being a "supermom" and having the husband sacrifice his career to be with the daughter was the rage. Everyone thought there would be female computer scientists and presidents of countries. Now bring up so much as the idea of a female CEO and people call you a child abuser. It's almost like the 80's never were.
No, Anne Tomlinson will. She recently decided to change careers.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
I've never watched either show or felt any desire to do so, but I try to keep track of broadcasting shenanigans.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
"(And since I'm in Germany for LinuxTag I get to post something before I usually even get it up!)"
Too much detail!!
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I started watching the x-files and it was a cool 'outer limits' style show, with different spookiness each week. And that was cool.
And then the plot arc stuff happened and that was immensely cool. I _love_ ongoing stories ever since Bab5 got me addicted (and then DS9 and Buffy).
And then the plot arc stuff went on, and on, and on, and on. And eventually I realised that there wasn't an end point and that Carter was just making it up as he went along.
And it died for me.
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My Journal
Agreed. It was at about the same time that we had the song "Mulder and Scully" by Catatonia getting solid airtime. You know the feeling - it's on every radio station you tune into. Becoming a household name is often the first sign of forthcoming doom.
ooooooh! What does this button do? - DeeDee, Dexters Lab.
I can't remember when the film came out, but I'm pretty sure i gave up on the x-files before that (of course, being in Europe, it took a while to get here).
Generally: first three seasons great (only because of the Darin Morgan episodes in the third), next two seasons shite, other seasons unwatched.
Fortunately, Geena Davis looks a lot like Scully, but more sexy (and her show is more funny than X-Files) .
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I was never entirely gripped by the X-Files, but I did find it at times diverting. Still, I did notice an interesting social phenomenon that seemed to correlate with the popularity of the X-Files:
America seemed to get dumber. Before the X-Files made paranoia almost chic, the only black helicopter and gray proctologist fans were those you met furtively clutching copies of News of the World. If you caught them and smirked, they were buying it for a friend (sort of like all of the inflatable dolls that no one ever buys for themselves, and the millions of Playboys sold every year to those who only peruse the articles).
After the X-Files, it was okay to be dumb. People who weren't escapees from mental wards would tell you with a straight face that they'd had their fillings removed so that the government wouldn't spy or them. In the years of its peak popularity, I talked to an increasing number of the imbecilic who believed that every episode of the X-Files were real FBI secret reports re-enacted for television.
I've always wondered whether the X-Files was merely liberating the existant mentally feeble, or creating them anew?
Is television really so powerful that a well-crafted science fiction series can increase the gullibility of millions of Americans?
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
I think this is a great opportunity to bring Michelle Pffeifer in as a replacement. Only her character should inexpicably wear that vinyl cat woman suit throughout every episode. Yeah, that'd revive my interest in the show...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I've got to admit that if the choice was to wrap up the X-Files a few years ago in a manner that would make it an enduring classic always honed to a sharp edge or to continue it by dragging it out and then try to swap out the lead characters to keep it going, I'd take the former in a flash. The X Files will always be remembered as significant but now also as something that should have quit while it was ahead. That's tragic, when it could have been so much more powerful as a complete body of work if it had been distilled instead of diluted. However, since Carter has choosen this path, what could have been no longer matters. The X Files may have been better as just Mulder and Sculley in their prime, but the reality is that the X Files AS A WHOLE now consists of M&S in their prime, M&S over-the-hill, and also Doggett and Reyes. (Kind of like all our lives, which would be best if we could time warp thru college forever and skip the ex-wife before we get to the good relationship...) So again I say, I'm giving Doggett and Reyes a chance.
Boy, do I ever agree with the resolution of Samantha's abduction. I halfway expected to see Barney come on-camera from the left when Mulder was roamping around with her happy happy joy joy ghost. This was absolutely the low point of the series and marked the moment the X-Files cut itself loose from the mythical aspect that made it great.
It hasn't ever been promoted over here (UK) - I'm guessing that after the luke-warm reviews from the US, Fox/Sky won't have any plans to screen it. SARCASM STRENGTH="veryveryheavy"Especially when they've got a series as fine as Next./SARCASM
Hey, you can't get much more "News for Nerds" than X-Files miscellanea.
Stuff that matters? Well, it matters to nerds I guess.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
1. loss of writers, producers, directors to millenium.
2. loss of writers, producers, directors to move to hollywood from canada.
3. chris carter's abandonement of his original idea of a planned 5 year story arc.
Hey, I wish I'd said that. Oh, wait, I did.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
I don't watch TV alot, but B5 was one of the best TV series (scifi or not) I ever saw. JMS truly created a little gem there, and he's definitively not a one-shot poney (just look at what he did to the comic world with Rising Stars).
If he takes the same care with Legends of the Rangers than he did with B5, and since TNT doesn't have anything to do with the new serie and thus can't mess it us (Crusade anyone?), I really don't see how you can condemn it before even seeing it (or knowing anything about it for that matter).
Maybe it will suck. Maybe it will be just as good as B5. Knowing JMS, I think (and hope) for the latter. In any case, I'll wait 'till it out before making any judgements.
-Earthling
-Earthling
"I'm sorry, I had to; the irony was just too thick."
Was it the second or third time they found Mulder's Sister?
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Could be a good show, still, if Carter uses it to do some of the things he wanted to do with The Lone Gunmen and Harsh Realm...almost a fresh start.
We shall see.
P.
Especially an entertainment link at MSN. According to this she may be back for more, assuming the show is still on.
You forgot the bit where they got John Dawgit (spelling?) and he just reads all the lines that were normally scripted for Scully and Scully reads the lines normally written for Mulder.
Amazing how Scully suddenly believes everything and John wont believe anything even though he sees things with his own eyes.
Coupled with that the stories dont even make sense any more, its like the writers forget what they wrote half way through an episode and just leave things unexplained.
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no sig.
This was actually Duchovny's idea, and not originally in the script, at least, according to his interview at EOnline.[1]
I agree with your rant. I quit watching shortly after the movie, and nothing I've heard about recent seasons makes me regret it.
[1]While I'm posting, might as well throw in the Beeb's coverage of Anderson's career move, since I haven't seen it linked here yet.
And I am loser for having nothing better to do than sit in Seattle and post at 3:30am.
I wish *I* was dead. -Homer Simpson
they already are off and have been from the beginning... bloody annoying too
the x-files has really gone downhill now...
I liked the "mythology" episodes that advanced the store and some of the standalone episodes. What I didn't like was how the grand plot kept twisting in ways that made no sense. It really made me wish that someone had mapped out a five-year plot for the show. I also got sick of seeing two "mythology" episodes that built up to something, then some crappy standalone episode the next week.
This one at Yahoo (nice photo!) says she hasn't ruled out to return, this one at Mrshowbiz reports that she will not be back. Let's just wait and see...
Personally, I would have preferred more episodes with no conspiracy plot in them. One monster / phenomenon per episode, that's it. Now that Scully is a mother, I find it hard to believe that she would do anything dangerous...
Because I'm sure a few people reading this haven't heard of Catatonia, or this song, I've got it hosted (fot a limited time only, no doubt) here, or directly linked here, although that may not work due to the way GeoCities servers stop direct linking.
If you would like any other Catatonia mp3s, feel free to e-mail me. Nothing like assimlating a few more people into raving fans ;)
Catatonia are one of my favorite bands, and with the singer Cerys' 'odd' voice can be an aquired taste. Mulder and Scully is far from their best (imho), but is a good sampler.
If you'd like some more info on the band, a good and constantly updated site is here.
To go further offtopic, I'd like to thank the late Napster, because without it I'd never have bought 3 Catatonia albums, a bucketload of their singles, and an EP imported from Japan, and 2 EP's from Amazon.... but Napster robs from artists, right?
Well, after almost everybody got killed in the season finale a few years ago, and Cancerman was killed afterwards, X-files kinda died.
Then Duchovny stepped out of it (the episodes with mr family man (*puke*) still haven't aired in the Netherlands, but I assume they suck bigtime), now Anderson. Going downhill fast.
In my opinion, Carter should've ended the series a long time ago, maybe with a cliffhanger, but the series lost the charm it had a few years ago.
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If code was hard to write, it should be hard to read
She's got the hair for it.
The Lone Gunmen have already had a spin-off show.
Frankly, when they've reached the spin-off stage, the main people decide to run-off, its time for me to turn-off.
I think it was more of a slow lingering death. The best episodes were superb, but the dross just drowned it all out in the end.
In particular, there was only so many times that I could take Mulder's whiny monotonic yelling and flashbacks to childhood anal probings. The whole alien conspiracy thing got tired, confused and irritating, and I stopped caring long before Duchovny left.
Basically, they ran out of ideas about the time the movie was made, and have been coasting since then. Gillian will be missed, but only in an abstract way, I think. Frankly, I'm surprised she's stayed so long, considering the amount of skin they've been making her show in the past couple of seasons. Not that I've watched much of them, but the trailers have all been Gillian in a vest, Gillian sweating through a blouse, looking down Gillian's pleasant but modest cleavage... The sexual tension between Scully and Mulder was delightfully and tastefully handled - it's sad to see Scully reduced to a titillation role, and I think Gillian's right to get out while she's still got some dignity and credibility left.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
The way this discussion is going, I figured I might mention a website that is dedicated to TV Shows that go from popular, to DOA through a process known as "Jumping the Shark". Here's are the gory X-File specifics to this : http://jumptheshark.com/x/xfiles.htm
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?
Actually, I wish Anderson was leaving THIS season so we could get on with a clean slate instead of this drag-it-on-til-it-stinks mentality the X-Files has now. Chris Carter & Co. have in my opinion pulled a minor miracle off by establishing Robert Pattrick / John Dogget as a viable and even desirable alternative to Duchovney / Mulder. I have become quite a fan of Doggett's take-no-crap mentality over Mulder's trust-no-one. I also think Gish is a hottie. I say lets wish Mulder and Scully well as enduring icons and get on to seeing what the dynamic could be with people who actually are on a first name basis with one another. The original X-files was about 90s-style alienation and distance between people. I'd like to see them explore the conspiracy of the 21st century now, which is all becoming one big happy group / hive mind led by M$.
So what? Who cares?
When the X-Files first came out it was interesting and innovative, catching the mood of the time perfectly and holding it with well written stories and interesting characters. There was a good balance of one-off shows and the main story arc, and it was all original material.
And now? The main characters have left or are leaving, we're seeing the same old shit time and time again and it's just not exciting any more. I gave up after the film came out, and I've not missed it at all.
It's just a pity that studios feel the need to extend shows beyond any kind of reasonable shelf life, and that far too many writers are all too willing to make a quick buck by going along with it. Let's face it, most writers just aren't talented enough to keep coming up with fresh ideas for years and years, and so we see recycled crap repeating itself again and again. Let it die for Christ's sake!
And even worse, there's the resurrected show, in which studios decide that they can re-milk a dead cash cow. There's a new Star Trek series coming out (oh joy), and even worse, new Babylon 5 as well (ugh). This is just riding on the backs of those viewers who are so fanatical about these things they'll spend their money on it no matter what, which in my book is pretty low.
Out of curiosity, why is it only sci-fi gets this kind of rabid fandom? Other genres have shows which are popular, but it seems only Trekkers and whatever it is B5 fans call themselves are willing to fork out big bucks for some kind of novelty alarm clock which plays their show's theme tune. Is it a substitute for a healthy social life? I just don't get it myself.
I am no longer thusly inclined. My trust in Chris Carter's instincts was misplaced.
Nowadays, if there is to be dissing of the series, I'll join the chorus and ask for a refrain if it ends too quickly.
I find I'm amazed at and depressed by the actions of Chris Carter. He was once a vocal defendant of preserving the dignity of the series. He spoke lucidly about needing to make decisions that were in the best interest of the characters, and one would assume, the legacy of the show. He stated repeatedly on the record there would be no romance between Scully & Mulder, such as in this interview from 1999:
I'm amazed at what Chris Carter has done with the trust of viewers...
The show has become an insufferable self-parody, and Chris Carter will have only himself to blame when it comes time to reflect on the legacy of the series. I suspect he will, for the rest of his life (particularly AFTER the series dies presumably a couple of seasons from now) hear fans and critics alike tell him that he blew it. The X-files was, in its day, both a cultural phenomenon and a show of the highest calibre. But it has become now a depressing, hollow shell of its former self. It has no heart, no soul and no mind, and it asks the same of its viewers.
Rob Malda (who plays Cmdr Taco) said "Yeah, we've been with Slashdot for several years now, and we just felt it was time for a change". The plot twist mirrors those of The X-Files and Buffy, where major characters were killed off for similar reasons.
Industry analysts suspect that fear of typecasting prompted the move, though some wonder if the editors will be able to live down previous glories; Doug Synergy, Self Proclaimed Web-Guru, said "Y'know, they've been doing news for nerds and bashing Microsoft for so long it's difficult to imagine them doing something like The Barbie Fan Club".
In recent weeks Slashdot has been subject to a series of intriguing plot twists, with the server repeatedley being unavailable, but even this hasn't held the interest of previously loyal fans.
It seems unlikely that the site will continue in it's current form for much longer, but it's been suggested that current editors Michael Simms and John Katz could take over a spin-off site; Slashtroll, Goatse.cx That Matters.
on the exact moment the X-Files Jumped The Shark. For me, it was the movie, and the realisation that the plot was never going to have a satisfying story arc as long as they milked it like a cash cow...
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.