X-Files (TV series) - New six episodes

[Neil]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32035562


Cult sci-fi show The X-Files is to return to TV after a 13-year hiatus.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will reprise their roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully for the six-part series.

Original creator Chris Carter will be at the helm when production starts this summer.

[Rottedfreak]

Ah yes, a mini series - where Mulder and Scully lead survivors through a post invasion wasteland and fight alongside the alien resistance against the terraformers and purity infected humans. UNLESS THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE FINAL EPISODE!!!!

[MinionZombie]

Hooray!!!

I was hoping for a 12 episode run, but I'll take 6 - more X-Files, no matter how much, is always a good thing in my book (well, as long as they don't screw it up, but I doubt they will). Super stoked for this!!! :hyper:

[bassman]

First look at the return of everyone's favorite (former)FBI agents....

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHJlbOkUIAEo8rw.jpg

With revivals of both The X-Files and Twin Peaks on the horizon, someone needs to get these agents to cameo in the others' series. Mulder and Cooper would get along fantastically! Excluding Duchovny as the transexual DEA agent in Twin Peaks, of course. That doesn't count. :lol:

[MinionZombie]

*fangasm brewing*

:hyper:

[Neil]

I was never really into The X-Files...

That said I do recall an episode called "Squeeze" that I seem to remember giving me the heebeejeebees! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeeze_%28The_X-Files%29

[MinionZombie]

I was never really into The X-Files...

Boooooooooooooo!!!

I demand you watch all nine seasons right this instant! :)

[AcesandEights]

X-files one-offs were so great. X-files overarching metaplot was so meh. This sounds great, though.

[MoonSylver]

Boooooooooooooo!!!

I demand you watch all nine seasons right this instant! :)

Word. Well, at least the first 5 or 6... (see below)


X-files one-offs were so great. X-files overarching metaplot was so meh. This sounds great, though.

I didn't mind the meta-plot (although it could have been made a little plainer for dunces like me...thank you internet for helping me to understand what the hell the Black Oil/Purity was, its relation to the Colonists, etc).

Once it was wrapped up though with the death of the Committee it felt like the show was "over" & I never enjoyed it as much afterwards.

That said, the stand alone episodes rocked too. I liked that there were both. :)

[bassman]

I enjoy the "mythology" episodes quite a bit, but my favorites are definitely the "monster of the week" episodes. Those are generally loads of fun and tend to have a more light hearted approach. Some fantastic guest stars in those episodes, as well.

[Rottedfreak]

The last movie was a monster of the week one, too bad it was a lame monster of the week one and trying to be edgy with a kiddy fiddler priest.

[bassman]

I enjoyed "I Want to Believe". Granted, it may have been more because I was a fan of the series and glad to see the characters return, but it was an enjoyable film nonetheless. They probably would have faired better if they made a mythology film, though.

[MinionZombie]

I enjoyed "I Want to Believe". Granted, it may have been more because I was a fan of the series and glad to see the characters return, but it was an enjoyable film nonetheless. They probably would have faired better if they made a mythology film, though.

Agreed with you all-the-way so far, Sir ... IWTB was a decent flick and a welcome bit of X-Files back on my screen ... and the mythology episodes were very good (even if they weakened in the last couple of seasons), although I was also more partial to the one-offs or two-parters. I was particularly fond of the more light-hearted episodes that really mixed things up a bit (e.g. the two-part body swapping story from season six).

[MinionZombie]

A teeny weeny teaser:

CFJnWwh12j0

Torches in the dark, those six notes echoing ... gets my skin tingling. :cool:

[bassman]

Can't wait! Its very minor, but Skully's wig really gets on my nerves. Its a movie pet peeve of mine. Once its noticed, its hard to ignore...

I'm really surprised we didn't get a more lengthy trailer out of comic con last week. You'd think they'd take advantage of that considering the fan base of this show.

[shootemindehead]

I never really watched 'The X Files' when it was on tele. I'd see the odd episode here and there and meant to sit and watch the whole thing, but couldn't be arsed for one reason or another.

Anyhow, about ten years ago I was made redundant from a job (ironically the one I'm back working for now :confused: ) and I started watching the show from scratch. I got to about series 6 and then just burned out, because nearly every week was the same thing:

Mulder: There's a weird yoke happening in this town here.

Scully: That's not weird, there has to be a rational explanation for it Mulder.

Mulder: Every week you say the same thing Scully.

...some time later...

Scully: OK...that's weird, you're right Mulder...

(under her breath)...until next week's reset ya prick. :mad:

Anyhow, I started watching them again at series 7 and I nearly turned off in disgust. There are so many bad episodes in that series that I was nearly going to write a strongly worded letter to Chris Carter :D . I kept going, however, even through the virtual reality and Kathy Griffin episodes (Jesus Wept) and I'm now on the much maligned series 8 (and 9). So far, series has pissed over 7 in every way possible. I think Doggett is a waaay better character than Mulder and Scully is better for it too, as she's now the one saying "There's a weird yoke happening in this town here".

I hope that series 9 holds up and proves the fanbois wrong like series 8 has so far. But, I won't hold my breath.

One thing's for sure though, the one off weekly episode is a dead format for dramatic TV and 20 odd episodes of something can be too much. If the new series is to survive, it'll need to catch up with the 21st century. I think a short contained story played out over a few weeks (al la 'True Detective') would be perfect for the new series.

...and I'll have what Gillian is having, because she looks better now than she did in the 90's.

[bassman]

Yeah, as I think MZ mentioned before, the show really lost its spark after Season Six. There are some good episodes in seven and the following seasons, but they really stumble. In my opinion, the finale of season seven is the real end of the series. At the time, Carter and fox hadn't agreed on an eighth season, so that final episode was written as the Series Finale and it works well. Of course the show was later renewed and then puttered to a slow death.

I've read interviews where Carter says he initially wanted to end the series after five seasons, but Fox insisted on continuing with or without him, so he basically had to stick it out rather than hand it over to someone else. As has bcome more popular with shows in recent years, its often best to have an end in sight rather than continue on until everyone loses interest.

While there are no immediate plans to continue this revival after these six new episodes, Carter has said that if the ratings are strong, he would be open to doing limited episode runs every so often rather than full-on 20+ episode seasons. That seems like the perfect way to move forward, IMO.

[MinionZombie]

I do agree that more limited runs of episodes are better - 24 episodes a season is really too much for viewers, and for the writers.

I'm a huge X-Files fan, so I don't see it from shootem's perspective of it feeling repetitive ... I just love the show so much.

Seasons 7 through 9 were definitely not as good as 1 through 6, but they still had tons of excellent episodes - and I for one am a big fan of Doggett and Reyes. They don't beat Mulder and Scully, but they're right up there with them. I think a Doggett and Reyes spin-off would have been really cool - the key D/R episodes from seasons 8 and 9 are excellent, and at times really very moving. Those characters seemed to get a lot of flack at the time, but I think that was unfair - I was always a fan of them - although I did want Mulder to be more present in Season 9 (he was only in the finale) ... but he was actually in quite a lot of season 8.

However, because of the sheer volume of episodes year after year no wonder Duchovny was a bit burned out. Shorter seasons are definitely better for everyone involved. The Walking Dead works very well in two doses of eight, for example, and True Detective works well in eight episode chunks. 13 episodes or thereabouts is quite a good number. You get a more focused story with far less (or any) filler, so everyone's a winner. It's also less intimidating for viewers coming to a show late in the game.

I was late to Game of Thrones and caught up on the first four seasons over Xmas (40 episodes) ... but imagine if it had been 24 episodes per season (no realistic chance of that, of course, but for sake of argument indulge me) that would have been 96 sodding episodes.

That said, a few years ago (2008 IIRC) I got all the box sets of The X-Files and barged all nine seasons in nine weeks. It was a magical time. I say again, I adore that show. :)

[krakenslayer]

I hope that series 9 holds up and proves the fanbois wrong like series 8 has so far. But, I won't hold my breath.


Yeah, Series 8 is IMO actually decent and a marked improvement on Series 7. It took a lot of flack for losing Mulder, but Doggett is good, and Mulder ends up coming back about halfway through. It has a good mix of MOTW and mytharc episodes, although the mythology stuff is just starting to get tired. I think a lot of the hate for eight is actually hatred spilling over from nine, which really does deserve it, and eight just gets tarred with the same brush because of the similar cast and production style.

Really looking forward to this new one though!

[shootemindehead]

I'm about 5 episodes into 9 and so far it's been good.

It's major problem has been what to do with Scully though, and Reyes seems to be a bit of a duff character. Doggett is great however and the episode with him in Mexico was enjoyable, even though nothing much was happening.

It's clear they were trying hard to transition Scully out of the game and replace the main characters fully with Doggett and Reyes, as she pops up only every so often to do an autopsy or something, which I suppose would have cheesed off fans of the show.

In any case I'll finish off the show and watch the last film again, which I've seen before but can't remember a single thing from it (not a good sign).

[Neil]

So, reviews seemed mixed about the new series - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35399303

[shootemindehead]

Yeh, can't see this going on for too long. A lot of the "positive" reviews are like "well it doesn't completely suck".

[MinionZombie]

F*ck the reviews - sometimes they come up with a particular angle and then that's just what they go with (especially if something has been very popular in the past and/or has a lot of excitement from established fans attached to it). The established story being pushed about True Detective Season 2 was that it was a disaster and nobody was watching it - yet the viewing figures were just as strong as season one, if not more so, and frequently I've seen praise from the actual fans of the show who are utterly baffled at the scolding given to it by the reviewing establishment. It's all about contrarian click bait (e.g. Huff Post's hack job take down of The Force Awakens, that was so brutally fisked by someone who had actually considered their words, rather than simply looking to harvest clicks through a stupid headline).

I've watched the first two episodes and I'm thoroughly on board with it all, I enjoyed it very much - feels just like The X-Files should, and it's great to have Mulder and Scully back together again, with Chris Carter (and some other long-term X-Files names from behind the camera), and back in Vancouver to boot. Will it be up to the extremely high standard of the show at it's peak? Doubtful, but it's never going to be like that - there's so many more things attached to that status than what they did to make the episodes. There's years of fan love, there's formative years memories, there's nostalgia, etc etc etc.

So, I for one, as a long-time X-Files fan from the get-go, am very happy with the new material.

[Legion2213]

Big fan of the original, very much enjoying the new mini-series (last one next week)

It just rocks to see Mulder & Scully back on the case...hoping for a bit more after this.

[MinionZombie]

Big fan of the original, very much enjoying the new mini-series (last one next week)

It just rocks to see Mulder & Scully back on the case...hoping for a bit more after this.

Likewise!

I've really enjoyed these episodes - especially the third episode (the more humorous ones were always my personal favourites from the series). I've been a huge fan of The X-Files since the get-go back in the 90s, so this event series has been a real joy. I think it's done quite well, and I've heard rumours that more episodes is a likely prospect (I dearly hope that happens!!!)

Arguably the 'monster of the week' aspect of episode 4 was a bit weak and needed a little more work towards the end, but the fourth episode was really Scully's as her personal story was very strong and well performed.

:)

[bassman]

I really, really enjoyed the final episode of this limited run. Although it was actually portrayed on a small scale, it felt like a massive global event unlike any we've seen throughout the show's run.

I do have a spoilery question for those that have seen the final episode:
I don't have any sort of television service, I just use Netflix and the various internet programs to view whatever movies or shows. That being said, this final episode ended with Scully looking up at the UFO as it shined its light down on them before she could give Mulder and Miller the vaccine. I found it strange considering that this was a limited run of episodes and it's unclear if/when the show will return. Was this actually the broadcast ending or did I somehow get an incomplete copy?

[MinionZombie]

Nope, that's how the episode ends - cliffhanger city.

I've heard that Chris Carter et al are currently hashing out the details for an 11th season right now - getting schedules lined up etc - as their intention is to do more episodes. Season 10 seems to have been received quite well. :cool:

[bassman]

Nope, that's how the episode ends - cliffhanger city.

I've heard that Chris Carter et al are currently hashing out the details for an 11th season right now - getting schedules lined up etc - as their intention is to do more episodes. Season 10 seems to have been received quite well. :cool:

Fantastic! As I said, I just found it strange to end with such a HUGE cliffhanger being that everyone involved was saying they were unsure if they'd ever return for more episodes. Surely when they saw that the show returned with big numbers, they knew they'd return for another season, or perhaps another limited run, and ended it leaving the audience wondering what's next.

In all, this revival mini series was a fantastic success in my eyes. I loved the "mythology" episodes and the "monster of the week" episode with the werewolf-lizard-man was easily one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. I was always a fan of these more light hearted episodes and that one showed that they clearly hadn't lost that ability too have fun with the show's premise.

Bring on season eleven and the season ten blu ray! :cool:

[MinionZombie]

I was always a fan of these more light hearted episodes and that one showed that they clearly hadn't lost that ability too have fun with the show's premise.

Bring on season eleven and the season ten blu ray! :cool:

Agreed on all counts. :)

My all-time favourite episodes a frequently the humorous ones. I love the whole show, but my most favourite ones tend to be the ones that are a bit askew and have fun with the formula, like you say. A lot of attention, justifiably, gets paid to the anthology episodes as that's the backbone of the whole thing, but I just get so much joy out of those funnier episodes. :)

Perhaps they had the idea in their back pocket of 'hey, if this works out, let's be keep it in mind that we'll do more' - so that, as it seems to be turning out, in the event of it being a success they can hop on board and crack on with more. :cool: Kind of a 'wait and see, but probably yes' situation.

[bassman]

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise when you consider the HUGE cliffhanger we were left with, but Fox has officially announced production on a new season of ten episodes. That's only four more episodes than the last round, but it seems like it's a good compromise for everyone involved that doesn't want to be tied down to 20-ish episode seasons like the original run.

Production begins this summer, so it'll probably premiere next year, or maybe the end of this year.

[MinionZombie]

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise when you consider the HUGE cliffhanger we were left with, but Fox has officially announced production on a new season of ten episodes. That's only four more episodes than the last round, but it seems like it's a good compromise for everyone involved that doesn't want to be tied down to 20-ish episode seasons like the original run.

Production begins this summer, so it'll probably premiere next year, or maybe the end of this year.

:hyper:

Sweeeeeeeeeet!

10 episodes is a good length, I think. I don't really feel there's much need for the old '24 episodes a year' model, especially with so much choice out there. Far better to get in, tell your story, and get out - avoid all the filler and just crack on.

I was wondering about this just the other day, so properly stoked to hear we're getting more episodes! :thumbsup:

[bassman]

While it wasn't anywhere near the realm of BAD, I found the Season Eleven premiere to be kind of dull. After the cliffhanger from last season, I was expecting this one to pick it up with a bang, but instead it's more of a slow hum...

[MinionZombie]

The Season 11 premiere was surprising in that it's like a prequel of what happened in the Season 10 finale, with those events now being a 'vision' that Scully had of the near future. It was a little tricky to wrap your head around at first, but I got there eventually.

The main issue that seemed to starch shippers' britches, though, was the revelation regarding William's parentage. However, considering Mulder's parentage, it's actually quite in-keeping.

I suppose it was the structure of the episode that kind of throws you a bit. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to what's to come - especially Darin Morgan's episode! The reviews for the first five episodes seem to be quite strong, too, which is groovy.

[bassman]

Season two of the revival was quite a success in my eyes! I really enjoyed it. And the episode about revising history/memories(I forget the name), with the guy that was supposedly Mulder and Scully’s partner for years, instantly went down as one of my all-time favorites. I can’t remember laughing as hard or having THAT much fun with another monster of the week episode. Plus it was tied to my all-time favorite series, Twilight Zone, so I’m sure that helped as well.

Roll on with the next ten episodes! :D

[MinionZombie]

Really enjoyed season 11 - it was a toss-up between the episode you referenced, bass, or the one with the sushi restaurant and the rogue AI as my favourite of the season.

The mythology stuff was a bit underdeveloped in the finale, and the retconning of the season 10 finale as a 'possible future yet to happen' was a bit clumsy, although it worked pretty well in the season 11 premiere. The finale, though, was a bit rushed in certain ways, but in other ways it worked. If it really is the last episode then it's lacking in terms of a coda to wrap up various characters, but it kinda felt like Carter was hedging his bets to try and give him enough room to move if he did end up doing more episodes.

However, with Anderson apparently not keen on another season, might this be the end? You can't have Mulder without Scully, and the beacon of hope at the close of the episode between the pair would put Scully in a position of not wanting to be getting too involved (or at all) with X-Files shenanegans (assuming Kirsh was convinced to re-open them again :p ).

Anyway - solid season, rather enjoyed it. I hope Anderson can be convinced to come back for some more. One last season, eh?

[bassman]

I hadn’t heard about Anderson or this possibly being the end of the revival. To be fair, actors go back and forth about that sort of thing all the time. Could be a contract negotiation tactic, or she just needs some time with other projects, then she could come back.

I don’t see that last episode being a fitting series finale, that’s for sure. Definitely needs at LEAST one more season to send it off right.

[bassman]

Had to share this for MZ. The greatest meeting of minds in history!

https://i.imgur.com/DCJnakz.jpg

:p

[MinionZombie]

hah! Is that the "I'm not saying it's aliens, but it's aliens" guy? :D

[shootemindehead]

LOL

That's class.