For a limited run.
“The X-Files” gang is getting back together for a six-episode limited series that has formally been given a series order by Fox.
CNN was talking about this yesterday. I couldn’t work up much excitement. The first seasons were great, but the show lost its way even before Duchovny left. Its last third or so was pretty terrible.
Oh wow, I was just thinking I couldn’t even remember how the original run ended and after doing a little research it’s probably because I didn’t watch the last two seasons. I’ll give at least the first episode a shot though.
I wish I hadn’t. I’d remember the series more fondly that way. And yeah, like you, I’m sure I’ll check out an episode or two of the new run at minimum, but my hopes aren’t high.
It had pretty much played itself out by the time Duchovny left, and went downhill from there. Then there was the awful 2nd movie. And then Fringe picked up the dropped ball fairly well. But if they are willing to actually resolve the whole imminent alien invasion theme, I’d certainly welcome that.
And no doubt Cigarette Smoking Man ducked out the back way when those missiles rained in on him in the original series finale. I’d watch it just to see him puffing a Morley’s E-Cig.
The fact that this is a limited series gives me hope. I can’t imagine them recapturing the feeling of the first couple of seasons, with not only your random weirdness-of-the-week but also a massive conspiracy hanging over everything. But I can certainly see a half-dozen good episodes happening, with some sort of mid-level villain who gets exposed, leaving hooks for further stories (movies or further mini-series).
I also look upon the series fondly since I stopped watching a season or so before Duchovny left the show.
That second movie was so weird. It was like a random non-conspiracy episode, and not a very good one. I actually walked out of the theater before the end. About the only time I can remember ever doing that.
Yeah, that was depressingly random. That was like the last shot to breathe some life into the franchise, and instead of doing something memorable, they just halfheartedly dialed in a random serial-killer of the week. It wasn’t even scary. If you’re going to go on the big screen, take advantage of the format and do something that network standards and practices would never let you do on television.
Hard to get excited about this. Everyone’s a lot older, and CSM is a shell of his former self. It feels like that Carter and Duchovny have been slumming it since the show ended (Carter more so), while Anderson has been happy turning British and starring in all sorts of stuff across the pond (Bleak House with Charles Dance, The Fall with that dude from 50 Shades, etc).
That said, if they got Vince Gilligan and some other of the great talent that got their start in The X-Files on board, it could change quickly. Darin Morgan was doing Charlie Kaufman years before Charlie Kaufman, and won a frickin’ Emmy for Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose. He also wrote Jose Chung’s From Outer Space, and the cockroach episode. Then he seemingly fell off the face of the planet.
Duchovny did alright in Californication, but it got a bit tired after 2 or 3 seasons.
Fringe may have started like an X-Files successor, but I think it moved direction at some point before the first season ended. It was too wacky and headed off into more wackiness, much the same way as the mythology/story arc episodes in X-Files. Wherever in the backwoods of casting Duchovny disappeared to, it wasn’t as off the beaten track as where Pacey from Dawson’s Creek came back out of for Fringe, and went back into afterwards.
Darin Morgan worked on Intruders, and the short-lived Bionic Woman series. Both were pretty good.
Still, the proof is in the pudding. I hope they learnt their lesson from the last movie.
I’d be more excited if Carter wasn’t involved. His terrible Amazon show fell apart despite making it through the pilot system there, and he’s never really had as good a grasp on the X-Files mythology as many of the staff writers did.
FOX put out a 10-second trailer yesterday. They pretty much packed in all the stuff you’d expect from the X-Files in that 10 seconds.
Called it! But a real Morley - none of this pansy vaping shit!
Not excited about this - agree the show ended poorly and the 2nd movie was garbage. As mentioned, I agree the 2nd film should have been more about resolving the show’s alien storyline and not been a monster-of-the-week extended episode. They blew the chance then and are doing it again with this six episode series from what I’ve read. Blah.
However, I’ve been re-watching the show from the beginning with my 12 year old for the past year or so and have discovered that the seasons after the show’s peak (season 5) were a lot better than I remembered them. Season 6 still had a lot of great episodes and while the quality starts to drop in 7, it and the following season rarely hit the high notes of the earlier seasons but were still enjoyable with maybe a handful of poor episodes.
But we are about to watch season 9 and I remember this one being pretty bad all the way through and I am pretty certain my memory is not failing me in this case. And my daughter has already watched them on her own a few weeks ago because she couldn’t wait for me and hated most of it.
I watched the whole series a year ago and really enjoyed it again. Sure it was rough towards the end but anything going 10 seasons long is going to have issues somewhere.
I foudnbeing able to watch it back to back I enjoyed the Alien stuff a lot more and it flowed better, originally I preferrred the monster of the week better.
Here we go again!
Production over the summer, to air in the 2017-2018 TV season.
Ugh, last year’s revival was so disappointing.
I disagree, I really enjoyed them except the last episode. A bigger season with more structure should help and I am really looking forward to this.
A friend and I are currently rewatching the entire series and we’re about to finish season 3. We’ve been really enjoying it overall and the chemistry between Mulder and Scully is the glue that holds the whole thing together. I’m surprised how funny they are too. There are a few bum episodes but the ones by Darin Morgan are fantastic. It’s also nice to enjoy the alien mythology arc as an adult, chronologically and in a timely fashion, unlike when I was a kid when it seemed to be all over the place as far as the TV programming went.
Gillian Anderson was strikingly beautiful too, and from what I’ve seen of her these days, she still is.
For me, yup. The only episode I really liked was the one with the lizard guy turning into a man.
Same here, it was the worst season by far. Keep Carter away from it please, bring back Vince.