The End of The X-Files

fonixmunkee writes "CNN is running this story that says the cult TV classic, "The X-Files," shall be no longer after this season. I have been a huge fan of this show since it started in '93, so I'm quite saddened by it's projected departure." The story originally showed up in Daily Variety, saying that Chris Carter wants to move on to other projects.

Comments

go out with a bang?

[mach-5]

Well...I'm sure it will go out with a bang...we should have a lot of questions answered for the second half of this season. Maybe we will even see a cameo of Mulder towards the end...or is that just hopeful?

Re:go out with a bang?

[dmarcov]

That's the best example of wishful thinking I've seen, since I read the last issue of Fast Company.

They plan on doing movies. The X-Files has /never/ done so well at answering the questions it poses. Just ignores them, or replaces them with new questions. I couldn't deal with that anymore. Once Mulder left -- well, I dunno. I just lost interest. I felt bad for awhile -- I wanted to know how things turned out, but then I realized that I wouldn't be finding that out by watching the show.

I recommend just reading the re-caps on MightyBigTV (www.mightybigtv.com). You save yourself an hour, /and/ they're damn funny.

Re:go out with a bang?

[Sethb]

I got into the X-Files during the 2nd or 3rd season, while I was in college. I loved it, never missed an episode, and loved trying to figure out what happens next. I kept thinking that Carter was going to tie it all together, that there was some story arc going on that was so big I couldn't even see it all, and that at least a few of the plot lines would come together.

Sadly, several years later, I still watch every week via my TiVo, but I do so only because I invested so much time before. Don't get me wrong, I like what Patrick and Gish have brought to the series, and though I miss Duchovny it's not about that either. I've come to realize that the Emperor has no clothes. Carter just drops some acid, pulls some wild conspiracy theory out of his ass for the week, and writes an episode. Nothing is resolved, nothing is explained, nothing even ties into another episode, you can watch them in almost any order.

The only way Carter could possibly redeem himself is by making a 2-3 hour movie that opens right after the series ends, that ties everything together, brings back Duchovny, explains the aliens/bounty hunters, Scully's Baby, Mulder's sister, Patrick's son, and whether chewing gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight.

As it is now, I'll kind of plod through it, fast forwarding through the slow parts, and yelling at the TV every 15 minutes. The Cigarette Smoking Man has won...

Re:go out with a bang?

[mach-5]

I think its sad that the show's interest is based upon one particular character's (Mulder) appearance in the show. Personally, I like Doggett, and Rheas (sp?). Sure, they aren't Scully and Mulder, but the change is nice.

I agree with your point about the show never answering its own questions...maybe that WAS just wishful thinking. Who knows...a treat for the last episode???

Re:go out with a bang?

[MaxwellsSilverHammer]

"Well...I'm sure it will go out with a bang"

Or an icepick to the back of the neck....

Re:go out with a bang?

[GPB]

Nothing is resolved, nothing is explained, nothing even ties into another episode, you can watch them in almost any order.

I totally agree. If you want to see a show that has the same type of "what's going on here?" feel, but actually does tie it all together eventually, check out Babylon5. True the effects/costumes can be kind of hokey at times, but if you pay attention to the story arc, you'll see it is very well written and enjoyable.

-B

Re:go out with a bang?

[Rand Race]

Last ep should have Scully, Mulder, and the Cancer Man. Mulder should be killed, execution style, and dropped into an unmarked grave... by Scully! Why? Because the Cancer Man lets her in on the conspiracy, which she sees as logical and neccesary, in order for her to replace him. To keep it spooky we, the viewers, should still not know the basis of the conspiracy.

Re:go out with a bang?

[Bruzer]

Isn't Cancer Man dead? Pushed down the stairs crushed by his own wheel chair and all?

Millennium

[13Echo]

Now how about a Millennium movie, or perhaps a DVD boxed set of the series?

Now that was a wicked-sweet show.

Re:Millennium

[don_carnage]

I agree, but it's timing was all off. Chris Carter was looking to take control of Fox Friday night along with Sunday night. Unfortunately, that was back when X-Files was still a decent show and no one had enough time to try to keep track of two twisting storylines. Millennium would have been a great followup to the end of X-Files.

Re:Millennium

[jscharla]

DVD boxed sets of the series are already available. Currently seasons 1-4 are out and they are putting out a new one every ~8 months. As DVD collections go, they aren't bad, with several deleted scenes and commentary by Chris Carter. I'd give them a 8/10.

Re:Millennium

[WolfPup]

The only thing is there already is a movie called Millennium. I wonder if there would be issues trying to make a movie with close to the same name. I figured they'll put something on the end of it to keep the trademark people at bay.

Re:Millennium

[13Echo]

If these are available, can you tell me where to find them? What region are they (I have an Apex player, so it doesn't matter.) There is a website that is full of Millennium fans, and none of them are aware of there ever being a DVD release. There were VHS rentals of the first few episodes, and someone converted his Japanese Millennium laser disk copies onto DVD-R, but those were costly.

Re:Millennium

[13Echo]

Maybe you were referring to the X-Files. We were talking about the other Chris Carter show, Millennium, which only had 3 seasons.

The last season wasnt good enough

[bigjocker]

I stoped watching it the last season because it got really bad. I miss the 99 and 00 seasons, that really kicked ass!!.

Anyway, i'm waiting for the DVDs to come out.

X-Files has gone down hill

[SomethingOrOther]

I gave up watching the x-files a long time ago.
Origionaly it was very good but the writers seemed to confined with the same plotlines and format of each episode.

Had the program been given a freer reign and alowed to evolve over time (think star-trek) I think I would be still watching it today.
Shame

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[jamesoutlaw]

I agree with you.... The first few seasons were fantastic and I watched the show religiously. There were some incredible episodes during the early years.

Then as time went on, I grew extreamly bored with the same old conspiracy plotline and the government coverup BS. It's cool to have some sort of a continuing theme that runs through the life of a program, but The X Files took that to an extreme. I stopped watching it about 3 years ago.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[Otter]

Then as time went on, I grew extreamly bored with the same old conspiracy plotline and the government coverup BS. It's cool to have some sort of a continuing theme that runs through the life of a program, but The X Files took that to an extreme.

The lie the hard-core X-Files fans all sucked up was that there was some overarching story line that was being revealed over time, a la Lord Of The Rings. It became clear to most of us after a couple of rounds that the writers were completely winging it, stringing the conspiracy plot out for yet another season. It looks like Chris Carter has now gone to the well a few times too many and even the core fanboys have realized that the next upcoming "revelation" is just going to be the latest application of smoke and mirrors.

Call me a heretic, but the episodes I enjoyed the most were the freestanding ones.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[lostboy2]

I agree that the later episodes weren't as good as the earlier ones.

I thought I read somewhere that a couple of the more creative people (like Darin Morgan, who was responsible for Jose Chung's From Outer Space and was the morphing guy in Small Potatoes) had left the show after the first few seasons (somewhere around the 4th or 5th, IIRC). After that, it started becoming more formulaic.

Ah well. I'll probably still buy the DVDs anyway...

-- D.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[Darren Winsper]

Funny you should mention Star Trek, because that is a good example of how (character and plot) evolution affects the outcome of the series so much.

In DS9, the characters and the story evolved in really good ways. The dominion, the whole war, characters like Quark (Who started as a comedy character, but ended up being a really good secondary character) and Garak and the inner strife in the Federation. They stretched some things a bit much, but overall it worked really well.

However, in Voyager, nothing really changed. After the first couple of seasons the characters stopped evolving and just became really dull. They even ruined the doctor, who I thought was the best character by far early on, but then they just sort of, well, lamed him.

The only evolving that took place was where Seven went from an emotionless sex object to a semi-emotional sex object and the Borg, who went from fearsome "Oh my God, we're near Borg space" people to "Let's single handedly take on the hardest Borg ship we've ever seen" people. Come on, the tactical cube in Unimatrix Zero should have ripped them to shreds in a matter of seconds.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[Mr_Matt]

The lie the hard-core X-Files fans all sucked up was that there was some overarching story line that was being revealed over time, a la Lord Of The Rings.

The only lie there is that anything gets revealed at all. It sounded like you were saying that the mytharc doesn't exist...I'd disagree with that. Say instead that the mytharc has no [plot | point | end in sight] and I'd agree completely. :)

Call me a heretic, but the episodes I enjoyed the most were the freestanding ones.

Nothing heretical there, dude, they're better stories, IMNSHO. :)

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[ConceptJunkie]

Voyager was "Gilligan's Island" in space. No matter what happened, every episode came full circle to the status quo ante.

They had some good stories, but you knew they'd never get home until the last episode, and they'd just bump into another race of English-speaking humans with a few blobs of Silly-Putty on their faces and almost nothing would ever really change.

"Enterprise" seems better about that, the few episodes I've actually seen, but I'm willing to give it until the second season before I pass judgement, good or bad.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[CKW]

No kidding.

I quit watching it the night they showed me some super-human psychopath cave in the chest cavities of some random innocent family with a steel baseball bat, with so much sudden violence that this *huge* pool of blood floods the room.

I was there to watch Sci-fi. Not some stupid freakshow horror crap.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[fiziko]

Darin Morgan was only involved in a handful of episodes. He didn't really care for the show, so he wrote episodes that were a lot different than the norm. If memory serves, he wrote "Humbug" (circus freaks), "War of the Coprophages" (cockroaches), "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (Peter Boyle as psychic guy; he won a guest actor Emmy for it), and "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" (Charles Nelson Reilly writing a book). He also acted in two episodes, as the Flukeman in "The Host" and the shapeshifter in "Small Potatoes." Any correlation between the quality of the show and Darin Morgan's departure is entirely coincidental.

Re:X-Files has gone down hill

[dimator]

The only episodes that I can actually remember were the freestanding ones. The "conspiracy" episodes have just become a noisy blur, like a TV with no cable plugged in.

I don't know the names of the episodes, but in particular I remember really liking: the one with the Genie lady, the one with all those freak show people, the one where Giovanni Ribisi can shoot lightning with his body, and the really funny one with cigarette smoking alien.

Conspiracy R US

[slazlo]

Time to pull out Focaults Pendulum or some Robert Anton Wilson to remember what really is going on....

Brought to you by the #23

Re:Conspiracy R US

[netsharc]

Conspiracy R US (Score:1)
by slazlo on 13:08 Thursday 17 January 2002 (#2853707)

2 + 8 + 5 + 3 + 7 + 0 + 7 = 32, which is the reverse of 23.

About Time!!!

[bjb]

I gave up finally on the X-Files with the season that ended in 2001. I was a devoted fan for many years, but after Mulder initially left, things just never made sense anymore... ok, not that many things made "sense", but you could tell that due to Duchovney's inability to decide if he was going to be a movie star or a television star, the writers had to keep making fix after fix to the story continuity.

With the season that ended in 2001, it was obvious that way too many patches had been applied to the story continuity, and with the season finale, I simply gave up. The show just sucked at this point. Heck, my sister and I decided that when something sucked real bad, we would simply call it "X-files bad".

I do feel bad for the show and Duchovney. He is a very likeable actor, however, he has been severely typecasted (see the last two or three movies he's been in) and I don't think he can really shake that off. I don't even know if Gillian Anderson can make the break, but she probably has a better chance.

Anyway, R.I.P. .. you were once the finest bit of programming on television, but lately you just can't cut it.

Re:About Time!!!

[night_flyer]

I do feel bad for the show and Duchovney. He is a very likeable actor, however, he has been severely typecasted (see the last two or three movies he's been in)

the "Red Shoe Diaries" vol 54 and which other movie?

Re:About Time!!!

[jmu1]

I'd say it was just after the movie that it really started to suck. The writing took a serious nose-dive and the directing just flat out died.

Re:About Time!!!

[tang]

Type Cast? And its "Duchovny".
He actually plays remarkably different roles in his movies for examole:

Kalifornia

Playing God

Return To Me

Evolution - ok, so he was an FBI agent, that doesnt mean with one other "FBI" role he was type cast. This was dramatically different, since it was a COMEDY and obviously he was chosen to make fun of his serious FBI role on X-files

Zoolander

Re:About Time!!!

[red_dragon]

Perhaps you ought to watch Playing God. It's like watching another episode of the X-Files, but with Mulder getting high.

Re:About Time!!!

[uberdood]

Granted, David Duchovny has been in numerous movies and TV eps, but how could you possibly not include The Rapture in your list?

Must have been an oversight. :)

[OOffTC - why the hell isn't it out on DVD yet when crap like Johnny Mnemonic has been released TWICE? In superbit no less...]

Re:About Time!!!

[alex_siufy]

I disagree. "Playing God" was quite different from X-Files... How is a junkie doctor any similar to a paranoid FBI agent?

Re:About Time!!!

[CynicTheHedgehog]

From the illustrius IMDB:

- Full Frontal (2002) .... Gus
- Zoolander (2001) .... J.P. Prewitt
- Evolution (2001) .... Dr. Ira Kane
- Forbidden Zone: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) .... Jake Winters
... aka Zalman King's Forbidden Zone: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) (USA: complete title)
... aka Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries 15: Forbidden Zone (2000) (V) (USA: series title)
- Girl on a Bike: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) .... Jake Winters
... aka Zalman King's Girl on a Bike: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) (USA: complete title)
- Intimate Portrait: Minnie Driver (2000) (TV)
- Red Shoe Diaries 14: Luscious Lola (2000) (V) .... Jake Winters
- Red Shoe Diaries 17: Swimming Naked (2000) (V) .... Jake Winters
... aka Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries: Swimming Naked (2000) (V) (USA: video box title)
... aka Zalman King's Swimming Naked: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) (USA: video title)
- Return to Me (2000) .... Bob Rueland
Game: Red Shoe Diaries, The (2000) (V) .... Jake Winters
... aka Zalman King's the Game: Red Shoe Diaries (2000) (V) (USA: complete title)
- 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, The (1999) (TV) .... Fox Mulder
- Saturday Night Live: The Best of Adam Sandler (1999) (TV) .... Beverly's Sister
- X Files Game, The (1998) (VG) .... Special Agent Fox Mulder
... aka X-Files, The (1998/II) (VG) (USA)
- X Files, The (1998) .... Special Agent Fox Mulder
... aka Aux frontières du réel (1998) (Canada: French title)
... aka X-Files, The (1998) (USA: closing credits title)
- Inside the X Files (1997) (TV) .... Fox Mulder/Himself
- Red Shoe Diaries: Temple of Flesh (1997) (V) .... Jake
... aka Red Shoe Diaries 16: Temple of Flesh (1997) (V) (USA: series title)
- Playing God (1997) .... Eugene Sands
... aka Playing Hero (1997)
- Red Shoe Diaries 13: Four on the Floor (1996) (V) .... Jake
- Red Shoe Diaries 6: How I Met My Husband (1996) (V) .... Jake
- Red Shoe Diaries: Slow Train (1996) (V) .... Jake
- Secrets of the X Files, Part 2 (1996) (TV) .... Fox Mulder
- Red Shoe Diaries 7: Burning Up (1995) (V) .... Jake
... aka Zalman King's Burning Up Red Shoe Diaries (1995) (V) (USA: video box title)
- Red Shoe Diaries 8: Night of Abandon (1995) (V) .... Jake
... aka Zalman King's Night of Abandoned (1995) (V) (USA: video box title)
- Secrets of the X Files, Part 1 (1995) (TV) .... Fox Mulder
- Kalifornia (1993) .... Brian Kessler
- Red Shoe Diaries 3: Another Woman's Lipstick (1993) (V) .... Jake
- Red Shoe Diaries 4: Auto Erotica (1993) (V) .... Jake
... aka Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries: Auto Erotica (1993) (V) (USA: video box title)
- Red Shoe Diaries 5: Weekend Pass (1993) (V) .... Jake
... aka Zalman King's Weekend Pass Red Shoe Diaries 5 (1993) (V) (USA: video box title)
- "X Files, The" (1993) TV Series .... Special Agent Fox Mulder (1993-2001)
... aka "X-Files, The" (1993) (USA)
- X-Files, The (1993) (TV) .... Special Agent Fox Mulder
"Red Shoe Diaries" (1992) TV Series .... Jake
Chaplin (1992) .... Rollie Totheroh
... aka Charlot (1992) (Italy)
- Red Shoe Diaries 2: Double Dare (1992) (V) .... Jake
- Venice/Venice (1992) .... Dylan
- Red Shoe Diaries (1992) (TV) .... Jake Winters
... aka Red Shoe Diaries the Movie (1992) (TV) (USA: video box title)
... aka Wild Orchid III: Red Shoe Diaries (1992) (TV)
- Baby Snatcher (1992) (TV) .... David
- Beethoven (1992) .... Brad
- Ruby (1992) .... Officer Tippit
- Denial (1991) .... John
... aka Loon (1991)
- Rapture, The (1991) .... Randy
- Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) .... Bruce
- Julia Has Two Lovers (1991) .... Daniel
... aka Julia tiene dos amantes (1991) (Argentina)
- Bad Influence (1990) .... Club Goer #3
- New Year's Day (1989) .... Billy
- Working Girl (1988) .... Cyn's Engagement Party Guest

BTW, what is "The Red Shoe Diaries"?

Re:About Time!!!

[gowen]

BTW, what is "The Red Shoe Diaries"?

A bizarre neither-sexy-or-dirty soft core porn show with various unerotic scantily clad second-rate actresses in poorly thought out "psycho-sexual" situations. All narrated/introduced by a frankly embarrassed looking Duchovny.

Well, you did ask.

Re:About Time!!!

[kzinti]

All narrated/introduced by a frankly embarrassed looking Duchovny.

...and his dog "Scully" - er, um, I mean "Stella".

Re:About Time!!!

[gowen]

..and his dog "Scully" - er, um, I mean "Stella".

I wouldn't know. I wasn't watching it. My finger slipped on the remote control ... yeah, thats it ... my finger slipped.

Re:About Time!!!

[d-e-w]

Anderson's been doing 'arts films' in the off-season and has indicated she's perfectly happy with continuing to do smaller films like those and theatre. She's more of a classic actor than a big-name star. I've really liked all the smaller budget films she has done, and she really does have a greater talent than you'd suspect from just the X-Files.

As for DD--he was okay in "Return to Me." Nothing else he has done has impressed me; part of the problem there was the poor quality films he seems have have chosen. Evolution *gag* I think that he's partly been type-casted, and partly doesn't have a clue at how to pick films that'll use his talents.

Re:About Time!!!

[ShortedOut]

Agreed, the show went downhill after it moved the shooting from Vancouver to California. The dark dreary days, and the separation from the Hollywood hype is what made the show great. I was an avid fan up until that season. After that, I just quit watching because the episodes became just too silly.

Re:About Time!!!

[Darren Winsper]

I really liked the early episodes, but stopped watching shortly after the movie came out because the BBC would not give it a consistent time slot. In the last couple of years I've caught the odd episode, and it seems like too much has been revealed. Mulder found the aliens, and that strange cult cancer-man was in had been burned to death by some sort of alien freedom fighters. It wasn't so much mistery as plain sci-fi then.

Re:About Time!!!

[_johnnyc]

I still like it and still watch it. I think the show's improved since the departure of Duchovny, and lately they've been getting back to the roots of the show with these great stand-alone episodes. It is probably time for it to go, but I think a lot of people who have not watched it in the last 3 years will see that the last 3 seasons weren't as bad as all that when they start getting them in syndication. The story arc may have gotten old, but when they worked on an episode that would not have any reference to any story arc, it still shined IMHO.

Really, a show that shold be put out of its misery is the Simpson's. Now that has really gone downhill in the last 3 years.

Re:About Time!!!

[Mumble01]

David Duchovny is excellent at playing Mulder but I feel he's essentially a one trick pony like many other actors in Hollywood. Think Kevin Costner... great at a certain type of role in which his personality plays a large part. Step out of that and he's over his head. If Duchovny has been typecast it is because casting directors think the same way.

Re:About Time!!!

[Loligo]

The Rapture?

Nonono, "Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead"!

uhm.

Of course, I still protest that Hillary Swank won an Oscar for "Boys Don't Cry", yet the Academy totally overlooked her groundbreaking work in "The Next Karate Kid".

-l
(... do I really need a sarc tag?)

Re:About Time!!!

[lupetto]

He wasn't an FBI agent in evolution. He was a college professor (prior to that he worked in the army doing science/medicine research). Remember the Anthrax vaccine he made with all the sideffects?

'Bout time.....

[bricriu]

The show should have ended after the 5th or 6th season. Use the movie as a stopping point, or as a prelude to the final season. In an abstract way, I like how Mulder & Scully are now the shadowing unknown figures to the newbies Doggett and Reyes.... but the show just lacks the same sort of viceral, "what the hell is going on here?" punch that it used to have. How many bug episodes have there been, now? 4? (Cockroaches, flies, bees, little-glowy-green-things from inside trees) After you unravel the whole Alien Conspiricy (tm), there's nowhere to go but down.

Pity Fox didn't give Lone Gunmen a better chance. The 1st episode was.... eh (and HOW "eh" after Spet 11th), but some of the later ones were just brilliant. Guess John C. Potato doesn't wanna watch middle-aged geeks. Who knew?

Re:'Bout time.....

[way2slo]

"How many bug episodes have there been, now? 4? (Cockroaches, flies, bees, little-glowy-green-things from inside trees)"

I love that episode with the little-glowy-green-things. It's called "Darkness Falls", I believe. It is the only episode I own on tape. The cool thing is that the other episode on that tape is my second favorite one, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". Great shows. Of course, they were both first season. Personally, I liked the ones where they would track down folk legends and myths like the Jersey Devil, but they ran out of those stories pretty quick.

Re:'Bout time.....

[Snodgrass]

I think somebody at Fox just has some vendetta against Chris Carter. Never mind that he brought them one of their biggest money makers. "The Lone Gunman" was a good show - really good as far as spin-offs go, but they got stuffed in the Fox Time-slot o' death. Same thing with Harsh Realm, Carter's other project. I watched it and I thought it was great! Yeah, it was definately Matrix-ish, but I'd watch a weekly Matrix episode if I could, but since I can't, this was the next best thing.

But again, it got relegated to the TSOD and Fox claimed "Oh my, this certainly won't do, look at the ratings!" and threw it out.

*sigh* Stupid Fox. If it weren't for the Simpsons I'd never watch that station.

Re:'Bout time.....

[neoform]

speaking of degrating shows.. take a look at the simpsons. I've seen ever episode at least 4-5 times, but the recent seasons have been using a new format where they spend the first 10 minutes setting up what is going to happen in the next 20.. and it has absolutely no continuity, they seem to just run off and do random things, and it's just not funny any more.
worst season ever!
(best episode was the 'scorpio' one)

Re:Good riddance

[I.T.R.A.R.K.]

The movie was the real turning point.
I didn't see it for quite a while after it was release on home video. And well, seeing it only confirmed what most X-files freaks already told me. It sucked, and the rest of the series seemed to suffer soon thereafter.

I knew it was over

[prisoner]

when I saw the local TV reporter talking about the episode with Lucy Lawless (sp?) and Sculley in a "possible lesbian scene". I haven't watched it since the movie came out but that hardly seems to have mattered.

Re:I knew it was over

[mark_lybarger]

which episode was that? i've got some gnutella searching to do :)

Re:I knew it was over

[prisoner]

Don't get carried away...:) this is network tv. I think it was the season premier for this year of the previous one.

Re:Good riddance

[ellem]

the 3rd time the found Mulder's sister.

Scully has a baby.

The New Year's Eve kiss.

Right after "From Outer Space"

Finally...

[XRayX]

Even if it sounds hard: I'm happy they finish it now. The X-Files (Akte X in Germany) have always been a nice show for the last years, but the last season was really weak (Dogget, Scully's feelings towards Mulder blahblahblah...) and I'd be happy if they keep some of theirn ideas for (hopefully better) cinema-movies...

They should have done more COPS crossovers!

[Kamel Jockey]

Arguably the funniest episode was the one they crossed over from COPS. The whole "BACK TO THE CAR! BACK TO THE CAR" line just did it for me :)

It was inevitable...

[MadMorf]

IMHO, the show has really been dead since The Movie...

For me the only interesting storyline was the Alien Invasion/Gov't Conspiracy thread...
That died a bizarro death with The Movie...

Since then the show has just been floundering around, looking for a story to tell, and coming up short...

At least when Millennium died they ended it quickly...
Frank Black didn't spend 3 seasons wandering around looking lost and only vaguely aware that something was happening somewhere...

About time

[kdogg765]

I've watched the X-Files since season 3, and in that time seen enough re-runs to have watched it all up until this season. The show has been declining ever since they decided to throw away the entire story they were building up over the last several seasons. They have never recovered since. David Duchovny saw the decline and left the show. It's just too bad they could not have brought the show to a respectable end at the show's height instead of letting it whither away while they tried to sqeeze that last few dollars out of it.
Sigh.

And about time too.

[k98sven]

The X-files is ooold. Old in the sense that it's
out of touch with the trends. Government conspiracies were all the rage back in the early
ninties (Oliver Stone's J.F.K. for example),
but it doesn't feel very fresh today.

I think in 20 years people will look back on 'X-files' as a typical ninties show,
like "Cheers" for the 80's, "M*A*S*H" for the 70s,
etc..

Re:And about time too.

[doc_traig]

I disagree. Conspiracy-based stories are difficult to televise for the average viewer that tends to wave off the idea that there is much going on behind the scenes of government. Chris Carter managed to do what every successful TV series has done. He combined

1) Great stories. The mytharc never dominated a season but was always there,

2) The right actors for the roles. Can you imagine a better Mulder, or a better Skinner? Hell, the "lone gunmen" were cast perfectly,

3) Terrific directing, which made the show visually appealing. This is what drew in a lot of the new audience in season two and helped spread the word that this was something to see.

I think this show jumped the shark when they axed the Cigarette-Smoking Man and then brought him back...

- DDT

I actually like the new season....

[ShaggusMacHaggis]

I like John Dogget, good character, and well acted by t2 guy (heh). Am I the only one? The main thing that gets on my nerves is that it feels like they are just repeated the same stories. I mean, did they ever REALLY solve the whole alien invader thing? I didn't think they did....and now these "super soilders", will they just leave that story up in the air as well?

Re:I actually like the new season....

[nob]

I agree. John Dogget is a great character, and so is Agent Reyes. I was actually looking forward to this season with the main focus on these 2 agents. But in all honesty, I've turned it off the last couple times I watched it because it didn't hold my intrest. Most episodes seemed to start off good, but then turned into crap quickly. Good ideas gone bad I guess. Anyways, I think it's because they changed the opening credits so dramatically. You can't have a show on for that long with the same opening and then change it. It happened to the A-Team in it's last season, which got cancelled half way through.

Re:I actually like the new season....

[TheVidiot]

I'm with you there. I was glad to see Mulder go.... it was frustrating to see him wander around looking for something to do. I think Dogget makes a good replacement, the latest episode featured him, and I thought he did well.

Re:I actually like the new season....

[NicolaiBSD]

Relax, B.J. Blazkowicz will finish them super-soldiers.

Re:I actually like the new season....

[killmenow]

I can't say I've watched the new season. I was never a HUGE fan. Oh, OK, maybe a few years ago. I was just happy Robert Patrick got the Dogget role. He's a good actor and I was glad to see him get the exposure. As someone else even said here on /. most folks just knew him as that T2 guy. But he's a terrific character actor. His character on The Soprano's was excellent.

Are they still running?

[opkool]

What?

Do you mean that there are new episodies out there?

I thought that they were just re-runs. But... wait a minute! Yes! Mulder is never there! So, maybe there are new episodes.

I sincerely thought that my TV was going bad because Mulder really didn't look like Mulder, his voice was wierd and Scully never used 'Mulder' when assressing Mulder... or whoever is Mulder-2.0-i386.rpm right now...

I guess it's time to cancel the appointment with the TV technician and the cable guy.

X-Files had some great creative episodes

[Marx_Mrvelous]

I really liked some of the X-file's episodes. Not only some of the really good "normal" ones, but the comedic/weird ones were erally good, too.

I don't think I'll ever forget the episode from the two different viewpoints, or the COPS episode. There was a lot of original work there, which should be remembered. Too bad the last couple seasons have been going downhill...

Honestly now, Iron-absed Super Soldiers that can regenerate from a single vertebrate? Come on...

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[jamesoutlaw]

I can never remember the titles of the episodes.. but some of my favorites were:

The hacker episode - with the rough and tough hacker chick and her little trailer full of equipment

Fluke man - the fluke/man hybrid that came to the US aboard a Russian tanker

The Peacock Family- perhaps the most violent and disturbing episoide ever aired... the one with the severly mutated & inbred family

The Pilot Eposide (the very first one)

The episode with the older psychic guy who kind of had the hots for Sculley (It was called the Amazing something or other)

The Side Show Episode - that featured The Enigma eathing a raw fish

and so many more....

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[jmu1]

Is this something from the current series? I watched the first episode and decided once and for all that I wasn't going to buy the dvd's past season 6... much less watch the tripe they are airing now.

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[killswtch]

The frigtening thing is that I knew all but 2 of these right of the top of my head.

> The hacker episode
-- "Kill Switch" (written by William Gibson),

> Fluke man
-- "The Host"

> The Peacock Family
-- "Home"

> The Pilot Eposide
-- "Pilot"

> The episode with the older psychic guy who kind
> of had the hots for Sculley
-- "Clyde Brucmkan's Final Repose"

> The Side Show Episode
-- "Humbug"

Even though I am obviously a die-hard fan and I am still glued to my TV every Sunday night, I admit that the show has been in decline.

Patrick and Gish (Doggett and Reyes) have done an admirable job with their characters, however, and this season has been an improvement IMHO.

But, Scully's doing the 'wandering around lost' bit and teasing us with Mulder is getting a bit much. Perhaps it is time to end the show. I think Carter should have Mulder come get Scully, tie up a few loose ends (but leave enough for a movie or two), and mercifully pull the plug.

I am deeply saddend by the news though....I may have to leave work early to go console myself with the first four seasons DVDs...

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[RAVasquez]

You could argue, based on "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "Humbug" (and possibly "The Host"), that the show's gone straight down since Darin Morgan left. Where are you, Eddie Van Blundht?

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[gowen]

I don't think I'll ever forget the episode from the two different viewpoints ... There was a lot of original work there.

Yes. Extremely original, as long as you hadn't seen Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, Rashomon.

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[SuiteSisterMary]

I caught my first episode in a while a few days ago, the one where Doggett has his memory stolen by the Cartel. At the end, Scully writes an email to Mulder, and all I can think of is "Doogie Howser! Doogie Howser!"

Re:X-Files had some great creative episodes

[Marx_Mrvelous]

Yea, but not many people have ever seen that at all, so yes, ity was quite original :)

Another soap opera ends

[Aceticon]

Comparing Dallas (80's soap) with X-Files (90's soap):

Dallas - Bobby has an affair with another woman.
X-Files - Mully gets kidnapped by aliens.

Dallas - Yet another JR scheme to get all the money from the familly.
X-Files - Yet another conspiracy at the highest level.

Dallas - Pamela's dream sequence.
X-Files - Scully's dream sequence.

It's about time...

[Pedrito]

I've barely been able to watch it since Duchovny left. Yeah, Gillian Anderson is great, but it was the chemistry between the two that did it for me. For me, he really defined the show, and when he left, it was pretty much over, I think. As far as I'm concerned, it ended several seasons ago.

Re:It's about time...

[sql*kitten]

I've barely been able to watch it since Duchovny left. Yeah, Gillian Anderson is great, but it was the chemistry between the two that did it for me. For me, he really defined the show, and when he left, it was pretty much over, I think

Mu Bai and Shu Lien are the new Mulder and Scully :0)

Re:It's about time...

[MaxwellsSilverHammer]

"Mu Bai and Shu Lien are the new Mulder and Scully :0)"

Excellent! They could set it in old Beijing, and use English subtitles! :-) Not to mention adding some righteous "Kung Fu Action(tm)".

Now a movie

[Ian_Bailey]

Well, I know most people have given up on the series, but for those of you who still have hope, don't forget that David Duchovny (sorry about the spelling) has repeatedly claimed that he would be willing to do an X-Files movie....
Let's just hope it doesn't end up like Evolution....

Re:Now a movie

[Caball]

Not only willing, he is already signed up for it... aside from this being disclosed in the article (which you obviously didnt read), it has been a known fact soon after the first movie premiered.

Re:Good riddance

[Segfault 11]

My personal thought was that it happened when David Duchovny left as a regular. Some people might say it was even sooner. The remaining doubters of its demise had to be convinced otherwise after seeing the umpteenth plot about Mulder, with Duchovny nowhere to be found.

A Mercy Killing...

[kzinti]

I've been watching X-Files since its first season, and let's face it... it's been pretty terrible in recent years, even before Mulder and Scully were written off into the margins. How long can you milk an alien colonization/invasion/kidnapping/master-race-breed ing conspiracy before the plot twists and turns cease to be surprising? Personally, I think they should make more episodes involving... what was her name, Candy? the entomologist. Or more episodes where Mulder kills vampires by driving stakes through their hearts. Or yes, more carnie episodes with real Geeks and the puzzleman!

I'm not going to miss X-Files. Give me the reruns!

--Jim

Re:A Mercy Killing...

[Tofu]

Not Candy! Bambi!! That was such a great episode! :)

Re:A Mercy Killing...

[jmu1]

Mulder: Bambi was telling me about ...
Scully: Bambi?
Mulder: Yeah, she was telling me about ...
Scully: Her name is Bambi?
I think that is one of my most favorite X-Files episodes... ahh the nostalgia.

Bring Back The Lone Gunmen!

[Ratbert42]

Please.

Re:Bring Back The Lone Gunmen!

[Peyna]

Amen!!!

Bout Time.

[arsaspe]

The X-Files has been dying for years, but it has just managed to barely stay alive due to a strong cult following. I think Mulder leaving was the final nail in the coffin though, and the show had no hope of survival without him... I mean, he _was_ the show.

Whew...

[Shaheen]

Now I don't have to worry about how much money I'm going to keep pouring into buying the rest of the series on DVD.

that's too bad

[Ender Ryan]

No, really. Sure, the show is really old and has probably gone on long enough, but I think the new characters have really breathed new life into it. I like Agent Dogget and Agent What's-Her-Name.

Oh well, it has had a good run. I guess it's good to take it off the air while it's not such a bad show.

What about...

[joedoc]

So, that show's going off the air, huh?

What's gonna happen to that talking dog they took on all their adventures...

Oh, wait...that was Scooby-Doo.
Sorry.

Season 1

[hotpoint]

Call it controversial, but I loved the very first season the best, and I always thought it would have been cool if it had ended there - with their contact dead, the X-Files closed, and Mulder and Scully split up, and no questions answered.

I mean, subsequent series were quite good, but what a cool way to end it.

Finally !!!!

[Acheon]

The moment Chris Carter dreamed, then begged god to happen, and then desperated it would ever happen, has come true. That series FOX turned into a moron show from the sixth season will finally rest and idiots stop blaspheme about how Mulder and little green men are k3w1 and cute. I guess it had sunken that low that even FOX couldn't find anything else to say even to entertain the masses so once they sucked all the money out of it they call it quit. One more reason to despise FOX and to thank heavens they haven't done the same with Millennium.

Fuck you all wannabe X-Files fans !!! ;)

--Martin

Re:I never could watch this show-

[I The Man in Black I]

Feel free to pass her phonenumber, adress and measures on.

Thanks in advance,
The Man in Black

Good riddance!

[Drunken_Jackass]

That's what i say!

Don't get me wrong i was a huge fan when the show first started - before they got really crazy with the whole "aliens-took-my-sister-and-my-father-wasn't-really -my-father-smallpox-vaccines-are-evil" plot line, and spun off Millenium - which took over the X-files cool show slot for a while until that too was crapped up.

The best shows were by far the ones where Mulder and Scully where out tracking down flukeman and staking teenage vampires. That was good stuff.

THey should have stopped the show 3 years ago.

Re:good riddance!

[bughunter]

Funny you should mention Millenium, the best show Chris Carter ever produced, and the one that got most egregiously snubbed by FOX.

X-Files has gone downhill

[epgandalf]

The series really started to get worse several seasons ago. There has been more of a shift from drama to comedy.
I now prefer to watch Alias, which has the same time slot and is much better show.

Re:X-Files has gone downhill

[ZaMoose]

Actually, I've skipped Alias, for the most part. I've taken a shining to Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Vince D'Onofrio is friggin' great and the plotlines are different enough to make it worth watching, unlike SVU

Moved on to other projects????

[halflinger_n]

Didn't Chris Carter move on to other projects a couple of years ago?... that is about the last time I remember seeing a really good _story_ on the X-Files.

Lately all we've been getting are bad poetry/psuedo-science/neo-philosophical monologues from Scully. Pretty much every time I hear one I tune out (mentally) and/or change the channel (phyically) - which explains why I haven't seen very much of this series lately.

Someone still watches it?

[datawar]

Is it just me, or did the X-Files become completely unwatchable the season that Mulder left (and even for a season or two before it was REALLY REALLY BAD(TM)).

The plot line went from being a very interesting, intriquate work of art in seasons 1 and 2 to a hack-n-slash piece of crap in the later seasons...

I hope Carter can go back to the roots and make something really watchable that once again makes me want to turn on that box in the living room for something other than Big Media News and the occasional Simpsons/Family Guy/Futurama.

Re:Expected...

[johnkoer]

I totally agree. I loved the first few seasons where there was no huge goverment plot to hide the aliens or prevent Mulder from finding stuff. I liked it when every episode was its own independent show, where you dont get lost if you havent watched in a month or two. I really havent been into the show in three or four years.

The show relied too much on Mulder...

[koh]

and, as it has been said before, Mulder's departure killed it. They could have survived a few more seasons answering questions leading to other questions leading to blah... But Mulder's presence was IMHO mandatory for the X-Files concept to catch audience.

BTW, I always thought the way they designed the Mulder character was chosen to perfectly suit us geeks. It was Mulder's charism that made the show enjoyable (and later on, "watchable") instead of what it has now become : absolute crap :]

Until Carter has another good idea ("good idea" != "Millenium"), I will live on my memories of the first 3 seasons of X-Files :)

Re:The show relied too much on Mulder...

[rtkluttz]

Aww... come on :)
I was so disappointed that Millennium ended. IMHO Millennium was much better than the Lone Gunmen series and it was cool because it was even darker than the X-Files. They could have done some really impressive crossovers between the two other than just the hints they gave us. The years that M and X were a 1-2 punch on the same night were the best TV watching years of my life so far (Ok.. so I need to get one (a life that is)).
I've also always liked Lance Henrikson. He along with Michael Ironside are two of the best actors for "dark" roles out there.

.

Let's all pretend it ended after season 7

[tenzig_112]

It's like watching a friend marry someone you don't like. When it ends badly, you are neither completely sad nor completely happy.

Agnst over the show's direction, the carrot-and-stick approach to the Mulder/Scully relationship, and the exodus of the show's better writers has been building up for years.

If it weren't for the failure of Milennium, Harsh Realm & TLG, the show would have gone off with a satisfying bang years ago. Sad, really.

Further reading:
Chris Carter Plots Series Finale- On The Toilet

X-Files: "We're going to dish out answers this time, we swear!"

Re:Let's all pretend it ended after season 7

[ArticulateArne]

I agree. I pretty much lost interest in it a couple years ago. It was a great show, but the whole point was seeing extremely weird situations and trying to figure out what in the world (or out of the world) was going on.

I have a friend who's pretty into the show. Whenever we talk about it, I always say that the show should have ended with the seventh season. The perfect ending to the show, which was all about questions and very little about answers, would have been Scully's announcement that she was pregnant. Everybody would have been wondering if the baby was human, alien, Mulder's, or what? It would have been such a great cliffhanger.

Also, beneath all the stuff he did, I still think Krychek was a good guy.

When did it Jump the shark?

[dbretton]

This is intended to stir up a little discussion:

When do you think X-Files jumped the shark?
I say it was toast once Mulder left.

?

Re:When did it Jump the shark?

[eddy the lip]

when it moved to the states. i was a devoted fan up until that point, but that was the year that they lost the wonderful moodiness of the vancouver area locations (sorry, the LA shoots just didn't have that feel - too much sun and a crew too used to shooting drama-of-the-weeks). that was also the year we found out everything important about the consipracy. everything after that felt simply tacked on, one more twist to keep the corpse ambulating.

what i found even sadder than the x-files walking death, though, was the axing of carter's three other (far superior) shows. millenium was too dark at a politically wrong moment (damn, i miss frank black), harsh realm wasn't given a chance, so we'll never even know how good it was (but if you've seen the episodes beyond the first three that were aired, you've had a glimpse of where it was going. a lot of promise there). and the lone gunmen wasn't on long enough to break away from the x-files fan base. it seemed like that ravening horde had a difficult time with something that poked fun at the whole conspiracy gig. something x-files did well in the beginning...

ah, well. maybe they'll give carter another chance, and maybe by some miracle they'll keep it around long enough for people to actually start watching it...

Good for Chris Carter

[imrdkl]

As much as I liked the X-Files, I am glad to hear that Chris Carter is finally moving on. I suppose the show never really had a chance without the Mulder/Scully chemistry going on.

I could make some disparaging remarks about beating a dead horse or milking the golden cow to death, but I'll hold my tongue out of respect for what the show was in it's best years. Would gladly buy a DVD of the first few seasons to watch them again.

Good for Futurama maybe?

[Jason Levine]

I stopped following the X-Files way back, so my apologies to those who are still X-Files fans, but this might be a good thing. Fox has been mistreating Futurama for awhile. (Preempting it for football. Not showing new eps. Preempting the first new Ep in awhile for a Simpsons repeat so the Simpson's slot can be used by the premiere of The Chamber.)

If X-Files is no longer, it frees up 2 half-hour timeslots. They could move Futurama to the post-Simpsons timeslot and move Malcom In The Middle after that. (Then fill the post-Malcom timeslot with something else.) Then again, with the way Fox execs think, they'll probably fill it up with some piece of junk show.

Re:Good for Futurama maybe?

[tsmit]

Chances are, Fox will probably move Dark Angel to the Sunday night time slot, since it's been dismal at Friday night, and for some reason, they seem intent on keeping it.

Yes, Jessica Alba is hot, but dammit, it seems like James Cameron has got some goods on someone at Fox, because that show will just NOT die.

They jumped the shark when Mulder left

[Chris Mar]

I've tried to watch the show since Mulder left, but its just gotten worse and worse. Its painful watching Scully, Doggett and the lesbian chick. The whole storyline is old and tired, and frankly no one cares anymore. This has been one of my all time favorite shows. But, I don't acknowledge the show since Dogget showed up.

Its sad they are ending, but its better that way, what they have now is crap.

If you no longer have a story to tell, shut up.

[guybarr]

The problem with (initially) good TV series is the financial incentive not to shut up.

that sums up the X Files (since ~99) for me.

- they're equally important, the pencil and the eraser.

Better to burn out than fade away...

[joel8x]

I really do like the new characters on the show - they have a lot of depth and talent, but the writing has weakened so much in the last couple of seasons that it seems that Chris Carter and crew gave up on the show completely (although last week's episode was the best in about 2 years). I really hope they give us:
1) Some good movies down the road
or
2) A final episode that kills everything and everyone and leaves you with your jaw dropped.

Re:Good riddance

[buckeyeguy]

Same thought here. Guess they lost me after the saga of the Cancer Man was essentially over.

Other the other hand, here's whath other folks have to say about it:
Vote for your X-Files 'jumping the shark' moment

This show jumped the shark ages ago

[jpellino]

Carter is simply being merciful.

How many times will they seemingly solve The Big Mystery... then again in a movie.

Gimme the original cast and the occasional guest like Peter Boyle.

Robert Patrick may have been a recognizable face, but you need an actual actor with some skills, if only for wry humor like Duchovny, not a digital clothes horse with dozens of b-movies plus Striptease.

1 Season too late, methinks

[eclectric]

It seems to me that the season ending kiss between mulder and scully at the end of last season would have been a fine farewell for the show... instead, they had to drag us through a season of "Bobby Ewing" (if you don't get that reference, think TV's "Dallas")

What the X-Files Needed

[fat_mike]

The X-Files need some hot lesbian action between Scully and Xena when she guest starred.

Gaping hole in Sunday night?

[don_carnage]

So what is Fox going to do with itself when it loses it's Sunday night cult-show? Face it, they aren't going to do it with programs like "The Chamber". What a joke!

King of the Hill and the Simpsons have gone downhill and Futurama gets screwed every week by post game bantor. Malcolm has a good cast and good writers, but...then what?

I vote to bring back Space Above and Beyond or Young Indiana Jones!

Re:Gaping hole in Sunday night?

[berniecase]

I liked Space: Above and Beyond (I was 14 when it first aired; my tastes weren't as developed.), but now when I watch the reruns on Sci-Fi I can't help thinking that it's about one or two coed shower scenes from a Starship Troopers.

The Simpsons still makes me laugh. Alot. Futurama needs to be marketed more toward the scientific/geek crowd. That show has so much more potential. There are some truly genious writers on that show. My favorite line was from when Al Gore was on: I'm a tenth-level vice president!

King of the Hill only occasionally makes me laugh, but moreso makes me cringe. Malcolm in the Middle makes me cringe, but in a good way. That show is just ha-freaking-lariously dysfunctional. That's its "charm."

And, I'm going to get flamed for this, but I miss the days of Earth 2. I still like that show.

Re:Gaping hole in Sunday night?

[SuiteSisterMary]

Every time I see 'Space:AAB, I have to run out and play X-Com: UFO Defense/Enemy Unknown. I really do wish they'd do an X-Com that is alike in gameplay, but with modern gfx and the like. Apocalypse was no hell. Interceptor was a blast, though. I wish they hadn't cancelled Alliance.

Re:Gaping hole in Sunday night?

[Phoenixflame3]

Hell yes. I would dearly love to see S:AAB come back. I still remember some of the better episodes. The Angriest Angel... the first two... and anything with the AI's in it. :)

Re:Gaping hole in Sunday night?

[TrollBridge]

I'm sure Fox can fill just about any gaping hole left by the X-Files. I'm not so sure about one left by "The Giver" though...

Funny episodes

[I am Jack's username]

Writer Darin Morgan's (Eddie van Blundht in 420 Small potatoes aka Luke Skywalker, with a tail) episodes were the best. My favourite two: 220 Humbug (freak town) and 312 War of the coprophages (cockroaches). He also did the demons having coffee episode in Millenium: 221 Somehow, Satan got behind me.

Re:Funny episodes

[Seraph]

And don't forget Jose Chung's From Outer Space and its Millennium counterpart, Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense!
I still remember the surreal feeling the first time I saw Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura (in his pre-governor days)
together on The X-Files!

Still one of the best shows

[domo_jojo]

The cinematography still rocks- the homage to 'Traffic' last week was cool. (I just got the arc between 'All Things' and 'Grand Canyon' after seeing the latter last week) And even if the character development has stalled a bit, the writing still exhibits creative flashes (even if the only character to ever speak truth was Kritchcau during his walk with Mulder thru the Pentagon!) The problem has always been that while we want Mulder and Scully to wild thing, we're sorta repulsed by the cheapening of the act into some sorta alien conspiracy instead of the natural progression of a relationship.

Course while the reality of Anderson and Duchovney's 'antipathy' towards one another doesn't help the overall vibe one gets from the show, there's no denying the onscreen chemistry is one of the best ever. Reyes and Dogget do hold some hope, although there was one scene where Reyes and Anderson appeared simpatico.

Overall, perhaps it's better to do movies, where the plot lines could have the continuity of writing and cinematography and feel more of a piece than a 44min tv show.

Re:Still one of the best shows

[PastaQueen]

Course while the reality of Anderson and Duchovney's 'antipathy' towards one another doesn't help the overall vibe one gets from the show, there's no denying the onscreen chemistry is one of the best ever.

Do Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny not like each other? I'd never heard that before and I considered my self an X-Phile for several years. Maybe I was such a 'shipper that I somehow missed this.

Re:Still one of the best shows

[pabs]

The article is fairly vague. Mutual can mean either "shared" or "expressed by each toward the other" depending on context. In other words, the phrase "mutual off-screen antipathy" could mean could mean they share a strong dislike for the show, or it could mean they have a strong dislike for each other.

Although they both expressed a desire to leave the show at one point or another, I get the impression the author is referring to a mutual dislike of one other, not a shared feeling toward the show.

My roommate was right!!

[FatAlb3rt]

The government is shutting the show down. The X-Files was divulging too many secrets, too many cover-ups. Society will be thrown into a state of anarchy!

Of course, I should mention he said this back in '96.

Robert Patrick

[BadBlood]

Been an X-File fan for years and originally thought that the loss of Duchovny was irrecoverable.

But...let me just say that Robert Patrick is one damn fine actor. While Mulder's character was far more likeable and what not, Patrick's portrayal of Doggett is superior IMHO. If they could have severed ties to the Scully/Mulder X-Files and just call the Doggett/Reyes X-Files The Next Generation or something - I'd be happy.

The restrictions imposed by continuity and actors disinterested in continuing their roles hamstrung the entire show. Unfortunately, what could have been a more than viable alternative (Doggett/Reyes) is weighed down by the legacy of the show.

Re:Robert Patrick

[gandalf_grey]

Oh come on. It's like T2's walkin around the screen all the time. Some facial expression certainly would not hurt. Bad Acting.

Re:Robert Patrick

[Rogerborg]

• If they could have severed ties to the Scully/Mulder X-Files and just call the Doggett/Reyes X-Files The Next Generation or something - I'd be happy

That's an excellent point. I watched a couple of the Dogget / Scully episodes, and they felt wrong, kind of like if Star Trek had replaced Kirk with Pike round about episode 60. Not worse, just wrong.

After years of building up a believable (on screen) chemistry, affection and respect between Mulder and Scully, its was totally unbelievable - beyond the suspension of disbelief, I mean - to have Mulder just kind of wander off and Scully to go "No Mulder, stay! [pause] Oh, OK then, bye." After all those life-and-death experiences and saving the world and seeing into the Beyond and all, I know who my loyalties would be to, and it wouldn't be to an FBI who'd treated me like dirt over the same period. It cheapened both characters to have them part ways, and that ruined the show for me.

So yes, a clean break would have worked better. Rather, it couldn't have worked worse. Mulder and Scully could have passed into legend, and a new team could have picked up the baton and seen everything with fresh eyes. As it was, the show chose to take the safer option, and (I think, and the viewing figures agree) blew it badly.

Despite the protestations of everyone involved, X-files was Mulder and Scully. That's not to say that Carter can't go on making shows of the same theme and quality, he just can't call them "X-files" without it feeling creepy and wrong.

Re:Robert Patrick

[T-Punkt]

IMHO Robert Patrick's performance is no bad acting at all.

But maybe it's just me - I really don't like that Hollywood-style overacting with only three facial expressions: :-) :-( :-O

Re:Robert Patrick

[jafac]

Maybe they need to combine Star Trek with the X Files.

Do a series on an investigatory branch of Starfleet, where two agents travel to various planets around the Federation, solving mysteries, exposing Federation cover-ups. (like hidden Vulcan military spy-bases!)

Re:Robert Patrick

[dimator]

to have Mulder just kind of wander off...

And the whole reason they give for Mulder having to leave is a load of crock too! "He's in too much danger here."?!?! When has he not been the target of every bad guy the writers could think of? How has that changed now, so much so that he just had to take off?

Re:Robert Patrick

[Colz Grigor]

Give me a show starring Robert Patrick and Lance Henriksen and I'll probably watch it religiously.

Interesting that both actors have been cast in Chris Carter TV shows and James Cameron's Terminator series.

Maybe I can look forward to them together in T3?

::Colz Grigor

--

They didn't give it a chance.

[wackysootroom]

Fox did not give the show a chance with the new actors. Granted, the idea of trying to revitalize an old show with new actors is lame, but why does fox insist on aborting all of their new ideas in their infancy(The Tick, The Lone Gunmen, etc.)?

My cousin works as the editor for the X files, and she was pessimistic about the success of the show with the new actors, but they could have at least given it a chance!

Oh, well, there are always re-runs. I hope that the show goes into syndication soon, because I am missing it already.

Re:They didn't give it a chance.

[demon]

Well, it seems Fox is a network that's stuck in a rut, and always looking for a cash-cow.

Back in its early days, they weren't pulling a lot of money, sure, but they didn't have a big audience to begin with. They were much more willing to give a show (like the X-Files, or the Simpsons) a chance - even if it was considered by some to be offbeat or weird. They had nothing to lose at the time.

However, now they're nationwide, and they want marketshare. Big time. They don't seem to think they can give a show a chance to get the bugs worked out, to refine its "sense of self", so to speak - "for all my selfless devotion, I except some really big returns". And if they don't see the returns fast - that being in terms of BIG ratings - they're tripping over themselves to cut it loose ASAP.

Which is, of course, why they're milking the everliving fuck out of the series that they've got that did catch on - because they don't know where they'll find the next "big thing" - the next X-Files, or the next Simpsons, to keep them in the ratings.

Now what for Anderson...?

[RLiegh]

What's her prospects like now? Is she type cast all to hell? Is she going to end up doing porns or dinner theater? Will she form her own movie production company and break out of being typecast? Will she retire in disgrace? Will she retire to count the money she made during the dot-com era?

What's going to happen to scully?

Re:Now what for Anderson...?

[Malic]

I doubt that. I have been looking forward to the end of X-Files because I *really* want to see Anderson doing *anything* else. Even if it's just voice acting ("Princess Mononoke")!

Re:Now what for Anderson...?

[RLiegh]

beer is bread AND circus...but too bad you're joking about the porn. :(:(

What really killed it...

[thing_from_space]

...was keeping Anderson around this season. She felt like a third wheel. They should have cut the cord and let Patrick and Gish start fresh. This menage et trois doesn't feel right.

I'll be interested to see what other "projects" Carter has up his sleeve -- hopefully the other sleeve; the one he didn't pull "Gunmen" from.

Re:What really killed it...

[SuiteSisterMary]

Which, the other sleeve that he got 'Harsh Realm' from?

Re:What really killed it...

[chartreuse]

I love those December-August romances.

In a mountain village, somewhere in Central Asia..

[hughk]

In Uzbekistan a former Soviet Republic, the Government still believe in firm control (democracy is good, but the people aren't ready for it), they really are responsible for everything - probably even Little Green Men. The security police, the SNB, formerly the KGB, are their Men In Black who quietly conspire leaving the people ignorant.

In a hotel in a small mountain village, Chimgan, on the edge of the Altai mountains there is a hotel. At 2$/night, you may guess that this isn't the Hilton.

On entering the hotel, I sneaked passed the reception (I was registered as a local there)and we passed a television room where about 30-40 people were watching TV with rapt attention,

It was the X-files, of course (earlier episode with Mulder as well as Sculley). In a country where the government really does have control, it was hot stuff, even when badly dubbed into Russian.

Jumping the Shark

[beanerspace]

There's a nifty little website out there called Jump The Shark ... "a Chronicle of the moments a TV shows goes downhill" ...

For me, I'm not sure when that momemnt happened, but I just know I haven't been watching it for the past couple of years. To me, the show lost it's "Twilight-Zone-Like" playfulness somewhere down the line and is now just another tedious soap-opera with a monster waiting to jump out of a closet.

Then again, I liked the original Lone-Gunman, and lost interest after only a couple of episodes.

Re:Jumping the Shark

[bareminimum]

how do you guys moderate? Look 10 stories above, this is redundant.

Duchovny to return for final episode?

[D_Fresh]

Rumor has it that they're trying to get him back for the season-ender. I trust that he'll be really, really pale since he's been hiding out underground to stay away from alien nazis (or something to that effect)...

He should hold out for at least a million. And a surfing trip with Chris Carter.

I know way too much. It comes of having a wife who is a fanfic reader. Really.

self-destructive story arc

[jlusk4]

I *knew* that story arc was self-destructive. I really enjoyed the "quirky" episodes a lot more (like Flukey and the Fiji Mermaid episodes). There's a better way to allude to vast mysteries than an alien conspiracy. And government cover-up conspiracies are a more-boring plot device than sheer government inertia and apathy, IMO.

geekness

[Richard_at_work]

u can tell your a geek when u like two things: using vi, and x-files after season 6.

It lived longer than what I expected...

[Rams�s Morales]

After the movie, X-files started feeling different, like they didn't know how to keep the story going. I still watch it, but waiting to see if they do something good like before the movie.

For once, I'd like to see...

[simetra]

A series end with the complete destruction of the main characters. Maybe they all get eaten by aliens or something.

good riddance!

[Eugene O'Neil]

I am glad that that shuffling animated corpse of a show will finally be given the long-overdue burial it deserves. It hasn't had anything new to say since the last millenium.

This really sucks... sorta...

[erat]

I have been a fan of The X-Files pretty much since its inception. It's one of the only TV shows I actually put aside time to watch (the others being the local news that's on while I get ready for work, and CBS Sunday Morning. Everything else is pretty much tripe IMHO).

I have to confess that I was not sorry to see Mulder go. Once the whole Samantha thing was resolved (well done, I might add), he bored me. As much as I like Scully, I think she probably should have left along with Mulder. The two are too closely intertwined in the series to survive without the other. Especially with the revelation a few shows ago that Scully and Mulder had a thing going (I thought they just did a turkey baster number and moved on from there). Scully and Mulder in love? Good grief... Remember when Mork married Mindy, or when David got together with Maddy (that was on Moonlighting, for those who don't remember)? Talk about a death knell for a TV show. Now we have the whole Scully & Mulder fling to bore us into changing the channel.

This has me worried about a sequel to the X-Files movie. If both Mulder and Scully are in it, I can guarantee it's going to be a love story. I don't mind love stories, but I don't think they fit with the whole X-Files thing. If it's a love story, I'm going to skip it fer sher.

All that said, I am very sorry that Reyes and Doggett won't be able to develop more. I sincerely think that those two characters could have easily taken over for Mulder and Scully. I find them immensely more likeable at this point anyway. They have all the sexual tension that Mulder and Scully had, and they still offer that "I believe" vs. "I'm skeptical" professional tension that M & S had. Plus these two actually have lives. This makes them much more interesting.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. RIP X-Files... You gave me something to watch after Twin Peaks was cancelled...

E.

Re:This really sucks... sorta...

[Kettleboy]

I completely agree with you. I enjoyed watching the X-Files because of the light advisarial play between Mulder and Scully (ie: he believes, she doesn't). I don't think the characters should ever have been romantic with each other.

In fact, I remember the last show I watched. It was the season premier for the season that started after the movie came out. Scully kissed Mulder AND their cia boss (i forget his name) on the mouth. This type thing was not what I was watching the show for and I could see that this was only the beginning of something I was not interested in.

Re:This really sucks... sorta...

[Razzak]

The other problem is that they initiated Doggett way too soon. Skully saw some weird things and was skeptical of them. Then, a season later, she saw some more weird things and participated in a weird thing or two. Then she started getting kidnapped/revived etc.

Doggit comes on the show, and in a few episodes he's kidnapped/brainwashed/revived/etc.

But yeah, the X-Files was better when there were only a few conspiracy lines to follow, and you knew what had been said and what was probably truth. Then they started questioning all the truths the show had been based around for its duration. While that was interesting at the time, it created an apathy towards the show. Nothing mattered because everything would be thrown out for the next episode. This didn't really happen until the 5th or 6th season.

I'm sorry to see it go. It's still a decent show, but after the success it had in the past "decent" just won't cut it with its demanding fan base.

Time to get Seasons 1-4 on DVD :)

Everyone has it wrong.

[taxman_10m]

The show did not go downhill after Mulder left. The show went downhill after Cancer Man left. He was the face of the conspiracy. He was the glue to it all. Without him the show has languished and there appears to be no overarching purpose anymore.

Re:Everyone has it wrong.

[jrwillis]

I was hopeing someone else was thinking that. I stopped careing about the show after he left, and only his return could make it interesting for me again.

Re:Everyone has it wrong.

[instinctdesign]

I would disagree, aside from the fact that I don't think the X-Files has died (though it is perhaps more inconsistent in its successes as of late), part of the skillful talent that made it so great was to not always play the government conspiracy/aliens card in its plot. If anything, I felt that the most intelligent and intriguing episodes were the ones that didn't deal with this almost standard plot trick. That said however, I would agree that of the conspiracy/aliens episodes that they did have, where enhanced a great deal by the acting and writing from William B. Davis. Along that line, of the episodes in the same vein of government conspiracy that they did after he left were perhaps all that much worse for his absence.

Re:Everyone has it wrong.

[kelzer]

The show did not go downhill after Mulder left.

Agreed.

The show went downhill after Cancer Man left.

Close, but IMHO the show went downhill after Cancer Man became known as Cigarette Smoking Man. Political correctness strikes again.

About friggin' time!

[DeepEyes78]

Too bad about the show, but at this point it's better off dead. IMHO, they should've killed it off around 5th - 6th season while the show had some semblance of dignity. A show like the X-files is all about teasing the viewer - they should've axed the series while everyone wanted more. Seinfeld attempted it, but was about a season too late. Babylon 5, although I've only seen an episode or two, seems to have pulled this off successfully.

Actually, the problem is.....

[mckwant]

You know some wag is going to come up with pilots and episodes for X-Files:2100, and put it on at 2AM battling Sheena: Queen of the Jungle for the 1.6 share available there.

Ewwww.

Everything Dies. - Jump the Shark

[jeff13]

*pfft*, I'd given it up for DaVinci's Inquest. btw...Where did X-Files jump the shark?

The Last Episode

[Greyfox]

Should have Mulder and Scully and should end with some aliens beating a dead horse.

Mulder: What are they doing?
Scully: I think they're trying to tell us something, Mulder.
Scully: Mulder?

Re:The Last Episode

[Katravax]

My mom always said the best ending would have been finding out Scully was Mulder's sister. They sort of made that impossible with some of their stories, but it could have been done if planned from the beginning.

Re:The Last Episode

[oomcow]

some of their stories? they bring in scully's whole family pretty much...

plus, that would have been a bit messed like luke and leia in star wars ("you're my sister" "i know. somehow i've always known [even when i kissed you back in episode 4]" or whatever).

Re:The Last Episode

[bughunter]

LOL, but honestly, I shall be tuning-in to the last episode, if only to see which loose ends they decide to tie off, and how they manage it...

The one loose end I'm really hoping they resolve is the prediction from "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" in which the title character, who can see how everyone he meets is going to die, predicts that Scully doesn't die.

Re:The Last Episode

[Lunacrous]

That actually was resolved, sort-of. In the episode (I don't know the title) with the immortal photographer who's looking for death. He became immortal becouse just as death was about to get him, someone else saw death, and died instead. At the end of the episode Scully is shot, and abut to die. However, just as death is about to get her, the photographer sees death, and dies instead. Thus Scully, like he was, is now immortal.

Next: The Simpsons!!

[Pop n' Fresh]

I think the Simpsons is almost as bad now as X-files was when I stopped watching it. Futurama is consistently funnier, and just about all recent Simpsons episodes have failed to make me laugh even once. Fox should keep the ball rolling and start culling the dead weight.

Re:Next: The Simpsons!!

[dinivin]

I think the Simpsons is almost as bad now as X-files was when I stopped watching it. Futurama is consistently funnier, and just about all recent Simpsons episodes have failed to make me laugh even once.

Well, it seems pretty obvious, then, that you have no sense of humor. Please don't blame that on The Simpsons.

Dinivin

x-files don't get killed they died

[cnf]

ask me

its about fscking time
i reallly loved them in the first seasons

but lately they have become boring
same old junk in a new jacket

sorry
move on

they dieed long past there time

Re:Good riddance

[Anonymous Coward]

When Scully started to believe the dynamic was ruined. The audience wants to believe (had to use it) the unbelievable, to be Mulder, but needs a doubting Thomas to convince or disagree with. It's the same formula that keeps sitcoms on (think husband and wife arguements over toothpaste caps, for example). When everyone is in harmony, the audience goes to bed.

My favorites were always the monster hunts...the conspiracies became pathetically twisted and ridiculous. Although the black oil coming out of faucets onto helpless prisoners was unsettling...

Re:Good riddance

[Anonymous Coward]

The shows went bad when they moved production of X-files from Canada to California. The show lost its feel, its mood, its whole character. David D. got married and demanded that the show move to California so that he could be close to his wife. David was the main reason the show was likable and also the main reason why the show sucks now...

Next movie

[iamjim]

This isn't new news. After Carter closes down the series he plans to (allegedly) grab mulder & scully (and whomever is in the current cast who wants to join in on the party) and put together another movie. It was suggested that we could be looking at another trek-like franchise of movies and spin-offs.

Seconded

[metamatic]

I can't believe they killed off a show as good as The Lone Gunmen, yet allowed something as awful as The X-Files had become to live.

I gave up after the season end episode where Scully's baby was born. That was enough closure for me to quit cold turkey and not feel like I was missing anything.

At Last

[awol]

Thankfully I will no longer have to deal with Xfile zealots whining on about "We'll you just never know".

The problem with the Xfiles was that at the heart of it's fundamental premise was a contradiction. They existed in "our" universe, but shit happened that was total fantasy. As a result, science would always fail to explain what was happening because it was bound by the rules of the real universe but the "other side" of the dramatic tension, was not. This really annoyed the shit out of me. I mean it _REALLY_ annoyed me, to the point that I could just never watch it.

I think the comedy analysis with Dallas was quite pertinent. Xfiles was soap opera and nothing more. I have never found a soap opera compelling (unless you count Chances in the last series or so, but then they got canned with funding for another 12 episodes or something and so that just got bizarre!). BTW I would argue that Bab5 was not soap (definitely) and that shows like space 1999, dr who, start trek, stargate (not all are series I like) whilst not necessarily "dramtically complex" are not soap opera either.

X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[instinctdesign]

For awhile I was thinking that it was time for the X-Files to end. Many of the most recent plots centered around a hackneyed government conspiracy and the acting was only good at best (save Robert Patrick, he's been very good in my opinion.) but I hardly think that the X-Files has gone downhill as badly as, say, the Simpsons.

This was until I saw the latest episode last Saturday, which I can venture to say was one of the best X-Files Episodes I had ever seen. The plot was great, the acting likewise was excellent, and the cinematography was top-notch. It was really a testament to how well the X-Files has been able to recover after losing one of their stars, and nearly losing the other. Another of my favorite episodes also was a fairly recent one, also starring Robert Patrick and not David Ducovney, namely the one starring another Terminator 2 alum, Joe Morton. This was the one where the lawyer seems to be moving backward in time from when he is killed by the father of his wife who he allegedly killed, to the actual murder itself. The plot was ingenious, the acting equally as good, and ranks among my top 20 or so episodes. First rate work, and although I commend them on choosing to go out on top, unlike many of the posters here, I will be sad to see the show end.

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[d-e-w]

There have been some GREAT episodes in the past two seasons. There have also been some absolutely terrible dogs. Of course, that's been the story of the past four years of the show, too ...

The show has been extremely inconsistant in quality since season 4. The mythfans--who were in it for good story-telling and good writing--mainly left around season 5-6 and the ratings have been on a downhill slide since then.

4-D (a 9th season episode; about the parallel universes) was about one of the best episodes I've seen in recent seasons. I seem to recall XF addressed parallel universes in another, unmemorable episode, so it could be called a retread, but it was so far and away better than the other ...

Redrum, the episode about the lawyer moving backward in time, was also wonderful.

Trust No 1 sucked. There wasn't even a story in the episode. I kind of wish they'd finally kill off Mulder already; but then they wouldn't have their movie franchise. Although they're not getting my money for that--especially if it's Mulder and Scully focused after the Mulder/Scully crap of seasons 7-9.

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[dinivin]

but I hardly think that the X-Files has gone downhill as badly as, say, the Simpsons.

Well, now you've lost all credibility. Simpsons is still one of the greatest shows on TV. X-Files, on the other hand, should have been killed right after the movie.

Dinivin

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[instinctdesign]

Heh, you're opinion, which you are, of course, entitled to. :-) But I'm my opinion the Simpson's has lost much of its intelligent and often more subtle humor in favor of broad gags that play to an arguably larger audience. What I loved about the Simpsons of old, was the small cultural allusions that most people would miss, now its as is they feel they need to hammer the reference home because they think you won't get it (I'm thinking namely of the play off Crimson Tide where they went on for nearly the entire episode with a ham-handed approach that was less a skillful jab and more a painful knockout punch to the gut.) I know I'm not alone in this opinion, but I do seem to be in the minority at any rate. Really though, it doesn't matter to me if they show the Simpsons until the end of the decade, I'll not be watching.

Sorry if this was a bit of a rant, I just got done talking to my boss who wants to completely change the design of a site I did. Doh!

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[bigwig10001]

I agree with the parent here about both last week's episode and the Joe Morton episode (he's the black scientist from T2 if you don't remember). The X-Files has done time travel and alternate dimension stuff that is fabulous and also some that is horrible.

good- WWII ship mystery with the switching viewpoints.
bad- this season's ep with the dimension-sliding serial killer who wasted Reyes and bragged about it; just awful
good- the above Joe Morton ep
bad- the bank robbery time travel with Ed from northern exposure
best- "How the hell should I know?" with Alex Trebek and Jesse "The Mind" Ventura

Also, an earlier guy noted the homage to Traffic as a symbol of the good cinematography. The cin. is usually good in the one-shot eps. The conspiracy eps usually have awful cinematography. It's all contrast and fog, really shlocky.

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[startled]

Agreed. I wonder if it's finally getting better because Chris Carter's getting ready to say goodbye to it, and focusing on making good episodes instead of some long-term health of the series?

Anyway, there have been a couple episodes this season that really gave me hope that the series could get back to its high point. I'm not just talking plot-- the visuals had been getting tiresome, but now they have new life with interesting new techniques, and much better camera work than over the past several seasons.

Re:X-Files Still One of the Best Out There, By Far

[levinas]

I hate to break this to you, but the reverse time travel plot line was lifted out of star trek voyagour, in it kez, the chick that they had before they got desperate and replaced her with seven of nine, lived her intire life on voyagour in reverse. The idea was the same as the episode that you described.

Yeh.

[bleckywelcky]

I thought that episode was really interesting. Giving a different spin on seeing exactly what was going on - really very cool. And the story for that one wasn't too bad. I think it was about the invisible force that was killing people, and it was somehow related to love or the lack of love I think. A very cool episode nonetheless.

It's time, but look to the silver screen

[Sean Clifford]

IMHO X-Files was great, but for the last couple of seasons it's been getting lame. I'm sure the producers were hoping that Duchovny would return to the show, so the transition to Doggett/Scully/Reyes was bumpy. The series has had a great run and is one of my favorites, but I think it's time to let it go before it gets lame. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. BattleStar Galactica, maybe?

Don't think that the X-Files franchise will be gone forever, though. I suspect we'll be seeing all our favorite characters again at the theatre. I wouldn't mind seeing some more feature-length X-Files and doubt that I'm alone.

Frankly...

[nedron]

X Files should have been off the air two years ago.

When they announced that Duchovny was leaving, they had a chance to bring some fresh air to the show. Unfortunately, they blew the opportunity by letting Duchovny hang around with Mulder casting a shadow on the last two seasons. Patrick, unfortunately, never really had a chance to do much with his role.

I guess this was a pretty good deal for Duchovny who mistakenly thought he was good enough for movies just because his wooden delivery worked on the small screen. Now without X Files, the frightening thought is that we'll get more Duchovny movies. So long as he sticks with roles like that which he had in Zoolander (the wacky conspiracy nut), he'll be OK.

This only confirms my suspicion...

[frunch]

that Star Trek: TNG was the best show ever.
(yeah yeah, off topic)

Not only did it have an extraordinarily high percentage of good shows, but it got off the air before major suckage began.

The X-files was a great show up until the movie. When your show is built on two main characters and the tension between them, you just can't have one of them leave without entirely changing the show. If only Carter had realized that earlier...

X files die???

[Christianfreak]

I'll believe it when I see it. People have been saying that at the end of every season for almost as long as its been going. I agree that its bad but die?... I don't know.

Re:X files die???

[SuiteSisterMary]

It's been ten bloody years. They should kill it while the killing is good. Sure, start a new series in the same universe. Preferably one like Delta Green.

Re:BRING BACK MILLENNIUM

[Prolixium]

yea, but wasn't the whole premise of the show leading up to the millennium? and this, of course, has already past...

I hate say this, and I'm not trying to troll...

[LM741N]

But I believe that the X Files was the worst collection of sci-fi B grade cliches ever combined into a single show. This was a show to pander to the dreams of conspiracy theorists and people too young to have seen real sci fi back in the 50's and 60's. But I have watched a few episodes, and some were entertaining. But lets get real, this show was no Outer Limits.

Re:Good riddance

[alpha127]

Mid way through season 4, it started to go down hill, by season 6 it lost it completely

Now to mercy kill the Simpsons...

[Faeton]

X-Files and the Simpsons are the shows that built FOX, but now both are obviously running on empty. As a bigger fan of the Simpsons, I truly wouldn't mind them pulling the plug on OFF. And let them rinse the bad taste of these last 3 seasons with the release of Seasons 2-7 on DVD!

It's still on the air?

[ackthpt]

It's still on the air?

I sorta know what you mean. I watched a few episodes over the seasons and caught fragments of it sometimes when it was after KotH and Simpsons, because I left the TV on. It seemed one of the least accessible shows, like a soap, which was somewhat unappealing due to the lack of background info I had. I did like what I caught of the first season, but the last time I watched I was, like, "whaaaat?", aliens, spooks, conspiracies, wheels within wheels, too much. I liked it when I thought it was going to be more like the old show Night Stalker, tuned out when it drifted.

Still, it's been a great run for the actors and will probably rake in some money on re-issue on DVD, unless, it's all true and aliens use space magic to destroy all the master tapes...

Good

[Legion303]

The one show I watched this season--the second one with Lucy Lawless, apparently--was full of shoddy writing, internal inconsistencies and outright defiance of basic logic. Also bad acting by everyone except Lawless and the actor who took Mulder's place.

My wife asked me why I don't watch it anymore, given that I used to record every episode. This is why: the writers have stopped caring.

-Legion

Re:Good riddance

[pmc]

I'd agree with this except that probably season two it was at its peak and just begining a long and slow decline.

Telents?

[CrazyDwarf]

I've seen no sign of talents in relation to DD.

My wife was a big x-files fan before she met me. She eventually confessed it was just to see DD, and the show started to suck after season 3. I've never really had the opportunity to watch the show, with the exception of maybe 10 episodes. I thought they were really weak. I understand the whole voluntary suspension of disbelief you must submit to when being entertained by the boob-tube, but the x-files really made it into just that.... a boob-tube.

Re:Good riddance

[Graspee_Leemoor]

Most of season 4 was dross but surprisingly contained some really stand out episodes- if I remember correctly- the one about the man who can see everyone's deaths.

Later series were all like this- all crap apart from now and then a classic episode. Usually for me, what made an episode classic was Mulder humour- e.g. where he gets dressed up in the stuff for the vr game- where he switches bodies with that guy and has to go home to his wife- the person who steals Mulder's body and does the Taxi Driver scene in the mirror- and so on.

graspee

Re:Good riddance

[fiziko]

David D. got married and demanded that the show move to California so that he could be close to his wife.

Fox asked Chris Carter to move the show to LA. The tax breaks in Canada were reduced, so the cost per episode ended up being the same in both locations (since they were still flying a lot of the actors up from L.A.) David Duchovny mentioned that he'd support the move so he could be closer to his wife, and that's what the media jumped on. We shouldn't blame David Duchovny for something that wasn't his decision.

What makes things go down hill

[ackthpt]

There were some incredible episodes during the early years

Agree, too, that what little I did catch during the first season looked promising.

There were some incredible episodes during the early years

But you just know there's people somewhere who think it's really all been a masterfully presented documentary...!

It's cool to have some sort of a continuing theme that runs through the life of a program, but The X Files took that to an extreme.

It's what happens when the writing starts to drift. Seems I've seen enough of these shows where the writers start to created little tensions, relationships, etc. which carry from show to show. The Flintstones was a classic (even if animated) example of a standalone episode (with perhaps the notable exception of Wilma getting pregnant and having Pebbles) where each show required no knowledge from previous episodes.

X-Files became a serial, and IMHO a Soap, and to keep things interesting, once the writers go down that path, they have to keep creating new plots, sub-plots, until the thing collapses under its own weight, i.e. each episode requires research to make sure it fits with all the ongoing plots-subplots. At some point, mercifully they just dump it and start a new show, unfettered by the restrictions of maintaining characters, plots, etc. Too bad Lone Gunman faded, it too looked like a good replacement. Maybe they'll give it another look.

It was about time

[motox]

I will not miss the show since I miss it since long time. The last series were boring, lacking new ideas, prisoners of what is becoming a cliche' in everything that has to do with aliens and paranormal, the "government plot"... which by the way somehow always involved "obscure powers" and never real politicians like it happens in reality :)

Re:Let's all pretend it ended after season 7 (II)

[ArticulateArne]

Forgot to say this in my previous post...

The other reason it would have been great to end it after that season was that Mulder had finally gotten his wish and been sucked up into an alien spaceship, and Skinner was there to watch the whole thing.

Been too long since I thought about this.

Finally...

[blitzrage]

Honestly, I lost interest after the first couple of seasons. They went way more with the political edge it seemed, and away from the actual cool stuff like aliens and technology. I really liked the one about the killer bees, or killer flies or whatever they were. But that was a long time ago (I think that was first season). Oh well, I won't be missing it since it seemed to pretty much be over for me anywase.

Peter Boyle

[Tony]

Favorite? The episode in which Peter Boyle is a psychic insurance salesman who "sees" things about people's deaths, all because he was sad the big bopper died instead of Waylon Jennings.

That episode had some of the greatest reasons why X-Files was good-- bizarre moments: "How pathetic. Death by autoerotic asphyxiation." Creepy moments: the scene with the murderer and the tarot reader. Funny moments: pretty much any scene with the Amazing Yappi.

Yep. The only thing it missed was Black Lung.

It's a Conspiracy, I Tell You

[Mignon]

Chris Carter was kidnapped by aliens who implanted a remote mind-control device and sent him back, erasing his memory of the kidnapping. Now they're having him cancel the show.

I think CNN and Daily Variety are in on it too - I heard a tape of Daily Variety's interview and Carter said "It's the tenth inning. We want to go out with a touchdown." Only aliens would make a mistake like that, and Daily Variety edited it to cover for him.

Re:Good riddance

[anwnn]

Just before Duchovny left, you could tell he was bored with the show. The whole character seemed dis-interested. Dagget brought in an interesting twist for about 3 shows, but without the pitch-hit of David and Gillian, the show just didn't have the spark it once had.

Dangling Mulder in front of our eyes in various shows, while shoving Dagget and that other girl, just made it ridiculous. Perhaps I'll watch the rest of this season, just to see the end of an era.

ok

[memnock]

i can get it right sooner or later. sorry mr moderator. anyway. when Mulder left, i didn't think that the show would be any good. but i think Dogget has really added something by putting a skeptic in the lead. i think Dana should have left too, even if she is the love of my life. maybe it is time the show was put to bed. as for favorites:

the one with the background of cancer/cigarette smoking man. i think a good part of the series ended with him.

"all souls" with the handicapped children that are apparently being taken by the devil, but it some weird priest, offering them salvation, cause the children are angels or something.

the one where Fox and Dana actually get jealous of each other when they are investigating some small town incident and Dana gets the hots for a local sherriff and Fox for some local girl.

the episode where Fox finds out about his sister.

and then there is one where Dana seems to be on the super-introspection path and the rest of the world just kind of stops for a while, but i don't remember the details.

the one where they help to produce an X-Files movie with Gary Shandling and Duchovny's real life wife. ( can't remember her name)

So Far Past Its Prime, It was Almost Retro!

[The_THOMAS]

This show is SO done it's got a dozen forks in it! And how the hell does Chris Carter expect to do an "X-Files Deux" WITH Mulder without some really bizarre, unbelievable excuse or "past experience" plot. I loved the show, but the past two years FOX/Chris Carter have been like Norman Bates keeping this once lovely thing, propped up dried and dead in front of the window in an old rocking chair. Thanks for finally putting it in the ground.

X-Files has been dead for years

[Toolman91]

I am glad FOX is dropping it from their lineup, the stench is overwhelming. The beginning of the end was the MOVIE.

Jumping the shark...(not good riddance!)

[Mr_Matt]

Anyone care to speculate when it "Jumped the Shark"?

"Je Souhaite" (7x21) was about the last "pure" X-Files episode. It was the last episode before Mulder got kidnapped by the aliens, and right before Scully announced she was pregnant. Season 7 was supposed to be the last season, IIRC (except for Gillian Anderson's contract) and it would have been a great way to end the series, I think. Instead, the focus has shifted away from the two great dramatic elements of a fanatical believer and a level-headed analyst along for the thrill-ride, and has become bogged down in endless hoo-hah over the bloated mytharc. Scully's baby can rotate stuff with its mind. Yaay. Don't get me wrong, I like Doggett and Reyes but it just doesn't feel like the X-Files anymore.

But I'll never say "good riddance" to a show that honestly expanded boundaries laid down by the Twilight Zone and others - compared to the drivel that is Must See TV, the X-Files is still the best show on TV, period. Good luck to all involved with the X-Files over the years, and thanks for the great time!

Maybe A Day Late...

[Artagel]

The X-files went downhill when the writers really, really ran out of stuff to do with Mulder and Scully. They could have seen it coming. Somewhere around season *5* they should have begun transitioning Mulder out. There was still enough of the Scully character to develop for a season or two.

Now, with Doggett, I liked the show again. The Scully + Doggett thing was working for me, and after firmly estabishing Doggett, getting rid of Scully and completing the transition to a new team would have made a lot of sense.

However, they waited too long. They show went flat, and now they are in a position of trying to both transition and rescue the show. I think it is a darn shame. I think with one more season, they could have gotten the show fixed. Maybe the writers were so out of stories, even new characters couldn't keep the writers going. (Actually, I like Doggett *better* than Mulder. It is probably because Patrick can act rings around Duchovny.)

Carter is a no-talent hack.

[Fantastic Lad]

Chris Carter wants to move on to other projects.

Yeah. Like "Harsh Realms"?

I've hated the X-Files since the second episode. (The first episode was actaully promising, but then it got real dumb, real quick. Imagine how great the X-Files would have been if David Lynch & Mark Frost had worked the project.)

Carter was only successful because there was a severe vacum in culture which needed to have that massive up-swing in weird UFO, crop circle & abduction stories acknowledged in some manner. He did it in the dumbest possible way which has had the basic effect of making such material seem ridiculous and beyond consideration. "Nobody cool believes in conspiracies anymore!"

Nice job, Carter! You did a bang-up job of putting the nation back to sleep with your nose for extraordinarly DUMB writing. (The X-Files actually had one of those 'The Office Tower Computer has gone Homicidal' stories, for goodness sake! I thought we'd left that kind of crap behind with Wonder Woman and freeking Knight Rider!)

Good riddance, Carter.

-Fantastic Lad

Re:Carter is a no-talent hack.

[No Such Agency]

He did it in the dumbest possible way which has had the basic effect of making such material seem ridiculous and beyond consideration. "Nobody cool believes in conspiracies anymore!"

On the contrary, I would say that his treatment probably opened a lot of eyes to the real possibility of the government operating clandestinely. Of course the treatment was fantastic, ie. aliens, shape-shifting bounty hunters and black oil viruses, but substitute "JFK & MLK assassinations", "Ruby Ridge/Waco", or "Gulf War Syndrome" and you have what many people have come to believe about the US government in the last decade. Conspiracy theories used to be the stuff of tinfoil-hat-wearing schizophrenics, white supremacists and ranting cabin-dwelling hermits. Now they are part of the common lexicon. Almost everyone is now familar with the idea that their government does not always act in their best interests. (Now they just have to learn not to trust CNN...)

That said, some of the X-files' best episodes were non-conspiracy stories: "Beyond the Sea" (serial killer on death row claims he can psychically predict another killer's actions), "Squeeze" (preternaturally flexible liver-eating mutant), or "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (old man seems to know how everybody else is going to die, but cannot predict his own death) for example.

The show's problems really began last season...

[WesternActor]

...when David Duchovny's Fox Mulder was regulated to a non-entity. I don't think anyone ever really cared about any of the alien conspiracy storyline, it was the Mulder-Scully dynamic that mattered to them. It infused EVERYTHING in the show, and the constant interplay of those two characters made the show fun to watch, not the stories themsleves. When that was gone (and it simply wasn't present with Robert Patrick), the show as a whole felt empty and pointless.
Of course, I think the problem really began after the movie, which more or less validated Mulder's view. As soon as the viewers could say, with absolute certainty, that there were or were not aliens in the universe of The X-Files, the show started losing its grip.
These are problems that didn't have to occur, but they did, and The X-Files is now really a shadow of its former self. The X-Files used to be great, now it just... is. Barely.

No more quirkiness

[SeraphtheSilver]

The reason I liked the X-files was not just the government conspiracy angle, but because once it was established, Carter knew that he had the heft to do pretty much what he wanted, and we got all sorts of strange little quirky episodes like the Cops episode, or the B&W one. Originally, the open-ended episode format, where almost nothing is really and truly resolved by the end of the episode, worked to keep the stories moving and keep you watching from one episode to the next.

In time, though, Carter ran out of ideas, and he ended up having to give away plot secrets he should have held onto as a way of filling episodes. What we got was a schizophrenic show - the characters were achieving what seemed like major victories, but at the same time, the X-files format _demanded_ that nothing ever really be resolved. In time, this led to the current 'doldrums' that they've been suffering for the past season or two. We know all the secrets, we know why everything is happening and how. Now won't someone do something about it, rather than just jerk around?

Oh, and my all-time favourite episode is still Cancer Man's History. One of the best character sketches I've ever seen on TV.

-Seraph

Sorry to say, but...

[bluephone]

The X-Files should have ended 2 or 3 years ago. It was starting to strain it's own created credibility of continuity, and when Duchovny announced he wanted to leave that should have made it clear the show needed to end. People wanted Seinfeld to go another year, but Jerry knew that you go out on a high note. X-Files needed to do the same. It could have continued with a couple films, but the weekly show needed to wrap up when David left.

For reputation's sake, it's better to go out a season early than a season late.

Re:Sorry to say, but...

[petesmart]

Absolutly! Even after season 3, it began to dwindle into a poor shadow of itself. Shame, really, they had such a good thing going, now, it'll go down in history as, 'Just another Sci-Fi series'

Re:Favorite X-Files episode?

[Rouven]

It has to be "Triangle", where Mulder is on a WW2-era ship and meets an alternate-dimension Scully etc. Not only is it very funny, but the greatest thing about this episode is that it consists of maybe 5 or 6 continuous steadycam shots each going on for minutes without visible cuts (a la Hitchcock's "Rope", only with a lot of action).

Two words:

[Apostata]

Thank God.

Make Sunday animated night

[NanoGator]

Frankly, I think Fox would do good to have Sunday night be the animated night. Here's my proposed time slot:

7:00- King of the Hill
7:30- Family Guy
8:00- Simpsons
8:30- Futurama
9:00- P.J.'s (I know it's cancelled, miss it tho)
9:30- The Tick (reruns)

And then, get Comedy Central to show Southpark at 10:00. (I don't think Fox'd air South Park.)

That's the kind of lineup that'd have me watching every Sunday. Message to FOX: STOP preempting Futurama for Football! The two are mutually exclusive!

Hell! Bring back Max Headroom!!

[Anonymous Coward]

X-Files has lived past its prime.

Max Headroom was vaguely prophectic and was in it's prime. Now there's more that can be done.

Lost it at the movie

[spamkabuki]

X-Files started to get caught in a kind of "Lost in Space" mode. Problem, adventure, no resolution, reset to starting point.

The movie is perfect example of this. It had to appeal to non-TV viewers by not being too convoluted. OTOH, it couldn't really change anything because it would void the upcoming season. Thus, the kind of "it was all just a bad dream" dynamic that started to take over.

IIRC, the plan was to have one season after the first film, then finis. The show would end, but allow periodic films that would really get things rolling. The various Trek franchises have proven the workability of this.

It seems Carter got greedy or scared. Either he wanted to keep the TV power he had, or he was afraid to give up his baby and make a serious jump to films and real plot development/resolution. The show has just been wallowing in a lot bad horror type crap lately (Didja see Dogget get amnesia from some fiendish soul sucker? Puh-leeze!)

I miss the dark paranoid tone of cancer man, aliens, conspiracy that was so cool. Is there any possibility that Carter can resurrect that on film? I dunno, but every new episode reduces the chances.

Just too bad; fine performances in the characters of Dogget and Reyes. Too bad they are wasted on lame plots.

Re:Good riddance

[dman123]

Saying that it jumped the shark is being polite. Here's what actually happened:

It went up to the shark

Said hello

Fed it

Poked its nose with a stick

Then jumped it

Tossed a couple of grenades at it

Went around again for another jump

Jumped it in formation with another cast member on its back

Waved as it jumped over

Asked the shark if he was still interested in going for another season

Then, just drove the boat right through the shark area and chopped up the shark with the prop

Bought a new shark

Repeat all above steps once

And for its finale, blames the sharks demise on the lack of sensibility of its viewers and then decides to go have a burger at Arnold's and brood in front of a mirror.

Show has gone downhill since Moulder left

[grink]

The show was great when it first started. It followed the "alien" theme. Now it just is random stuff that doesn't make any sense. The shows now are not continual anymore.

Re:Millennium !!!!!!!

[Tofuhead]

My sig's been a link to the Millennium DVD online petition for a couple of months now, just in the off-chance that anyone who matters ever reads those damn things.

As of right now, only 785 people have signed.

BTW, if anyone is wondering what my current sig quote ("It is still the dark of night," printed here for posterity's sake if I ever change my sig) means, it's the motto that shows up on the boot screen/screensaver of computers operated by members of the Owl sect of the Millennium group, referring to their secular belief that the end of the world is not yet at hand. The rival Rooster group's computers display the motto, "There are X days remaining," where X is the number of days until January 1, 2000, when the fundamentalist Rooster group believes a religious event will bring the end of the world. "Owls" and "Roosters" are two of the absolute best Millennium episodes ever made, certainly better in my book than anything ever on the X-Files. (Yes, I believe Millennium is the superior show of the two, by far.)

< tofuhead >

Special Unit 2

[Dan D.]

This show is an almost perfect low-key parody of the x-files... if you can forgive yourself for watching the WB. The entire show is done tongue-in-cheek, like watching a long term Army of Darkness... although it does slip into the occasional campy downhomeness. It does a really great job of being funny and interesting without being obvious. I left X-Files with Mulder (well I guess he came back or something but like I said...), but I'm all for SU2 now.

Re:Special Unit 2

[Kamel Jockey]

The T&A alone makes SU2 worth watching :)

Re:antipathy

[domo_jojo]

Yeah, cnn's article mentions what's been out there for a while, that Anderson and Duchovney don't mesh quite as well as Scully and Mulder. Duchovney's had a track record of dissing Anderson at about any chance probably cus he doesn't want to be typcast as her 'significant other.' It's sorta odd being that most actors go their entire carreer looking for a defining role, and both sorta bit into one almost right off the bat.
Think Willis - die hard dude; Eastwood = man with no name/dirty harry; Swartzenegger = Terminator; Stallone = Rocky/Rambo
It's just very difficult to exit a typecast if you also have the albatross of a specific character hanging around your neck - like g-man/Mulder partnered with Scully. He's just not as interesting right now unless Anderson's around and vice versa, I hope that changes for both of them. Let's just hope neither are dumb enough to do a sitcom! Just glad to have had 9 seasons of quality escapism. Though I still wonder what would've happened in season 2 of VR5?

Also, it's kinda cool to think of our celebrities of emulating the fictional world with which we identify: like when Sam Jackson and Travolta shot that commercial pairing them up in a coffee house just chatting like Jules and Vincent. That was cool; or when the Friends cast pals it up - we believe for a moment that art imitates life, but it happens rarely.

With that being said : It's just television- well written/directed/acted/filmed television, but television nonetheless.

He's ... just gone.

[count_dooku]

I've been losing interest in the X-Files for the last two seasons. The kicker was this year's season premiere, and how they "explained" Mulder's disappearance. Skinner (or someone else, I forget) asked Scully about Mulder's disappearance. Scully just deadpanned, "He's ... just gone." After a few seconds of pondering this excuse, all the other characters just picked up where they left off and moved on. How pathetic.

Good...

[PierceLabs]

I've been a fan of the show since the begging, but it doesn't take a genius to realize this baby has been circling the drain for a few years now. I think its best to just let it die.

Where I think it went wrong...

[cr0sh]

I think things started to fall apart when it was revealed the the aliens DO exist.

Why?

Because up until that point, the show revolved around conspiracy theorys, and occult knowledge, and how they intertwined. Sure, the govt was involved - but it seemed like it was involved for some other reason - not because of aliens, but because of itself - something secret it was doing THEY didn't want US to know about. The show seemed to be dragging toward the idea that the "grey alien" theory was a scam, something the public in its mindlessness would believe - while the truth was far more sinister.

I liked it when they went "off on tagents" about wierd creatures, events or monsters, some that seem (or did) come straight from tabloid rumors. Others that have been in the collective conscience for a long time. It was a TV version acting out all of those "Unexplained Phenomenon" books you can find moldering in the corners of used book stores.

Why they went away from this concept is beyond me. If they had stuck with it - perhaps elements from the funky things in our REAL world could have been worked in (like that giant strange shaped squid recently, among other recently discovered "mysteries") - maybe explained in a manner that sounds plausible, at least in the X-Files universe.

The other thing that needed to be made clear was Scully's relationship with Mulder (I know, most fans would be disappointed, but hey) - that tension kept the show good, but at some point it had to give - maybe it did in recent seasons, but I haven't watched since they brought in Robery Patrick (is that his name) in lieu of Duchovney (sp?)...

I don't know - it could have been so much more...

euolgizing X-Files

[Myxyplik]

Personally I feel the backbone of the series was the alien/government conspiracy, where a shadow organization was possibly behind the bulk of all the things that were happening. As such, I think the show peaked after season two when this got much of the focus. After that, the show started to gradually get more heavily into the "funny" episodes and just detracted from the overall atmosphere of the series. IMO, I thought seasons 1,2,4, were the best seasons. By season five, though, I felt the egos started to get in the way, especially Duchovny's (not that I don't think Anderson's ego isn't as big; she just hid it better.) I was ready to chuck it by the end of season seven, what with Duchovny's "Hollywood" episode and Anderson's own self-absorbed episode (the one where she mopes down the street in slow-motion to the tune of Moby's "The Sky is Breaking"), not to mention her histrionics in the season finale ("i'm...I'M...I'M...PREGNANT!!!!! ). But my brother convinced me to check out season eight, which was good generally (especially with Duchovny gone;)) and seemed to wrap up the Mythology nicely. Season nine I don't think is really horrible, it's just there doesn't seem to be any underlying purpose. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

this is who we are

[semiriot]

You've got my signature. Millennium, at its best, beat X-files hands down. That third season was a stinker, though.

Futurama!

[V.P.]

That's the show to watch (if the Fox bastards ever decide to actually air some episodes that is)

'Roswell that ends well' was hilarious!

The Simpsons are going OK I guess - not great, but still worth watching.

at least i get to watch it now

[trapvector]

I've taken the view of a friend of mine and decided that I shall watch no more X-Files until the last few episodes, when they finally wrap up the mythology. Just watch - the show will end the way it always has... without ending.

That night, you'll find me in my living room, on my knees, screaming, "KHAAAAAANN!!! KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!"

It sucks now...

[TheOnlyCoolTim]

Once they dropped Mulder I just quit. Sucked for a while before then too. I'll probably have to watch the last episode...

Re:A challenge

[brank]

GEOS (the Global Episode Opinion Survey) is a great place for info on TV shows. Like the name says, they have both all the facts about the episode and what people think of it.

X-Files section is here

Thank Goodness

[vaxtor]

This series should have ended after the 4th season. During the 4th season, this show turned into a soap opera and it's not until lately that they tried to go back to the concept of the 1-3 seasons. But, I think it's too late b/c the series is still cluttered with this whole soap opera plot with Mulder, Scully, and alien babies. So, I think the show should just be put out of its misery.

Re:Let's remember the good times

[Myxyplik]

I agree, that was a good episode. Gibson also wrote the episode about the killer in the virtual reality game. I also like Gibson's novels.

Gotta get my yah-yahs out now.

in my nutshell....

[furutzu-san]

Many have written in saying goodbye to this show as it has existed in one form or another since the fall after the first Jurassic Park came out. I, admittedly, spent most of my mid to late adolescence devoted to this television program. In short, it was compelling fiction. It was fiction that dared to make an argument. I havent cared much for the series since the second season, but since Ive heard that it is leaving, Ive been consumed with equal parts melancholy and relief. Any television program that produces such an honest response in its departure deserves my respect. Thanks to all who were involved for distracting me from myslef. Good-byes

Re:Let's see Krychek

[BurningRome]

THAT'S who he was!! Thanx for reminding me - I'm a bit sad it's ending, thought the downhill started when it left my old hometown of Vancouver (we'd often see them filming in Kitsilano or the UBC Endowment lands). When I was there over New Year's, I was having breakfast in a popular place, Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, and I saw a guy who looked SO familar from something on TV and I couldn't figure out what....it was Krychek! Not nearly so scary in real life! Maybe I didn't realize it was him as there was no Mulder whaling on him......

It's about time

[mr_sparkle_79]

Kudos for Fox for finally getting this deadbeat show off the air, albeit about 3 years too late. Now if they can just give the Simpsons the same mercy killing, I'd be happy. It's painful to see just how pandering that once great show has become. Now that Samurai Jack is on opposite of the Simpsons, absolutely no one (well, no one who has Cartoon Network) has any excuse for providing the Simpsons with an audience. I'd like to see Fox put their marketing muscle behind Futurama and the brilliant King of the Hill, but they'll probably use the new hole in the schedule for something inane like Temptation Island 5 or Who Wants to Rip-off the Latest TV Pop-Culture Craze.

Duchovny in Kalifornia?

[megalomang]

What a great movie. A bit demented, and largely resting on the shoulders of a young Brad Pitt as "Early" and the slow (yet so beautiful) Juliette Lewis as Adele.

Sadly, though, this was prior to his celebrity status resulting from X-Files. That was back in the day before casting directors would recruit Duchovny to save an otherwise hopelessly pathetic sci-fi movie from utter disaster.

He showed adequate talent in Kalifornia, hinting that he can cover roles other than the paranoia expert. Although, he could easily finish out his career in sci-fi movies. He really just needs a more talented agent that can help him screen out the bad ones.

Coulda been a great ending

[CrackWilding]

The last episode of last season shoulda been the end. After all, it had been obvious for a couple years that it was all leading up to the big kiss. We got that, and then one more season full of retreads minus Duchovney.

It's like reading a fairy tale with 15 pages after where it says "and they lived happily ever after."

Is Cancer Man dead?

[GPS Pilot]

We saw him get pushed down a flight of stairs; but Krychek didn't check his pulse afterward to make sure he was dead.

The character returned to the show after surviving a gunshot wound, so another return would not be without precedent.

It may be moot with the series ending, but do you believe this character is definitely dead?