FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on The X-Files and its short-lived spin-off The Lone Gunmen , both broadcast on Fox .
153-556: In the science fiction - supernatural series, Skinner supervised the X-Files office , which is concerned with unresolved FBI cases of mysterious or possibly supernatural circumstances. Fox Mulder , the FBI agent in charge of the X-Files, considers the X-Files the truth behind the supposed conspiracy. Skinner was a main character in the ninth , tenth and eleventh seasons of the show and
306-765: A computer -like screen , computer viruses , video chat , tanning beds , home treadmills , and more. In 1963, the time travel-themed Doctor Who premiered on BBC Television. The original series ran until 1989 and was revived in 2005. It has been extremely popular worldwide and has greatly influenced later TV science fiction. Other programs in the 1960s included The Outer Limits (1963–1965), Lost in Space (1965–1968), and The Prisoner (1967). Star Trek (the original series), created by Gene Roddenberry , premiered in 1966 on NBC Television and ran for three seasons. It combined elements of space opera and Space Western . Only mildly successful at first,
459-491: A recurring character throughout the first eight seasons . Skinner made his first appearance in the first season 1994 episode " Tooms ". At the start of the series, Skinner was dismissive towards Mulder's belief in extraterrestrial and other strange phenomena. However, throughout the series Skinner has moved on to respect and agree with Mulder's idea, which is finally proven in " Requiem ", when he saw an alien spacecraft . Skinner has received critical acclaim and has become
612-432: A sleep disorder clinic, suffering from recurring dreams of an old woman, which may either be a hallucination arising from drug use during Vietnam or a succubus . Skinner's hobbies include jogging and boxing, the latter of which has been shown in his ability to outfight Fox Mulder and X and to defend himself reasonably well when he was attacked by Alex Krycek and his men. Skinner took personal administrative charge of
765-428: A space opera , went on to become a worldwide popular culture phenomenon , and the second-highest-grossing film series of all time. Since the 1980s, science fiction films , along with fantasy , horror , and superhero films, have dominated Hollywood's big-budget productions. Science fiction films often " cross-over " with other genres, including film noir ( Blade Runner - 1982), family film ( E.T.
918-724: A believer and Scully a skeptic. The first seven seasons featured Duchovny and Anderson relatively equally. In the eighth and ninth seasons, Anderson took precedence while Duchovny appeared intermittently. New main characters were introduced: FBI Special Agents John Doggett ( Robert Patrick ) and Monica Reyes ( Annabeth Gish ), among others. Mulder and Scully's immediate superior, Assistant Director Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ), began to appear regularly. The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed in Vancouver , British Columbia , before production eventually moved to Los Angeles , apparently to accommodate Duchovny's schedule. However,
1071-399: A chance to change things. The replacement shows various pictures of Scully's pregnancy. According to executive producer Frank Spotnitz , the sequence also features an "abstract" way of showing Mulder's absence in the eighth season: he falls into an eye. Season nine featured an entirely new sequence. Since Anderson wanted to move on, the sequence featured Reyes and Skinner. Duchovny's return to
1224-434: A fan favorite. Pileggi received the role of Walter Skinner after "two or three" auditions for the role. Beginning with only a small cameo, his character frequently made more appearances during the second season. Skinner is a former Marine and a Vietnam War veteran. In the war he once killed a boy at a very short distance, an experience which has scarred him for life. He is married to Sharon Skinner. He has been treated at
1377-438: A governmental agenda to hide positive proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life . Mulder and Scully's shared adventures initially lead them to develop a close platonic bond, which by series' end develops into a complex romantic relationship. Roughly one third of the series' episodes follow a complicated mythopoeia -driven story arc about a planned alien invasion, whereas the other two-thirds may be described as " monster of
1530-535: A great and influential film. In 1954, Godzilla , directed by Ishirō Honda , began the kaiju subgenre of science fiction film, which feature large creatures of any form, usually attacking a major city or engaging other monsters in battle . 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey , directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the work of Arthur C. Clarke , rose above the mostly B-movie offerings up to that time both in scope and quality, and influenced later science fiction films. That same year, Planet of
1683-419: A group of extraterrestrials that intends to destroy the human species. They are usually represented by Cigarette Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ), a ruthless killer, masterful politician, negotiator, failed novelist, and the series' principal antagonist. As the series goes along, Mulder and Scully learn about evidence of the alien invasion piece by piece. It is revealed that the extraterrestrials plan on using
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#17327984078961836-677: A journey to the Moon and how the Earth 's motion is seen from there. Kepler has been called the "father of science fiction". Following the 17th-century development of the novel as a literary form , Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped define the form of the science fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has argued that Frankenstein was the first work of science fiction. Edgar Allan Poe wrote several stories considered to be science fiction, including " The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall " (1835), which featured
1989-429: A list of the episodes that received alternate taglines is as follows: The pilot premiered on September 10, 1993, and reached 12 million viewers. As the season progressed, ratings began to increase and the season finale garnered 14 million viewers. The first season ranked 105th out of 128 shows during the 1993–94 television season. The series' second season increased in ratings—a trend that would continue for
2142-459: A lot of people do, to have the experience of witnessing a paranormal phenomenon. At the same time I want not to accept it, but to question it. I think those characters and those voices came out of that duality. —Chris Carter on creating the characters of Mulder and Scully. California native Chris Carter was given the opportunity to produce new shows for the Fox network in the early 1990s. Carter
2295-591: A preset sound called "Whistling Joe". After hearing this sound, Carter was "taken aback" and noted it was "going to be good". According to the "Behind the Truth" segment on the first season DVD, Snow created the echo effect on the track by accident. He felt that after several revisions, something still was not right. Carter walked out of the room and Snow put his hand and forearm on his keyboard in frustration. By doing so, he accidentally activated an echo effect setting. The resulting riff pleased Carter; Snow said, "this sound
2448-559: A second location manager would be needed. The show remained in Vancouver for the first five seasons; production then shifted to Los Angeles beginning with the sixth season. Duchovny was unhappy over his geographical separation from his wife, Téa Leoni , although his discontent was popularly attributed to frustration with Vancouver's persistent rain. Anderson also wanted to return to the United States, and Carter relented following
2601-408: A sentient virus, known as the black oil (also known as "Purity"), to infect mankind and turn the population of the world into a slave race. The Syndicate—having made a deal to be spared by the aliens—have been working to develop an alien-human hybrid that will be able to withstand the effects of the black oil. The group has also been secretly working on a vaccine to overcome the black oil; this vaccine
2754-418: A society (on Earth or another planet) that has developed in wholly different ways from our own." There is a tendency among science fiction enthusiasts as their own arbiter in deciding what exactly constitutes science fiction. David Seed says it may be more useful to talk about science fiction as the intersection of other more concrete subgenres. Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying "Science fiction
2907-502: A split-screen image of a seed germinating and a "terror-filled, warped face". The latter was created when Carter found a video operator who was able to create the effect. The sequence was extremely popular and won the show its first Emmy Award, which was for Outstanding Graphic Design and Title Sequences. Producer Paul Rabwin was particularly pleased with the sequence, and felt that it was something that had "never [been] seen on television before". In 2017, James Charisma of Paste ranked
3060-495: A total estimated readership of at least 1 million), making it the world's most popular science fiction periodical . In 1984, William Gibson 's first novel, Neuromancer , helped popularize cyberpunk and the word " cyberspace ", a term he originally coined in his 1982 short story Burning Chrome . In 1986, Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold began her Vorkosigan Saga . 1992's Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson predicted immense social upheaval due to
3213-532: A trip to the Moon . Jules Verne was noted for his attention to detail and scientific accuracy, especially in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870). In 1887, the novel El anacronópete by Spanish author Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau introduced the first time machine . An early French/Belgian science fiction writer was J.-H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940). Rosny's masterpiece
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#17327984078963366-582: A very palatable form... New adventures pictured for us in the scientifiction of today are not at all impossible of realization tomorrow... Many great science stories destined to be of historical interest are still to be written... Posterity will point to them as having blazed a new trail, not only in literature and fiction, but progress as well. In 1928, E. E. "Doc" Smith 's first published work, The Skylark of Space , written in collaboration with Lee Hawkins Garby , appeared in Amazing Stories . It
3519-629: A world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state . It influenced the emergence of dystopia as a literary genre . In 1926, Hugo Gernsback published the first American science fiction magazine , Amazing Stories . In its first issue he wrote: By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive. They supply knowledge... in
3672-476: Is Les Navigateurs de l'Infini ( The Navigators of Infinity ) (1925) in which the word astronaut, "astronautique", was used for the first time. Many critics consider H. G. Wells one of science fiction's most important authors, or even "the Shakespeare of science fiction". His works include The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of
3825-439: Is a skilled criminal profiler , an ardent supernaturalist , and a conspiracy theorist who believes in the existence of the paranormal, whereas Scully is a medical doctor and skeptic who has been assigned to scientifically analyze Mulder's case files. Early in the series, both agents apparently become pawns in a much larger conflict and so come to trust only each other and a few select people. The agents discover what appears to be
3978-466: Is a talented profiler , conspiracy theorist , and an ardent supernaturalist . He is also adamant about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and its presence on Earth. This set of beliefs earns him the nickname "Spooky Mulder" and an assignment to a little-known department that deals with unsolved cases, the X-Files . His belief in the paranormal springs from the claimed abduction of his sister Samantha Mulder by extraterrestrials when Mulder
4131-495: Is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter . The original television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002 on Fox . During its original run, the program spanned nine seasons, with 202 episodes . A short tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival, The X-Files returned for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018. In addition to
4284-550: Is asked to act as Mulder's lawyer, having become a supporter of Mulder's cause. Later, Skinner and Deputy Director Alvin Kersh confront the " Toothpick Man " in Kersh's office, after Agents John Doggett and Monica Reyes discover that the X-Files office had been emptied out. This results in another, apparently permanent, closing of the X-Files division. Six years later, with the X-Files still closed down, Skinner assists Scully in finding Mulder after he goes missing while consulting on
4437-439: Is found guilty and sentenced to death but escapes punishment with the help of the other agents, and he and Scully become fugitives. As the show progressed, key episodes, called parts of the " Mytharc ", were recognized as the "mythology" of the series canon; these episodes carried the extraterrestrial/conspiracy storyline that evolved throughout the series. " Monster of the week "—often abbreviated as "MOTW" or "MoW"—came to denote
4590-635: Is often called the first great space opera . The same year, Philip Francis Nowlan 's original Buck Rogers story, Armageddon 2419 , also appeared in Amazing Stories . This was followed by a Buck Rogers comic strip , the first serious science fiction comic . Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future is a " future history " science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon . A work of unprecedented scale in
4743-512: Is one of the most influential examples of social science fiction , feminist science fiction , and anthropological science fiction . In 1979, Science Fiction World began publication in the People's Republic of China . It dominates the Chinese science fiction magazine market , at one time claiming a circulation of 300,000 copies per issue and an estimated 3–5 readers per copy (giving it
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4896-427: Is partnered with Mulder initially so that she can debunk Mulder's nonconforming theories, often supplying logical, scientific explanations for the cases' apparently unexplainable phenomena. Although she is frequently able to offer scientific alternatives to Mulder's deductions, she is rarely able to refute them completely. Over the course of the series, she becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her own ability to approach
5049-560: Is related to fantasy , horror , and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres . Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Subgenres include hard science fiction , which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction , focusing on social sciences. Other notable subgenres are cyberpunk , which explores the interface between technology and society, and climate fiction , addressing environmental issues. Precedents for science fiction are argued to exist as far back as antiquity, but
5202-514: Is revealed in the latter parts of season five , as well as the 1998 film . Counter to the alien colonization effort, another faction of aliens, the faceless rebels, are working to stop alien colonization. Eventually, in the season six episodes " Two Fathers "/" One Son ", the rebels manage to destroy the Syndicate. The colonists, now without human liaisons, dispatch the " Super Soldiers ": beings that resemble humans, but are biologically alien. In
5355-542: Is what we point to when we say it." Forrest J Ackerman has been credited with first using the term "sci-fi" (analogous to the then-trendy " hi-fi ") in about 1954. The first known use in print was a description of Donovan's Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954. As science fiction entered popular culture , writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech " B-movies " and with low-quality pulp science fiction . By
5508-542: The Golden Age of Science Fiction . Science fiction has been called the "literature of ideas ", and continues to evolve, incorporating diverse voices and themes, influencing not just literature but film, TV, and culture at large. Besides providing entertainment it can also criticize present-day society and explore alternatives, and inspiration a " sense of wonder ". According to Isaac Asimov , "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with
5661-482: The Russian writer and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov presented a view of a future interstellar communist civilization and is considered one of the most important Soviet science fiction novels. In 1959, Robert A. Heinlein 's Starship Troopers marked a departure from his earlier juvenile stories and novels. It is one of the first and most influential examples of military science fiction , and introduced
5814-565: The Vietnam War , Pileggi received several fan letters from Vietnam veterans. Ben-Rawson Jones named the character of Skinner a "Spy cult icon" in 2008, describing him as the "corporate middle man". George Avalos and Michael Liedtke from the Contra Costa Times both reacted positively to the death of Alex Krycek at the hands of Skinner, saying it was the best scene of the eighth season finale, " Existence ". Another review from
5967-528: The X-Files: I Want to Believe film proved successful at the box office, a third installment would be made going back to the TV series' mythology, focusing specifically on the alien invasion and colonization of Earth foretold in the ninth-season finale, due to occur on December 22, 2012 . In an October 2009 interview, David Duchovny likewise said he wanted to do a 2012 X-Files movie, but did not know if he would get
6120-509: The conspirators that tried to control him, for which he frequently pays throughout the series. After Skinner has long broken free of the "Cigarette Smoking Man", he is again forced to take orders, this time from Alex Krycek . He is covertly infected with nanotechnology , which gives Krycek the leverage to control him. Two years later, Skinner is finally able to rid himself of Krycek, when during an attempt by Krycek on Mulder's life, Skinner fatally shoots Krycek. At Mulder's murder trial, Skinner
6273-451: The information revolution . In 2007, Liu Cixin 's novel, The Three-Body Problem , was published in China. It was translated into English by Ken Liu and published by Tor Books in 2014, and won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel , making Liu the first Asian writer to win the award. Emerging themes in late 20th and early 21st century science fiction include environmental issues ,
Walter Skinner - Misplaced Pages Continue
6426-402: The second season , saying the producers felt they needed to take the "show in a different direction" while she was pregnant. So Pileggi felt at the start that he "compensated" for the situation of the show, and after a while the character started to grow on the producers and fellow cast, as Pileggi puts it, "the character just started kind of clicking and working". At the end of the second season,
6579-460: The "pilot episode" and hinting that he had got the job. The theme, " The X-Files ", used more instrumental sections than most dramas. The theme song's famous whistle effect was inspired by the track " How Soon Is Now? " from the US edition of The Smiths ' 1985 album Meat Is Murder . After attempting to craft the theme with different sound effects, Snow used a Proteus 2 rackmount sound module with
6732-400: The 1970s, critics within the field, such as Damon Knight and Terry Carr , were using "sci fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction. Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers." Robert Heinlein found even "science fiction" insufficient for certain types of works in this genre, and suggested
6885-403: The 1997–98 season. The sixth season premiered with " The Beginning ", watched by 20.24 million viewers. The show ended season six with lower numbers than the previous season, beginning a decline that would continue for the show's final three years. The X-Files was nevertheless Fox's highest-rated show that year . The seventh season, originally intended as the show's last, ranked as
7038-478: The 29th most-watched show for the 1999–2000 year, with 14.20 million viewers. This made it, at the time, the lowest-rated year of the show since the third season. The first episode of season eight, "Within", was viewed by 15.87 million viewers. The episode marked an 11% decrease from the seventh season opener, " The Sixth Extinction ". The first part of the ninth season opener, " Nothing Important Happened Today ", only attracted 10.6 million viewers,
7191-559: The Apes (the original), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle , was released to popular and critical acclaim, its vivid depiction of a post-apocalyptic world in which intelligent apes dominate humans . In 1977, George Lucas began the Star Wars film series with the film now identified as " Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope . " The series, often called
7344-583: The Extra-Terrestrial - 1983), war ( Enemy Mine - 1985), comedy ( Spaceballs - 1987, Galaxy Quest - 1999), animation ( WALL-E – 2008, Big Hero 6 – 2014), Western ( Serenity – 2005), action ( Edge of Tomorrow – 2014, The Matrix – 1999), adventure ( Jupiter Ascending – 2015, Interstellar – 2014), mystery ( Minority Report – 2002), thriller ( Ex Machina – 2014), drama ( Melancholia – 2011, Predestination – 2014), and romance ( Eternal Sunshine of
7497-414: The FBI's investigation into the disappearance of a missing agent. Mulder and Skinner are shown to still be on friendly terms, despite Mulder's animosity towards the FBI for the events following the trial. The role of Walter Skinner was played by actor Mitch Pileggi , who had unsuccessfully auditioned for two or three other characters on The X-Files before getting the part. At first, the fact that he
7650-720: The Future was released. The crew intended the movie to be a continuation of the season five finale " The End ", but it was also meant to stand on its own. The season six premiere, "The Beginning", began where the film ended. The film was written by Carter and Spotnitz and directed by series regular Rob Bowman . In addition to Mulder, Scully, Skinner and Cigarette Smoking Man, it featured guest appearances by Martin Landau , Armin Mueller-Stahl and Blythe Danner , who appeared only in
7803-733: The Lambs , which provided the impetus for framing the series around agents from the FBI , in order to provide the characters with a more plausible reason for being involved in each case than Carter believed was present in Kolchak . Carter was determined to keep the relationship between the two leads strictly platonic, basing their interactions on the characters of Emma Peel and John Steed in The Avengers series. The early 1990s series Twin Peaks
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#17327984078967956-636: The Lost Ark , Rashomon , The Thing , The Boys from Brazil , The Silence of the Lambs and JFK as other influences. In addition, episodes written by Darin Morgan often referred to or referenced other films. Duchovny had worked in Los Angeles for three years prior to The X-Files , focusing on feature films. In 1993 his manager Melanie Green gave him the script for the pilot episode of The X-Files . Green and Duchovny were both convinced it
8109-464: The Spotless Mind – 2004, Her – 2013). Science fiction and television have consistently been in a close relationship. Television or television-like technologies frequently appeared in science fiction long before television itself became widely available in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The first known science fiction television program was a thirty-five-minute adapted excerpt of
8262-559: The States and Empires of the Moon (1657) and The States and Empires of the Sun (1662), Margaret Cavendish 's " The Blazing World " (1666), Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels (1726), Ludvig Holberg 's Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741) and Voltaire 's Micromégas (1752). Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Somnium the first science fiction story; it depicts
8415-521: The Worlds (1898). His science fiction imagined alien invasion , biological engineering , invisibility , and time travel . In his non-fiction futurologist works he predicted the advent of airplanes , military tanks , nuclear weapons , satellite television , space travel , and something resembling the World Wide Web . Edgar Rice Burroughs 's A Princess of Mars , published in 1912,
8568-496: The X-Files in the latter half of Season 1 , replacing Section Chief Scott Blevins . Initially, Skinner acts solely as a supervisor to Agent Mulder and Dana Scully 's investigations of the paranormal . In the early episodes, it is unclear whether he is entirely independent of his actions or controlled by men such as the " Cigarette Smoking Man ". Eventually, Skinner begins trusting Mulder and Scully and becomes their ally, saving both of their lives on multiple occasions. He stands up to
8721-447: The actor was only pretending to be grumpy. After successfully auditioning for the role, Pileggi thought he had been lucky that he had not been cast in one of the earlier roles, as he believed he would have appeared in only a single episode and would have missed the opportunity to play the recurring role of Walter Skinner. Pileggi himself thought he got the role because of Gillian Anderson 's (who portrayed Dana Scully ) pregnancy during
8874-475: The actor was only pretending to be grumpy. Pileggi later realized he had been lucky that he had not been cast in one of the earlier roles, as he believed he would have appeared in only a single episode and would have missed the opportunity to play the recurring role. Before the seventh season aired, Duchovny filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox , claiming that Fox had undersold the rights to its own affiliates, thereby costing him huge sums of money. Eventually,
9027-400: The agents' efforts to uncover a government conspiracy that covers up the existence of extraterrestrials and their sinister collaboration with said government. Mysterious men constituting a shadow element within the U.S. government , known as " The Syndicate ", are the major villains in the series; late in the series it is revealed that The Syndicate acts as the only liaison between mankind and
9180-561: The alien invasion foretold within the series, due to occur in December 2012. The film grossed $ 4 million on its opening day in the United States. It opened fourth on the U.S. weekend box office chart, with a gross of $ 10.2 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $ 20,982,478 domestically and an additional $ 47,373,805 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $ 68,369,434. Among 2008 domestic releases, it finished in 114th place. The film's stars both claimed that
9333-458: The cases scientifically. After Mulder's abduction at the hands of aliens in the seventh season finale " Requiem ", Scully becomes a "reluctant believer" who manages to explain the paranormal with science. Various episodes also deal with the relationship between Mulder and Scully, originally platonic, but that later develops romantically. Mulder and Scully are joined by John Doggett ( Robert Patrick ) and Monica Reyes ( Annabeth Gish ) late in
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#17327984078969486-675: The chance. Anderson stated in August 2012 that a third X-Files film is "looking pretty good". As of July 2013, Fox had not approved the movie, although Carter, Spotnitz, Duchovny and Anderson expressed interest. At the New York Comic Con held October 10–13, 2013, Duchovny and Anderson reaffirmed that they and Carter were interested in making a third film, with Anderson saying, "If it takes fan encouragement to get Fox interested in that, then I guess that's what it would be." On January 17, 2015, Fox confirmed that they were looking at
9639-551: The character. While not winning or getting nominated for any of his work alone in The X-Files , Mitch Pileggi and several other cast members were nominated in the category "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" by the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1997, 1998 and 1999 but did not win. Following the broadcast of " One Breath ", in which Skinner recalls serving as a US Marine during
9792-461: The characters, those that dealt with the conspiracy, and the monster-of-the-week sort of stuff". Petrucha cited the latter as the easiest to write. Petrucha saw Scully as a "scientist [...] with real world faith", and that the difference between [Mulder and Scully] is not that Mulder believes and Scully doesn't; it's more a difference in procedure." In this manner, Mulder's viewpoint was often written to be just as valid as Scully's, and Scully's science
9945-465: The concept and returned a few weeks later, whereupon they commissioned the pilot. Carter worked with NYPD Blue producer Daniel Sackheim to further develop the pilot, drawing stylistic inspiration from the 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line and the British television series Prime Suspect . Inspiration also came from Carter's memories of The Twilight Zone as well as from The Silence of
10098-413: The concept of powered armor exoskeletons . The German space opera series Perry Rhodan , written by various authors, started in 1961 with an account of the first Moon landing and has since expanded in space to multiple universes , and in time by billions of years. It has become the most popular science fiction book series of all time. In the 1960s and 1970s, New Wave science fiction
10251-498: The correct color balance. The Lone Gunmen is an American science fiction television series created by Carter and broadcast on Fox and was crafted as a more humorous spin-off of The X-Files . The series starred the eponymous Lone Gunmen and was first broadcast in March 2001, during The X-Files ' s month-long hiatus. Although the debut episode garnered 13.23 million viewers, its ratings began to steadily drop. The program
10404-506: The creation of microrobots and micromachinery , nanotechnology , smartdust , virtual reality , and artificial intelligence (including swarm intelligence ), as well as developing the ideas of "necroevolution" and the creation of artificial worlds. In 1965, Dune by Frank Herbert featured a much more complex and detailed imagined future society than had previously in most science fiction. In 1967 Anne McCaffrey began her Dragonriders of Pern science fantasy series. Two of
10557-472: The devoted aficionado or fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and the lack of a "full satisfactory definition" is because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction." Another definition comes from The Literature Book by DK and is, "scenarios that are at the time of writing technologically impossible, extrapolating from present-day science...[,]...or that deal with some form of speculative science-based conceit, such as
10710-458: The episode was chosen and anecdotes from the set. These clips were later included on the full season DVDs. Wave eight, covering the last part of the fourth season, was the last to be released. No Carter interviews appeared on DVDs for later seasons. Many of the waves had collectible cards for each episode. All nine seasons were released on DVD along with the two films. Seasons 1-4 were in fullscreen and seasons 5 and onward were in widescreen with
10863-439: The episodes, ran from 1959 to 1964. It featured fantasy , suspense , and horror as well as science fiction, with each episode being a complete story. Critics have ranked it as one of the best TV programs of any genre . The animated series The Jetsons , while intended as comedy and only running for one season (1962–1963), predicted many inventions now in common use: flat-screen televisions , newspapers on
11016-517: The fast percussion featured in some tracks was inspired by the track "Prospectors Quartet" from the There Will Be Blood soundtrack. The soundtrack score, The X-Files: I Want to Believe , was released in 2008. The opening sequence was made in 1993 for the first season, and remained unchanged until Duchovny left the show. Carter sought to make the title an "impactful opening" with "supernatural images". These scenes notably include
11169-450: The fifth season. The season ended in May 1998 with "The End", the final episode shot in Vancouver and the final episode with the involvement of many of the original crew members, including director and producer R.W. Goodwin and his wife Sheila Larken, who played Margaret Scully and would later return briefly. With the move to Los Angeles, many changes behind the scenes occurred, as much of
11322-415: The film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 10. The website wrote of the critics' consensus, stating, "The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live [sic] up to The X-Files ' televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in." In several interviews around the release, Carter said that if
11475-408: The film as independent of the series, saying, "We're looking at the movies as stand-alones. They're not necessarily going to have to deal with the mythology." Bowman, who had directed various episodes of The X-Files in the past as well as the 1998 film, expressed an interest in the sequel, but Carter took the job. Spotnitz co-authored the script with Carter. The X-Files: I Want to Believe became
11628-400: The film. In November 2001, Carter decided to pursue a second film adaptation. Production was slated to begin after the ninth season, with a projected release in December 2003. In April 2002, Carter reiterated his desire and the studio's desire to do a sequel film. He planned to write the script over the summer and begin production in spring or summer 2003 for a 2004 release. Carter described
11781-495: The film. It also featured the last appearance of John Neville as the Well-Manicured Man . Jeffrey Spender , Diana Fowley , Alex Krycek and Gibson Praise —characters who had been introduced in the fifth-season finale and/or were integral to the television series—do not appear in the film. Although the film had a strong domestic opening and received mostly positive reviews from critics, attendance dropped sharply after
11934-406: The first film was made available in 2007, which contains all of the special features from the initial releases. The set also includes an additional disc of new bonus features and various collectibles, including a poster for the first film, a comic book, a set of collector cards and a guide to all 202 episodes across all nine seasons and the first film. Due to the fact that the set was released in 2007,
12087-647: The first film, The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score , was released in 1998. For the second film, Snow recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony in May 2008 at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox in Century City . UNKLE recorded a new version of the theme music for the end credits. Some of the unusual sounds were created by a variation of silly putty and dimes tucked into piano strings. Snow commented that
12240-506: The first half of the first season: "Pilot"/"Deep Throat", "Conduit"/"Ice" and "Fallen Angel"/"Eve". Each wave was also available in a boxed set. Unlike later DVD season releases, the tapes did not include every episode from the seasons. Ultimately twelve episodes—approximately half the total number aired—were selected by Carter to represent each season, including nearly all "mythology arc" episodes and selected standalone episodes. Carter briefly introduced each episode with an explanation of why
12393-762: The first science fiction novel . Some of the stories from The Arabian Nights , along with the 10th-century The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Ibn al-Nafis 's 13th-century Theologus Autodidactus , are also argued to contain elements of science fiction. Written during the Scientific Revolution and later the Age of Enlightenment are considered true science-fantasy books. Francis Bacon 's New Atlantis (1627), Johannes Kepler 's Somnium (1634), Athanasius Kircher 's Itinerarium extaticum (1656), Cyrano de Bergerac 's Comical History of
12546-600: The first time that the series has been made available in the high resolution format in North America. In October 2015, it was confirmed that the complete series would be reissued on Blu-ray, and the full set was released on December 8, 2015. The set was criticized for using the wrong fonts for the title sequence and season 8 was affected by color balance issues making the picture appear darker in most episodes (an issue known as "black crush"). These issues led to Fox offering corrected discs and eventually issuing new sets with
12699-415: The first weekend. Although it failed to make a profit during its theatrical release—due in part to its large promotional budget— The X-Files film was more successful internationally. Eventually, the worldwide theatrical box office total reached $ 189 million. The film's production cost and ad budgets were each close to $ 66 million. Unlike in the series, Anderson and Duchovny received equal pay for
12852-409: The future is unwritten." The rights are now owned by Disney . On September 24, 1996, the first "wave" set of The X-Files VHS tapes were released. Wave sets were released covering the first through fourth seasons. Each "wave" was three VHS tapes, each containing two episodes, for a total of six episodes per wave and two waves per season. For example, the home video release of wave one drew from
13005-486: The genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years. In 1937, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction , an event that is sometimes considered the beginning of the Golden Age of Science Fiction , which was characterized by stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress . The "Golden Age" is often said to have ended in 1946, but sometimes
13158-409: The highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air since the eighth-season episode " This Is Not Happening " in 2001, which was watched by 16.9 million viewers. When DVR and streaming are taken into account, "My Struggle" was seen by 21.4 million viewers, scoring a 7.1 Nielsen rating. The season ended with "My Struggle II", which was viewed by 7.60 million viewers. In total, the season
13311-477: The implications of the Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology , nanotechnology , and post-scarcity societies . Recent trends and subgenres include steampunk , biopunk , and mundane science fiction . The first, or at least one of the first, recorded science fiction film is 1902's A Trip to the Moon , directed by French filmmaker Georges Méliès . It
13464-415: The late 1940s and the 1950s are included. In 1942, Isaac Asimov started his Foundation series , which chronicles the rise and fall of galactic empires and introduced psychohistory . The series was later awarded a one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series". Theodore Sturgeon 's More Than Human (1953) explored possible future human evolution . In 1957, Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by
13617-512: The latter parts of season eight , and the whole of season nine , the Super Soldiers manage to replace key individuals in the government, forcing Mulder and Scully to go into hiding. Mulder and Scully came right out of my head. A dichotomy. They are the equal parts of my desire to believe in something and my inability to believe in something. My skepticism and my faith. And the writing of the characters came very easily to me. I want, like
13770-453: The lawsuit was settled, and Duchovny was awarded a settlement of about $ 20 million, but the lawsuit put strain on Duchovny's professional relationships. Neither Carter nor Duchovny was contracted to work on the series beyond the seventh season; however, Fox entered into negotiations near the end of that season in order to bring the two on board for an eighth season. After settling his contract dispute, Duchovny quit full-time participation in
13923-451: The main antagonist. During the early stages of production, Carter founded Ten Thirteen Productions and began to plan for filming the pilot in Los Angeles. However, unable to find suitable locations for many scenes, he decided to "go where the good forests are" and moved production to Vancouver . It was soon realized by the production crew that since so much of the first season would require filming on location, rather than on sound stages,
14076-416: The main factor. At the end of 2002, The X-Files had become the longest-running consecutive science fiction series ever on U.S. broadcast television. This record was later surpassed by Stargate SG-1 in 2007 and Smallville in 2011. The debut episode of the 2016 revival, "My Struggle", first aired on January 24, 2016, and was watched by 16.19 million viewers. In terms of viewers, this made it
14229-456: The modern genre primarily arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries when popular writers began looking to technological progress and speculation. Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein , written in 1818, is often credited as the first true science fiction novel . Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are pivotal figures in the genre's development. In the 20th century, expanded with the introduction of space operas , dystopian literature, pulp magazines , and
14382-448: The next three seasons—and finished 63rd out of 141 shows. These ratings were not spectacular, but the series had attracted enough fans to receive the label "cult hit", particularly by Fox standards. Most importantly, it made great gains among the 18-to-49 age demographic sought by advertisers. During its third year , the series ranked 55th and was viewed by an average of 15.40 million viewers, an increase of almost seven percent over
14535-418: The ninth season, Carter said, "We lost our audience on the first episode. It's like the audience had gone away and I didn't know how to find them. I didn't want to work to get them back because I believed what we are doing deserved to have them back." While news outlets cited declining ratings because of lackluster stories and poor writing, The X-Files production crew blamed September 11 terrorist attacks as
14688-457: The ninth season, Gish became a series regular. Glen Morgan and James Wong 's early influence on The X-Files mythology led to their introduction of popular secondary characters who continued for years in episodes written by others: Scully's father, William ( Don S. Davis ); her mother, Margaret ( Sheila Larken ); and her sister, Melissa ( Melinda McGraw ). The conspiracy-inspired trio The Lone Gunmen were also secondary characters. The trio
14841-478: The novellas included in the first novel, Dragonflight , made McCaffrey the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award . In 1968, Philip K. Dick 's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was published. It is the literary source of the Blade Runner movie franchise . In 1969, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin was set on a planet in which the inhabitants have no fixed gender . It
14994-422: The original The X-Files crew was gone. New production designer Corey Kaplan, editor Lynne Willingham , writer David Amann and director and producer Michael Watkins joined and stayed for several years. Bill Roe became the show's new director of photography and episodes generally had a drier, brighter look due to California's sunshine and climate, as compared with Vancouver's rain, fog and temperate forests. Early in
15147-557: The original versions. Episodic DVDs have also been released in Region 2 , such as " Deadalive ", " Existence ", "Nothing Important Happened Today", " Providence " and "The Truth". Various other episodes were released on DVD and VHS. In 2005, four DVD sets were released containing the main story arc episodes of The X-Files . The four being Volume 1 – Abduction , Volume 2 – Black Oil , Volume 3 – Colonization and Volume 4 – Super Soldiers . A boxed set containing all nine seasons and
15300-408: The part of Scully in 1993. "I couldn't put the script down", she recalled. For the role, the network wanted either a more established actress or one that was "taller, leggier, blonder and breastier" than the 24-year-old Anderson, a theater veteran with minor film experience. After auditions, Carter felt she was the only choice. Carter insisted that Anderson had the kind of "no-nonsense integrity that
15453-614: The play RUR , written by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek , broadcast live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios on 11 February 1938. The first popular science fiction program on American television was the children's adventure serial Captain Video and His Video Rangers , which ran from June 1949 to April 1955. The Twilight Zone (the original series), produced and narrated by Rod Serling , who also wrote or co-wrote most of
15606-418: The possibility of bringing The X-Files back, not as a movie, but as a limited run television season. Fox chairman Dana Walden told reporters that "conversations so far have only been logistical and are in very early stages", and that the series would only go forward if Carter, Anderson, and Duchovny were all on board, and that it was a matter of ensuring all of their timetables are open. On March 24, 2015, it
15759-535: The producers wanted Pileggi to return in future episodes, so he signed a six-year contract with them. In an interview with X-Files fan site host Robin Mayhall, Pileggi commented once that he felt David Duchovny 's (portrayed Fox Mulder ) semi-departure in season eight and the introduction of Robert Patrick 's John Doggett , and the fact that he started to believe in Aliens at the end of season seven , Skinner
15912-468: The reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology ." Robert A. Heinlein wrote that "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method ." American science fiction author and editor Lester del Rey wrote, "Even
16065-533: The remainder of The X-Files episodes. These episodes, forming the majority of the series, dealt with paranormal (and in certain cases, merely criminal) phenomena, including: serial killers (with or without supernatural powers), cryptids , ghosts , mutants, science fiction technology, horror monsters and religious phenomena. Some of the Monster-of-the-Week episodes even featured satiric elements and comedic story lines. The main story arc involves
16218-405: The role of Doggett, but only about ten were seriously considered. Lou Diamond Phillips , Hart Bochner , and Bruce Campbell were among the ten. The producers chose Robert Patrick. Carter believed that the series could continue for another ten years with new leads, and the opening credits were accordingly redesigned in both seasons eight and nine to emphasize the new actors (along with Pileggi, who
16371-485: The role required." For portraying Scully, Anderson won numerous major awards: the Screen Actors Guild Award in 1996 and 1997, an Emmy Award in 1997, and a Golden Globe Award 1997. The character Walter Skinner was played by actor Mitch Pileggi , who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the roles of two or three other characters on The X-Files before getting the part. At first, the fact that he
16524-451: The same site and writers said the season eight episode, " Via Negativa ", said the story "clicked" largely thanks to Skinner along with Alvin Kersh , saying that Skinner "delivered another Mulderesque". In a review of The X-Files feature film, Soren Andersen from The News Tribune said the character was "underused" both in the series and film. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Bruce Fretts said Skinner brought "a real element of danger to
16677-428: The second film based on the series, after 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future . Filming began in December 2007 in Vancouver and finished on March 11, 2008. The film was released in the United States on July 25, 2008. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , Carter said that if I Want to Believe proved successful, he would propose a third movie that would return to the television series' mythology and focus on
16830-427: The second film, which was released in 2008, is not included. Release of The X-Files ' seasons on Blu-ray , restored in high-definition, was rumored to begin in late 2013. The German TV channel ProSieben Maxx began airing first-season episodes reformatted in widescreen and in high-definition on January 20, 2014. On April 23, 2015, Netflix began streaming episodes of The X-Files in high definition, marking
16983-414: The second season, making it Fox's top-rated program in the 18–49-year-old demographic. Although the first three episodes of the fourth season aired on Friday night, the fourth episode " Unruhe " aired on Sunday night. The show remained on Sunday until its end. The season hit a high with its twelfth episode, " Leonard Betts ", which was chosen as the lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI . The episode
17136-589: The series gained popularity through syndication and extraordinary fan interest . It became a very popular and influential franchise with many films , television shows , novels , and other works and products. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) led to six additional live action Star Trek shows: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999), Voyager (1995–2001) , Enterprise (2001–2005), Discovery (2017–2024), Picard (2020–2023), and Strange New Worlds (2022–present), with more in some form of development. The X-Files The X-Files
17289-535: The series itself and lead actors Duchovny and Anderson received multiple awards and nominations , and by its conclusion the show was the longest-running science fiction series in U.S. television history. The series also spawned a franchise that includes Millennium and The Lone Gunmen spin-offs, two theatrical films, and accompanying merchandise . The X-Files follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ). Special Agent Mulder
17442-491: The series later returned to Vancouver with the filming of The X-Files: I Want to Believe as well as the tenth and eleventh seasons. The X-Files was a hit for the Fox network and received largely positive reviews, although its long-term story arc was criticized near the conclusion. Initially considered a cult series, it turned into a pop culture touchstone that tapped into public mistrust of governments and large institutions and embraced conspiracy theories and spirituality. Both
17595-399: The series' lowest-rated season premiere. The original series finale , "The Truth", attracted 13.25 million viewers, the series' lowest rated season finale. The ninth season was the 63rd most-watched show for the 2001–02 season, tying its season two rank. On May 19, 2002, the finale aired and the Fox network confirmed that The X-Files was over. When talking about the beginning of
17748-422: The series, after Mulder is abducted. Doggett replaces him as Scully's partner and helps her search for him, later involving Reyes, of whom Doggett had professional knowledge. The initial run of The X-Files ends when Mulder is secretly subjected to a military tribunal for breaking into the top secret Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center and viewing plans for alien invasion and colonization of Earth . He
17901-455: The show a "shot in the arm," which reinvented the show. As writers Carter and Frank Spotnitz aimed to avoid complicating the storyline of The X-Files: I Want to Believe with superfluous appearances of characters from the television series , Skinner is the only returning character in the movie. He was included in the film's plot only when a fitting opportunity to involve him arose, and Spotnitz and Carter were very happy to write Skinner into
18054-466: The show after the seventh season. This contributed to uncertainties over the likelihood of an eighth season. Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided that Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season and would return in 12 episodes the following year. The producers then announced that a new character, John Doggett, would fill Mulder's role. More than 100 actors auditioned for
18207-612: The show continuing without Anderson. In May 2018, Fox's co-CEO Gary Newman commented that "there are no plans to do another season at the moment." In October 2020, Chris Carter said: "I always thought there would be even more X-Files ." He admitted that continuing the series at this point with Duchovny and Anderson is unlikely, but has plans to continue the franchise with an upcoming animated spinoff. "Being that Gillian has decided to move on with her career, we certainly couldn't do Mulder and Scully again. But that's not to say there isn't another way to do The X-Files . And so right now I think
18360-408: The show for the ninth-season finale, " The Truth " marked the largest number of cast members to be featured in the opening credits, with five. The revival seasons use the series' original opening credits sequence. The sequence ends with the tagline "The Truth Is Out There", which is used for the majority of the episodes. For certain episodes, the tagline was changed to be more thematically-relevant;
18513-436: The show's opening sequence #8 on a list of The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time . The premiere episode of season eight, "Within", revealed the first major change to the opening credits. Along with Patrick, the sequence used new images and updated photos for Duchovny and Anderson, although Duchovny only appears in the opening credits when he appears in an episode. Carter and the production staff saw Duchovny's departure as
18666-431: The show. The season concluded with "My Struggle IV", which was seen by 3.43 million viewers, which was also a decrease from the previous season. "My Struggle IV", which became the de facto finale for the series, was also the show's lowest-rated finale. In total, the season was viewed by an average of 5.34 million viewers, and it ranked as the 91st most-watched television series of the 2018–19 year. According to
18819-434: The show." Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to SF or sci-fi ) is a genre of speculative fiction , which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology , space exploration , time travel , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . It often explores human responses to changes in science and technology. Science fiction
18972-569: The sixth season, the producers took advantage of the new location, setting the show in new parts of the country. For example, Vince Gilligan's "Drive" , about a man subject to an unexplained illness, was a frenetic action episode, unusual for The X-Files largely because it was set in Nevada 's stark desert roads. The "Dreamland" two-part episode was also set in Nevada, this time in Area 51 . The episode
19125-444: The story. The scenes of The X-Files: I Want to Believe that include Skinner were filmed very late in the movie's filming schedule, and the particular scene that acts as the character's introduction in the movie was filmed, for reasons of time, in two different locations. The character received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike and since became a fan's favourite of the show. Mitch Pileggi received acclaim for his portrayal of
19278-413: The streaming aggregator JustWatch , The X-Files was the ninth most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States, during the week ending November 7, 2021. After several successful seasons, Carter wanted to tell the story of the series on a wider scale, which ultimately turned into a feature film. He later explained that the main problem was to create a story that would not require
19431-491: The television series, two feature films have been released: the 1998 film The X-Files and the stand-alone film The X-Files: I Want to Believe , released in 2008, six years after the original television run ended. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ), who investigate the eponymous " X-Files ": marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder
19584-515: The term speculative fiction to be used instead for those that are more "serious" or "thoughtful". Some scholars assert that science fiction had its beginnings in ancient times , when the line between myth and fact was blurred. Written in the 2nd century CE by the satirist Lucian , A True Story contains many themes and tropes characteristic of modern science fiction, including travel to other worlds, extraterrestrial lifeforms , interplanetary warfare, and artificial life . Some consider it
19737-424: The timing of the movie's release, a week after the highly popular Batman film The Dark Knight , negatively affected its success. The film received mixed to negative reviews. Metacritic , which assigns a rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream film critics, reported "mixed or average" reviews, with an average score of 47 based on 33 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 32% of 160 listed film critics gave
19890-420: The top and bottom of the opening credits cropped off. It is not widely known how accurate this is to the original broadcasts. The entire series was re-released on DVD in early 2006, in a "slimmer" package. The first five slim case versions did not come with some bonus materials that were featured in the original fold-out versions. However, seasons six, seven, eight and nine all contained the bonus materials found in
20043-411: The viewer to be familiar with the broadcast series. The movie was filmed in the hiatus between the show's fourth and fifth seasons and re-shoots were conducted during the filming of the show's fifth season. Due to the demands on the actors' schedules, some episodes of the fifth season focused on just one of the two leads. On June 19, 1998, the eponymous The X-Files , also known as The X-Files: Fight
20196-500: The week " episodes that focus on a singular villain, mutant, or monster. The X-Files was inspired by earlier television series featuring elements of suspense, horror, and speculative science fiction, including The Twilight Zone , Night Gallery , Tales from the Darkside , Twin Peaks , and especially Kolchak: The Night Stalker . When creating the main characters, Carter sought to reverse gender stereotypes by making Mulder
20349-492: Was 12. Her abduction drives Mulder throughout most of the series. Because of this, as well as more nebulous desires for vindication and the revelation of truths kept hidden by human authorities, Mulder struggles to maintain objectivity in his investigations. Special Agent Scully is a foil for Mulder in this regard. As a medical doctor and natural skeptic, Scully approaches cases with complete detachment, even when Mulder, despite his considerable training, loses his objectivity. She
20502-445: Was a good script so he auditioned for the lead. Duchovny's audition was "terrific", though he talked rather slowly. While the casting director of the show was very positive toward him, Carter thought that he was not particularly intelligent. He asked Duchovny if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent in "future" episodes. Duchovny, however, turned out to be one of the best-read people that Carter knew. Anderson auditioned for
20655-681: Was a major influence on the show's dark atmosphere and its often surreal blend of drama and irony. Duchovny had appeared as a transgender DEA agent in Twin Peaks and the Mulder character was seen as a parallel to that show's FBI Agent Dale Cooper . The producers and writers cited All the President's Men , Three Days of the Condor , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Raiders of
20808-454: Was announced that The X-Files would return to comic book form with " Season 10 ", now published by IDW . The series, which follows Mulder and Scully after the events of The X-Files: I Want to Believe , was released in June 2013. Joe Harris wrote the series, and Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire provided the artwork. It was later announced that Carter himself would be the executive producer for
20961-530: Was asked back to audition for the recurring role slightly puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not previously been cast in those roles — Chris Carter had been unable to envision Pileggi as any of those characters, due to the fact that the actor had been shaving his head. When the actor had attended the audition for Walter Skinner, he had been in a grumpy mood and had allowed his small amount of hair to grow back. Pileggi's attitude fit well with Walter Skinner's character, causing Carter to assume that
21114-466: Was asked back to audition for the recurring role slightly puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not previously been cast in those roles—Carter had been unable to envision Pileggi as any of those characters, because the actor had been shaving his head. When Pileggi auditioned for Walter Skinner, he had been in a grumpy mood and had allowed his small amount of hair to grow. His attitude fit well with Skinner's character, causing Carter to assume that
21267-630: Was cancelled after thirteen episodes. The last episode was broadcast in June 2001 and ended on a cliffhanger which was partially resolved in a ninth-season episode of The X-Files titled " Jump the Shark ", included in the DVD release of the series. The X-Files was converted into a comic book series published by Topps Comics during the show's third and fourth seasons. The initial comic books were written solely by Stefan Petrucha . According to Petrucha, there were three types of stories: "those that dealt with
21420-406: Was composed by Mark Snow , who got involved with The X-Files through his friendship with executive producer Goodwin. Initially Carter had no candidates. A little over a dozen people were considered, but Goodwin continued to press for Snow, who auditioned around three times with no sign from the production staff as to whether they wanted him. One day, however, Snow's agent called him, talking about
21573-511: Was confirmed the series would return with series creator Chris Carter and lead actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It premiered on January 24, 2016. A year later, on April 20, 2017, Fox officially announced that The X-Files would be returning for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which premiered on January 3, 2018. In January 2018, Gillian Anderson confirmed that season 11 would be her final season of The X-Files . The following month, Carter stated in an interview that he could see
21726-457: Was finally listed as a main character). Doggett's presence did not give the series the ratings boost the network executives were hoping for. The eighth-season episode " This is Not Happening " marked the first appearance of Monica Reyes, played by Gish, who became a main character in season nine. Her character was developed and introduced due to Anderson's possible departure at the end of the eighth season. Although Anderson ultimately stayed through
21879-498: Was given the "opportunity to grow", further stating "new avenues" had been opened. While Pileggi stated that he missed Duchovny's presence in The X-Files , he continued saying that he did not have the opportunity to work with him during the seventh season. He even went as far as saying that there was no "interaction between" the two characters. He was positive to the new storyline conceived during Duchovny's departure, saying it gave
22032-530: Was in the keyboard. And that was it." The second episode, " Deep Throat ", marked Snow's debut as solo composer for an entire episode. The production crew was determined to limit the music in the early episodes. Likewise, the theme song itself first appeared in "Deep Throat". Snow was tasked with composing the score for both The X-Files films. The films marked the first appearance of real orchestral instruments; previous music had been crafted by Snow using digitally sampled instrument sounds. Snow's soundtrack for
22185-404: Was influential on later filmmakers , bringing a different kind of creativity and fantasy . Méliès's innovative editing and special effects techniques were widely imitated and became important elements of the cinematic medium . 1927's Metropolis , directed by Fritz Lang , is the first feature-length science fiction film. Though not well received in its time, it is now considered
22338-415: Was introduced in the first-season episode " E.B.E. " as a way to make Mulder appear more credible. They were originally meant to appear in only that episode, but due to their popularity, they returned in the second-season episode " Blood " and became recurring characters. Cigarette Smoking Man, portrayed by William B. Davis, was initially cast as an extra in the pilot episode. His character, however, grew into
22491-484: Was known for its embrace of a high degree of experimentation, both in form and in content, and a highbrow and self-consciously " literary " or " artistic " sensibility . In 1961, Solaris by Stanisław Lem was published in Poland . The novel dealt with the theme of human limitations as its characters attempted to study a seemingly intelligent ocean on a newly discovered planet . Lem's work anticipated
22644-408: Was largely filmed at "Club Ed", a movie ranch located on the outskirts of Lancaster, California . Although the sixth through ninth seasons were filmed in Los Angeles, the series' second movie, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), was filmed in Vancouver, According to Spotnitz, the film's script was written for the city and surrounding areas. The 2016 revival was also shot there. The music
22797-449: Was often portrayed to be just as convincing as Mulder's more outlandish ideas. Petrucha was eventually fired and various other authors took up the job. Topps published 41 regular issues of The X-Files from 1995–98. A 30 Days of Night / The X-Files cross-over graphic novel was published by WildStorm in 2010. It follows Mulder and Scully to Alaska as they investigate a series of murders that may be linked to vampires. In 2013, it
22950-408: Was the first of his three- decade -long planetary romance series of Barsoom novels , which were set on Mars and featured John Carter as the hero . These novels were predecessors to YA novels , and drew inspiration from European science fiction and American Western novels . In 1924, We by Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin , one of the first dystopian novels, was published. It describes
23103-495: Was tired of the comedies he had been working on for Walt Disney Pictures . A report that said 3.7 million Americans believed they may have been abducted by aliens, the Watergate scandal , and the 1970s horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker all contributed to trigger the idea for The X-Files . He wrote the pilot episode in 1992. Carter's initial pitch for The X-Files was rejected by Fox executives. He fleshed out
23256-468: Was viewed by 29.1 million viewers, the series' highest-rated episode. The fifth season debuted with "Redux I" on November 2, 1997, and was viewed by 27.34 million people, making it the highest-rated non-special broadcast episode of the series. The season ranked as the eleventh-most watched series during the 1997–98 year , with an average of 19.8 million viewers. It was the series' highest-rated season as well as Fox' highest-rated program during
23409-434: Was viewed by an average of 13.6 million viewers; it ranked as the seventh most-watched television series of the 2015–16 year, making it the highest-ranked season of The X-Files to ever air. A few years later, the premiere episode of the eleventh season, "My Struggle III", was watched by 5.15 million viewers. This was a decrease from the previous season's debut; it was also the lowest-rated premiere for any season of
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