The X-Files

For other uses, see The X-Files (disambiguation).

The X-Files
X-Files opening titles from first 8 seasons
Created by	Chris Carter
Starring	David Duchovny Gillian Anderson Robert Patrick Annabeth Gish Mitch Pileggi
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	201 (as originally aired)
Production
Running time	approx. 42 min (per episode)
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	September 10, 1993 – May 19, 2002

The X-Files is a popular American television series created by Chris Carter. It ran for nine seasons from 1993 to 2002, spawning a feature film in 1998 and one brief spin-off series. The X-Files was one of FOX's first major hits, and its main characters and slogans ("The Truth Is Out There," "Trust No One," "I Want to Believe") became pop culture touchstones, simultaneously tapping into and inspiring a plethora of conspiracy theories, paranoia about the U.S. government, and belief in the existence of extraterrestrial life.

In the series, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are two FBI agents tasked with investigating the titular "X-Files." These cases, marginalized by the FBI, often involve paranormal phenomena. Mulder is the "believer," believing in aliens and the paranormal, while Scully was the skeptic, initially assigned by her departmental superiors to debunk his unconventional work and contain its profound implications. As the show progressed both became embroiled in the same larger conflicts (termed "the mythology" or "mytharc" by the show's creators) and developed a close and ambiguous friendship - which some fans, known as "shippers," saw as more than platonic.

The X-Files was declared by TV Guide to be one of the greatest television shows of all time, and the second greatest cult TV show of all time, behind Star Trek. Carter's second TV series Millennium ran for three seasons. His third television show was Harsh Realm, which was canceled after only three episodes aired. Chris Carter also used "The X-Files" as a springboard for a short-lived spin-off series involving side characters from The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen. None of these shows garnered the same level of attention as The X-Files.

Cast of characters

File:Mss151.jpg

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Mulder and Scully on The X-Files

Main cast

Actor/Actress	Character	Years On Show
David Duchovny	Special Agent Fox William Mulder	(1993–2000) - Duchovny was a recurring character in Season 8 (2000-2001) and only appeared in the series finale in Season 9 (2001-2002).
Gillian Anderson	Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully M.D.	(1993–2002)
Robert Patrick	Special Agent John Doggett	(2000–2002)
Annabeth Gish	Special Agent Monica Reyes	(2001–2002) - Gish was credited as 'Also Starring' in season 8, before being added to the main credits in the final season
Mitch Pileggi	Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner	(1994–2002) - Pileggi was credited as 'Also Starring' before being added to the main credits in the final season

Recurring guest cast

(see also: List of recurring characters from The X-Files)

• William B. Davis - C.G.B. Spender, aka The Cigarette Smoking Man (1993–2000, 2002) - Davis was credited as 'Also Starring' from season 3 through to season 7
• Nicholas Lea - Alex Krycek (1994–1996, 1998–2002) - Lea was credited as 'Also Starring' from season 5
• Chris Owens - Jeffrey Spender (1998–1999, 2002) - Owens was credited as 'Also Starring' He also guest starred as the Young Cigarette Smoking Man in 1996 and 1997, and played The Great Mutato in the 1997 episode 'The Post-Modern Prometheus
• Mimi Rogers - Diana Fowley (1998–1999) - Rogers was credited as 'Special Guest Star'
• James Pickens, Jr. - Assistant/Deputy Director Alvin Kersh (1998–2002) - Pickens was credited as 'Also Starring' during the final season.
• Jerry Hardin - Deep Throat (1993–1996, 1999)
• Steven Williams - Mr. X (1994–1997, 2002)
• Tom Braidwood - Melvin Frohike (1994–2002)
• Dean Haglund - Richard Langly (1994–2002)
• Bruce Harwood - John Fitzgerald Byers (1994–2002)
• Don S. Williams - The 1st Elder (1995–1999)
• John Neville - The Well-Manicured Man (1995–1998)
• Laurie Holden - Marita Covarrubias (1996–2000, 2002)
• Adam Baldwin - Knowle Rohrer (2001–2002)

Plot and Mythology

see also List of The X-Files episodes

Fans commonly divide X-Files stories into two categories: "Mytharc" ("mythology") episodes, which concerned the ongoing tale of an impending alien invasion and a conspiratorial cover-up, and stand-alone episodes (sometimes called "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes), which dealt with specific bizarre or other-worldly creatures and situations relating to the paranormal, generally not having anything to do with the above mentioned alien invasion. Several installments also explored the relationship between Mulder and Scully, while some episodes focused on popular supporting characters such as Walter Skinner or the Lone Gunmen.

Below is a list of episodes that concern the mythology of The X-Files in broadcast order. Some fans have even gone so far as to write up the entire storyline of the show, including all important dates. [1]

• Season 1: Pilot, Deep Throat, Fallen Angel, EBE, The Erlenmeyer Flask
• Season 2: Little Green Men, Duane Barry, Ascension, One Breath, Red Museum, Colony, End Game, Anasazi
• Season 3: The Blessing Way, Paper Clip, Nisei, 731, Piper Maru, Apocrypha, Talitha Cumi
• Season 4: Herrenvolk, Tunguska, Terma, Memento Mori, Tempus Fugit, Max, Zero-Sum, Gethsemane
• Season 5: Redux, Redux II, Christmas Carol, Emily, Patient X, The Red and the Black, The End (season 5 finale, continued by Fight the Future movie...)
• X Files: Fight the Future The motion picture, a continuation of the season five finale.
• Season 6: The Beginning, S.R. 819, Two Fathers, One Son, Biogenesis
• Season 7: The Sixth Extinction, The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati, Sein und Zeit, Closure, En Ami, Requiem
• Season 8: Within, Without, Per Manum, This Is Not Happening, Deadalive, Three Words, Vienen, Essence, Existence
• Season 9: Nothing Important Happened Today, Nothing Important Happened Today II, Trust No 1, Provenance, Providence, William, The Truth

Note: The episodes Renascence, Resonance, and Reckoning from the game The X-Files: Resist or Serve fit into the mythology, but have an unknown placement somewhere in the seventh season.

Legacy

The X-Files directly inspired numerous other TV series, including Strange World, Burning Zone, Special Unit 2, Mysterious Ways, Carnivàle, Dark Skies, The 4400, Lost and Supernatural.

The influence can also be seen on other levels: television series such as Alias have developed a complex mythology that brings to mind the "mytharc" of The X-Files. In addition, many procedural dramas feature a Mulder-esque lead with a supervisor similar to Skinner or Kersh. Some of these procedurals, such as NCIS, also feature a quirky technogeek similar to the Lone Gunmen characters. Other shows have been influenced by the tone and mood of The X-Files, e.g., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which drew from the mood and coloring of The X-Files, as well as from its occasional blend of horror and humor. The procedural CSI is occasionally considered a successor to The X-Files because of its science-driven plots.

Fox also aired another series produced by Chris Carter entitled Millennium. The storylines of Millennium and The X-Files crossed over at one point, with Scully and Mulder making cameo appearances — albeit on an overhead television — in at least one episode of Millennium. Frank Black, the protagonist of Millennium, appeared in a season 7 episode of The X-Files to tie up the show's storyline after Millennium was abruptly cancelled. Chris Carter originally said that Millennium took place in an entirely different reality from The X-Files, but in fact he never seems to have made a firm decision about this.

Influences

Television

Chris Carter listed television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Tales from the Darkside and especially Kolchak: The Night Stalker as his major influences for the show. Actor Darren McGavin who played Carl Kolchak in Kolchak: The Night Stalker appeared in two episodes of The X-Files as Agent Arthur Dales, a character described as the "father of the X-Files." Carter also mentioned that the relationship between Mulder and Scully (platonic but with some sexual tension) was influenced by the chemistry between John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) in the 1960s British spy TV program The Avengers.

Film

Several feature films have also influenced The X-Files. The producers have cited All the President's Men, Three Days of the Condor, The Thing, The Boys from Brazil, The Silence of the Lambs, and JFK as influences on the series. Gangster movies such as the Godfather trilogy are also frequently referenced in the show's conspiracy plotlines, particularly concerning the Syndicate. A scene at the end of the episode Redux II (5.03), for instance, directly mirrors the famous baptism montage at the end of The Godfather.

Awards

Over the course of its nine seasons, the show was nominated for 141 awards, winning a total of 61 individual awards from 24 different agencies, including the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Environmental Media Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The X-Files also won a Peabody Award in 1996, during its third season.

The show earned a total of 16 Emmys; two for acting, one for writing, and 13 for various technical categories. In September 1994, The X-Files won its first award, the Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences.

Peter Boyle later won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of the title character in the third-season episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". In the same year, Darin Morgan won the Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Drama Series for the same episode. "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" was one of four highly-acclaimed episodes Morgan wrote during his short time on the show's writing staff. In 1997, Gillian Anderson won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series award for her portrayal of Agent Dana Scully.

Throughout its run, The X-Files also won Emmy awards in the following technical categories: Graphic Design and Title Sequences, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Mixing, Art Direction, Single Camera Picture Editing, Makeup, and Special Visual Effects.

History

Seasons 1-3

Two of the most highly regarded writer/producers were Glen Morgan and James Wong, whose contributions to the first two seasons, in particular the first season Episode "Beyond The Sea", were exceptionally popular and influential. They also returned for the first half of the fourth season. Prior to coming to The X-Files, they had worked extensively with David Nutter, Rob Bowman, and Kim Manners on a number of shows produced in Canada for Stephen J. Cannell. The duo also had an important role in hiring John Bartley, the cinematographer who gave the show its early dark atmospheric look, and who won an Emmy Award for his work on the show.

In the first two seasons, they introduced some popular secondary characters, such as The Lone Gunmen, the Scully family, and FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner. Their first episode for the show was "Squeeze", featuring the elastic Eugene Victor Tooms. This episode became the template for the popular 'Monster of the Week' episodes that became a mainstay of the series over the next nine years. They helped to establish the show's fledgling "mytharc", which was initially established as a goverment plot to cover up anything pertaining to the existence of extraterrestial life, and Mulder's attempts to discover the fate of his sister, who was abducted some years previously. As the show went into it's second and third seasons, it confirmed the existence of extraterrestial life within the show and suggested that a shadowy sub-govermental group known as The Syndicate (The X-Files)- one of the members being the Cigarette Smoking Man - were in co-operation with these aliens, in order to allow them to colonise Earth, which would be acheived via use of the so-called Black Oil.

Seasons 4-6

Over the course of the series, the show established and built upon the mytharc that grew in complexity and prominence as the show progressed. The Syndicate's co-operation with the colonisers was proven to be a ploy, as they were secretly attempting to develop a vaccine to the Black Oil, which was shown to be an agent which would allow for the transportation of alien beings, and which would be spread through bees come the time for colonisation. However, another alien faction was proven to exist, and these rebels opposed the colonists, and hence the Syndicate for their co-operation with them. Consequently, the rebels destroyed the Syndicate. In addition to this, there was a few turns of events involving the ever-deepening bond between Mulder and Scully, including her contraction of cancer, and the interaction between the two characters. Whether they "should" or "shouldn't" consummate their relationship was a matter of immense debate among the fan community for several years, and is still subject to scrutiny, since even after abundant hints, Carter refuses to substantiate whether the two characters ever had sexual intercourse. Initially filmed in Vancouver, Canada, the show was later relocated to L.A. in 1998, at the start of the sixth season.

The X-Files: Fight the Future

File:Xf promotional ftf.jpg

Promotional photo from The X-Files: Fight the Future

In 1998 the series produced a motion picture, The X-Files. It was intended as a continuation of the season five finale, "The End" (5x20), but was also meant to stand on its own. According to several different May 1998 newspaper articles on the rising costs of film production, 20th Century Fox spent around 60 million dollars promoting the film worldwide, and the production budget, originally said to be 60 million dollars as well, was eventually revealed to have been closer to 66 million. With a minimum expenditure of 126 million dollars for production/promotion, the movie had a worldwide gross of slightly over 189 million, of which the studio would have gotten around about 55%.

The movie, like much of what followed it on the series, remains a point of contention among fans — some of whom appreciate its place in the narrative, others deploring it for being the beginning of an unwieldy narrative structure that continued throughout the show.

Seasons 7-9

The final three seasons were a time of closure for the X-Files. Many characters within the show were written out, including the Cigarette Smoking Man and Mulder's mother, and several plot threads were solved, including the fate of Mulder's sister, a long running plot device within the show. Following a contract dispute with Fox, David Duchovny quit The X-Files after the seventh season.[2]. To accomodate for this, Mulder was abducted at the end of the seventh season. With both Duchovny and Anderson's involvement reduced, the show introduced two new X-Files agents, John Doggett and Monica Reyes (played by Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish). It was Chris Carter's belief that the series could continue for another ten years with new leads. This was not to be the case, however, as Doggett and Reyes did not provide the ratings boost Chris Carter had hoped.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson filming the finale episode in 2002

The Lone Gunmen, a trio of nerdish government watchdogs who sporadically assisted Mulder and Scully, had their own short-lived TV series. The termination of the show left its storyline unresolved, and all the characters from the series returned in the X-Files episode "Jump the Shark" (9x15), an allusion to the television term, which served as a final Lone Gunmen episode.

The show completed its ninth and final season with the two-hour episode "The Truth", which first aired on May 19, 2002. The show ceased production at the end of the ninth season—on a cliffhanger, though Carter knew that this would be the final episode.

The future of The X-Files

Plans for another movie are announced periodically but have yet to come to fruition. While Carter, Duchovny and Anderson have all expressed their desire for involvement, there is still no script and no official shooting schedule. According to Bowman, director of the first film, and producer Frank Spotnitz, the second film will probably be a stand-alone story, rather than focus on the alien conspiracy storylines.

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• At the time of its final episode, it was the longest running sci-fi show in American television history, a title since lost to Stargate SG-1.
• The season 8 episode "Alone" has artifacts from previous episodes: in Scully's desk drawer are Queequeg's dog tag (from the episode "Quagmire"), the keychain Mulder gave her (from "Tempus Fugit") and the fused coins (from "Dreamland"). Also appearing in this episode is the character of Agent Leyla Harrison, named for an actual person. Leyla Harrison was an X-Files fan and a writer of fanfiction who died in February 2001. Well-known and well-loved among The X-Files Internet community, writers on the show created the character (a self-professed admirer of Mulder and Scully) to honor her memory.
• It was David Duchovny who suggested that Skinner play a larger role, hoping that it would result in some time off for him due to his increasing dissatisfaction with the role.
• The theme song was written by Mark Snow. It was released with other songs from and inspired by the show on the 1996 soundtrack Songs in the Key of X.
• Much of the season 3 finale, "Talitha Cumi" was inspired by The Grand Inquisitor, including the Cigarette Smoking Man's line "Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him."
• As has become commonplace with dramatic TV series in recent years, actual episode titles were never displayed on screen. This was one of the first TV series whose fans disseminated information such as episode titles strictly via the Internet.
• The controversial and violent episode "Home", which featured a story about a family that has been inbred to almost proto-human levels of development, was kept out of syndication for three years after its initial airing.
• The town known as Gibsonton, Florida in the circus freak-centric episode, "Humbug", is a real town that really is populated with former circus performers.
• Creator Chris Carter's birthday is October 13, thus the frequent references to the number 1013 on the show and the reason Fox Mulder's birthday is also October 13. It is also the name of Carter's production company, Ten Thirteen Productions. The number 1121, and especially the time 11:21 PM, also appears regularly on The X-Files, particularly in the early seasons. This is a reference by Chris Carter to his wife Dori's birthday, November 21.
• While Mulder believes in extraterrestrial life, and Scully doesn't (until season 6), the opposite is true of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (i.e. Duchovny doesn't believe EBEs exist, while Anderson does).
• In "Little Green Men" and "One Breath", Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote opening teasers that used offscreen narration by one of the cast members as a dramatic motif. This technique, never previously used on the show, became a standard device in the teasers for many subsequent Mythology episodes.

Taglines

File:Msf74.jpg

Fox Mulder in his basement office, now on display at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum

The phrase "The Truth is Out There" is usually shown on screen at the end of the opening credits sequence. However, over the course of the series, this phrase would occasionally be replaced with something else, especially for "mytharc" episodes.

• Trust No One - "The Erlenmeyer Flask"
• Deny Everything - "Ascension"
• 'éí 'aaníígÓÓ 'áhoot'é' - "Anasazi" ("The truth is far from here" in Navajo)
• Apology is Policy - "731"
• Everything Dies - "Herrenvolk" ("Master race" in German)
• Deceive Inveigle Obfuscate - "Teliko"
• E pur si muove - "Terma" ("And still it moves" in Italian)
• Believe the Lie - "Gethsemane"
• All Lies Lead to the Truth - "Redux"
• Resist or Serve - "The Red and the Black"
• The End - "The End"
• Die Wahrheit ist irgendwo da draußen - "Triangle" ("The truth is out there somewhere" in German)
• In the Big Inning - "The Unnatural" (a baseball-themed episode)
• Amor Fati - "Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" ("Love of fate" in Latin)
• Believe to Understand - "Closure"
• Nothing Important Happened Today - "Nothing Important Happened Today II"
• erehT tuO si hturT ehT - "4D" ("The Truth is Out There" backwards)
• They're Watching - "Trust No 1"
• Dio t'ama - "Improbable" ("God loves you" in Italian)

Fan terminology

• CSM - Cigarette Smoking Man
• MoW or MOTW - Monster-of-the-week
• OBSSE - The Order of the Blessed Saint Scully, The Enigmatic (a group of fans of Scully who have their own group on the Internet) [3]
• Shipper (relationshipper) - a fan who wants Mulder and Scully to come together. Although 'shipper' is a term for any fan who wants to see two main characters of a show romantically involved, the first use in North America could very well be on the X-Files newsgroup. "Noromos" on the other hand are people who do not wish Mulder and Scully to have a relationship.[4]
• TLG - The Lone Gunmen

Video games

The X-Files has inspired two video games. In 1998, The X-Files: The Game was released for the PC and Macintosh and a year later for the PlayStation. This game is set somewhere within the timeline of the second or third season and follows an Agent Craig Willmore in his search for the missing Mulder and Scully. Then, in 2004, The X-Files: Resist or Serve was released for the PlayStation 2. This game combines three episodes from season seven and allows the player control of both Mulder and Scully. Both games feature acting and voice work from several members of the series' cast.

Relationship to other Ten Thirteen Productions shows

Millennium

(see also: Relationship to other Ten Thirteen Productions shows)

• In the season 1 "Millennium" episode "Lamentation", Frank Black visits the FBI Academy in Quantico. In the background of one shot, two agents resembling Mulder & Scully are seen walking down a staircase. In reality, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's photo doubles were intentionally included in the episode as an inside-joke.
• Scully gets a tattoo of the Oroboros in the Season 4 "X-Files" episode "Never Again," a symbol which also represents the Millennium Group.
• Charles Nelson Reilly reprises his role of Jose Chung from "The X-Files" episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" in the Season 2 "Millennium" episode "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense". Copies of "From Outer Space", the book he wrote based on the events of his "X-Files" appearance can be seen throughout the episode.
• Peter Watts finds a Morley cigarette butt in a Millennium Group storage room in the Season 2 "Millennium" episode "The Fourth Horseman", indicating that perhaps the Cigarette Smoking Man had been there.
• Mulder and Scully lookalikes appear in an Alien Autopsy-esque television production in the Season 2 "Millennium" episode "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me".
• Audio from the "X-Files" episode "Kill Switch" can be heard coming from an apartment in the Season 3 "Millennium" episode "Human Essence".
• Actor David Fredericks plays J. Edgar Hoover in the Season 3 "Millennium" episode "Matryoshka", reprising his role from "X-Files" episodes "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" and "Travelers".
• Lance Henriksen and Brittany Tiplady make their final appearances as "Millennium" characters Frank & Jordan Black in the Season 7 "X-Files" episode entitled "Millennium".
• The Oroboros is mentioned in the Season 9 "X-Files" episode "Dæmonicus"

Harsh Realm

• In the season 7 "X-Files" episode "Sein Und Zeit", one of the characters is watching Harsh Realm on his TV. He remarks, "I don't know what this is but it's fantastic."

The Lone Gunmen

• The show features the characters of John Fitzgerald Byers, Richard "Ringo" Langley and Melvin Frohike, characters that made their first appearance in the Season 1 "X-Files" episode "E.B.E." and subsequently appeared regularly over the course of the series.
• Actor Jim Fyfe appears in a recurring role as Kimmy the Geek, apparently a relative of a character named Jimmy the Geek that he played in "Three of a Kind", an "X-Files" episode that focused on the Lone Gunmen.
• Mitch Pileggi appears as "X-Files" character Walter Skinner in the "Lone Gunmen" episode "The Lying Game".
• David Duchovny appears as "X-Files" character Fox Mulder and Michael McKean appears as "X-Files" character Morris Fletcher in the "Lone Gunmen" episode "All About Yves".
• In the Season 9 "X-Files" episode "Nothing Important Happened Today", Langley's face is still painted blue from "Lone Gunmen" episode "All About Yves".
• "The Lone Gunmen" was canceled before a resolution to the cliffhanger in "All About Yves" could be produced. An "X-Files" episode entitled "Jump the Shark" was produced to resolve this cliffhanger. It featured the Lone Gunmen, Jimmy Bond, Yves Adele Harlow, Kimmy the Geek, plus Walter Skinner and Morris Fletcher, two "X-Files" characters also featured on "The Lone Gunmen".

Broadcasters

• United States: FOX, Sci-Fi
• United Kingdom: BBC1

References

• Paul C. Peterson, Religion in The X-Files, Journal of Media and Religion 1(3), 181–196 (2002).
• N.E. Genge, The Unofficial X-Files (New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1995), 228pp.
• Brian Lowry, Trust No One: The Official Third Season Guide to The X Files (New York: Harper Prism, 1996), 266pp.
• James Hatfield and George "Doc" Burt, The Unauthorized X-Files (New York: MJF Books, 1996), 309pp.

See also

• Black oil
• Colonists (The X-Files)
• Syndicate (The X-Files)
• List of X-Files informants

External links

• The X-Files Official Site Contains information on X-Files DVD releases.
• The X-Files Wiki - a wiki about "the X-Files television series, movie, and related spin-offs"
• TXF episodes' transcripts
• The X-files Timeline
• BBC X-Files Site (Unofficial). The BBC's X-Files section, with information, pictures, interviews, and more.
• The X-Files Information Archive