The X-Files (1993–2002)
"The X Files" (original title)

Two FBI agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.

Creator:

Chris Carter

Stars:

Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Mitch Pileggi

Won 5 Golden Globes. Another 66 wins & 147 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully (201 episodes, 1993-2002)
David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder (175 episodes, 1993-2002)
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner (81 episodes, 1994-2002)

Storyline

This television series follows the adventures and lives of FBI agents investigating those cases that involve the paranormal or previously unsolved (especially by conventional means). FBI Special Agents Mulder, Scully, Doggett and Reyes work to uncover forces within the United States of America government that would violate people's rights, alien creatures and monsters alike that attack, and other mysteries.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi | fbi agent | alien | x files | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

The Truth Is Out There

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

FOX [us]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Also Known As:

The X-Files

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ten Thirteen Productions, 20th Century Fox Television, X-F Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adam Baldwin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bruce Campbell and Dean Cain all auditioned for the role of John Doggett.

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Goofs

Throughout the series when we see a closeup of CGB Spender's/The Smoker's ashtray while he is extinguishing his cigarette, the filters of the "smoked" cigarettes already in the ashtrays are perfectly white, while they should be yellow/brown from the nicotine-smoke. This indicates that they are props, placed there before shooting and not cigarettes smoked by the characters.

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Quotes

Scully: Mulder, toads just fell from the sky!
Mulder: I guess their parachutes didn't open.

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Crazy Credits

As is the norm with many US drama series since the start of the 1990s, episode titles are not displayed on screen. This series, however, was one of the first cases in which episode titles became widely known via fan discussion on the Internet.

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Connections

Referenced in Strange Luck: Lightning Strikes (1996)

User Reviews

Scully? Marry me.

Well I have been putting this off for a while because really I can't figure out how words can really express just how amazing of a show this is. I think I was 11 or 12 when the Pilot first aired. I didn't watch the show then because I was afraid of it after I saw episodes like "The Jersey Devil" and "Born Again" when they first aired, which is really funny because theses are some of the tamest episodes to me now. So unfortunately I wasn't quite ready or prepared for the X-Files during it's running. Later I remember watching TV one Saturday and there was a Chris Carter double feature. First "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" and then the Millennium episode "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense". Both episodes had me in tears laughing at the dark humor.

I later found out that FX had an episode every night at 9 and so every night for an entire summer I got to watch an episode and I quickly became immersed in the mythology of the alien conspiracy. Some of the most memorable episodes for me from this period are "Bad Blood", "The Host", "Darkness Falls", "E.B.E", "Little Green Men", and countless others. I quickly became a fan but I had yet to see every episode and I avoided watching it new airings for fear of spoilers. So I began to buy the seasons on DVD. Over two years I was able to purchase and watch every episode. Interesting to me was the fact that I had already seen most of the episodes through syndication but there were many that I hadn't.

Anyway enough about my history with the show. The elements of the show that I think make it a great are simple. Likable characters, psychopathic bad guys, enough dark comedy mixed in with the horror and drama to give the viewer a healthy balance. The writer's of the show have a wonderful talent of leaving certain stories hanging only to the extent that does not make the viewer feel betrayed but wanting to watch more.

The X-Files defined an era of television and opened the way for other Sci-Fi related shows as well as helping define the crime drama shows that are all over the place now. If the 60's/70's gave us Trekkies for decades on, the 90's gave us the X-Files which will continue to create X-Philes for decades on in suit.