In
the fall of 1993, the fledgling Fox network was still struggling for
respectability . It had broken ground for television with subversive comedies
such as The Simpsons, Married: With
Children and In Living Color, and
had scored high with the youth market with Aaron Spelling's Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. But even though it could
no longer be discounted, it was still considered something of a joke about
executives and critics. Fox was still plumbing the bushes of writers and
directors, looking for a series that would grant them that respect.
However, the series that would be a
major source in getting it, was not one they were expecting much of. The
creation of a then unknown writer named Chris Carter, it was conceived as
something of a knock off. Carter himself considered it a homage to ,Kolchak: The Night Stalker, a seventies
series that had barely lasted a season. It was to deal with science fiction,
with a particular look at UFO stories in particular--- neither of which was
considered more than a fringe group at a time. Set in the FBI, the male lead
was barely known outside of those few people who had stuck with Twin Peaks through
it's run two years earlier. It's female lead was even less well known,
and the executives had pushed for Carter to cast someone sexier.
The Pilot of the series--- called The X-Files--- premiered September 10, 1993--- 9PM on Friday. Almost nobody noticed, and Fox
certainly wasn't promoting it to be a hit--- The Adventures of Brisco County
How could any of us have known that
The X-Files would become one of the
most iconic series in TV history, with Mulder and Scully becoming two of the
most famous characters the medium has ever developed? I certainly didn't. I was
barely fourteen at the time, and didn't begin watching the series regularly
until the second season was almost over. Even then, I didn't given much
notice--- when the third season aired, I still watched erratically, therefore
ignoring 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose'. I don't think I became seriously
invested in the series until the third season aired 'Nisei', part of what would
become known to millions of unhappy fans as 'the mythology', something that
eventually most fans would come to feel was the weakest part of the series. But
The X-Files was seminal for me when
it came to watching television. Before then, I had mainly watched silly sitcoms
and animated cartoons, with an occasional black-and-white comedy series thrown
in. After watching the series, I became awakened to what network television was
truly capable of, to what TV could do when all the cylinders were firing. More
to the point, following it eventually led me to the Internet in the first
place, and helped eventually lead me to TV criticism as a possible career. In
other words, you wouldn't be reading this article if it weren't for The X-Files.
In all fairness, I have already
reviewed the X-Files on the Internet before on several sites pertaining to the
show between 2002 and 2004. But in the course of the time, both the websites
and the writing have lost to history and to myself. So I am taking this as an
opportunity to follow up on a series that, in the past few years, has disappeared
from the airwaves. More to the point, in the nearly two decades that have
passed since its first airing, perhaps I will be able with fresh eyes to see
things I missed when I was young and foolish (and obsessed, but we'll get to
that). Maybe I'll be able to better appreciate moments that I missed when I was
only watching casually. Maybe I'll be able to appreciate the last two seasons
(but I'm not holding my breath).
So stay tuned to this site for a
look at one of the greatest series in TV history in all its glory (and some of
its lameness).
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