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Television Media

The End of The X-Files 352

Posted by Hemos from the the-truth-is-no-longer-out-there dept.
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.
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The End of The X-Files More

The End of The X-Files

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  • 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?
    • 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? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Sethb ( 9355 ) <bokelman@outlook.com> on Thursday January 17, 2002 @12:13PM (#2854748)
        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...
      • 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???
    • 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.

  • Millennium (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by 13Echo ( 209846 )
    Now how about a Millennium movie, or perhaps a DVD boxed set of the series?

    Now that was a wicked-sweet show.

    • Re:Millennium (Score:3, Interesting)

      by don_carnage ( 145494 )
      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.

    • 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 >

  • 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 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SomethingOrOther ( 521702 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:08AM (#2853705) Homepage

    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

    • 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.
      • 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.

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

    Brought to you by the #23

  • About Time!!! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bjb ( 3050 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:10AM (#2853716) Homepage Journal
    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.

    • 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!!! (Score:2, Informative)

        by tang ( 179356 )
        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!!! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by jmu1 ( 183541 )
      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!!! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by d-e-w ( 173678 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @11:07AM (#2854263)
      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.

  • 'Bout time..... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bricriu ( 184334 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:12AM (#2853726) Homepage
    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?
  • 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.
  • 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...

  • 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 :)

  • 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...
  • 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. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by k98sven ( 324383 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:14AM (#2853738) Journal
    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..

    • 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 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?
  • 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.
  • 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...

  • Another soap opera ends (Score:4, Offtopic)

    by Aceticon ( 140883 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:22AM (#2853767)
    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.
  • 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.
    • 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)
  • 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 (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Caball ( 58351 )
      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.

  • A Mercy Killing... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kzinti ( 9651 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:23AM (#2853774) Homepage Journal
    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
    • 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.
  • Please.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Season 1 (Score:2, Insightful)

    by hotpoint ( 156483 )
    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.
  • 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.
    • 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

  • The show relied too much on Mulder... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by koh ( 124962 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:38AM (#2853832) Journal
    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 :)
    • 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.

      .
  • 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 [ridiculopathy.com]


    X-Files: "We're going to dish out answers this time, we swear!" [ridiculopathy.com]

  • This is intended to stir up a little discussion:

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

    ?

    • 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...

  • 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.

  • 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.
  • 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")

  • 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!

  • Still one of the best shows (Score:3, Insightful)

    by domo_jojo ( 466926 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:53AM (#2853900)
    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.

  • Robert Patrick (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BadBlood ( 134525 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @09:57AM (#2853924)
    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.
      • 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.

      • 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 (Score:3, Funny)

      by jafac ( 1449 )
      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!)
    • 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

      --
  • 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.
    • 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.

  • In a mountain village, somewhere in Central Asia.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hughk ( 248126 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:06AM (#2853959) Journal
    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 (Score:4, Redundant)

    by beanerspace ( 443710 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:17AM (#2853996) Homepage
    There's a nifty little website out there called Jump The Shark [jumptheshark.com] ... "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 [scifi.com]" 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 [wired.com], and lost interest after only a couple of episodes.

  • good riddance! (Score:3, Flamebait)

    by Eugene O'Neil ( 140081 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:28AM (#2854062)

    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... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by erat ( 2665 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:30AM (#2854069)
    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.

  • Everyone has it wrong. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by taxman_10m ( 41083 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:30AM (#2854070)
    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.
    • I would disagree, aside from the fact that I don't think the X-Files has died [slashdot.org] (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.
  • 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.

  • The Last Episode (Score:5, Funny)

    by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:43AM (#2854121) Homepage Journal
    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 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Katravax ( 21568 )
      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 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by bughunter ( 10093 )
      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.

  • Next movie (Score:2, Interesting)

    by iamjim ( 313916 )
    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.

  • At Last (Score:4, Interesting)

    by awol ( 98751 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:54AM (#2854179) Journal
    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 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by instinctdesign ( 534196 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @10:56AM (#2854189) Homepage
    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.
    • 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
    • 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.

  • Frankly... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by nedron ( 5294 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @11:00AM (#2854211) Homepage
    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.

  • 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.
  • 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

  • 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 [slipups.com], and Daily Variety edited it to cover for him.

  • 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. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Fantastic Lad ( 198284 ) on Thursday January 17, 2002 @12:55PM (#2855113)
    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

    • 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.
  • 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...

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