The X-Files to be continued in comic books.

[Connor MacLeod]

I always wanted them to bring back Millenium more than X-files. But I fear that is unlikely since we've long passed the Millenium and Lance Henriksen must be really old looking by now (or older looking than he was when he made Millenium.)

[Stark]

I never really 'got' Millenium. It launched with all the reflected fame of the X-files and in AU it basically sank without a trace.

[Connor MacLeod]

I liked it mainly because I've always had a weakness for that 'modern fantasy' idea and the whole demons thing. Don't expect it to make much sense, because I was also something of a fan of 2/3 of the Gabriel Knight series too.

[Havok]

I never even saw Millennium. They did that cross over episode and I was all what the shit is this?

[Connor MacLeod]

It didn't last very long. I suspect mainly because it lacked Mulder and Scully, which was I also suspect one of the main things driving the success of X-files. I have never checked to see how much slash fic their relationship may have driven, so I can't say how well supported that theory is.

[Stark]

I guess it was their attempt to throw the fantasy thing from Xfiles and aliens and OMG TEH CLONZZZ to millineum fever, but at the time I don't remember it being very engaging. Not the way the X-files crew were anyway; I can't imagine Bishop punching out the conspiracy leader of the world.

PS best part about season 3 X files is Skinner is built. :V

[Havok]

Skinner is a sexy dude.

[Stark]

He wears those loose pirate business shirts to hide his MONSTER PECS. I never bought that skinny Krycheck dude being able to take him on. SO UNREALISTIC!!!!11 :V

[Havok]

Like in Heat when Al Pachino beats up Henry fucking Rollins?

[Connor MacLeod]

Millenium wasn't very engaging because the X-files approach was always to lay out the plot in drips and drabs over a godawful huge number of seasons. So even though it went for about 3 seasons, there was never really enough time to establish the setting. What I liked about it was the contrasts mainly.. thre was a sense of normality over things, but it was very superficial and alot more dark and occult shit below the scenes. As I said I've always been a sucker for that (same reason I like Hellsing and shit.) so it appealed to me more than the 'conspiracy theory/alien' shit of Xifles (which got kinda dull once they started revealing stuff and some of the plot got laid out. I think I dropped out of that series about that time.)

[Stark]

Like Hav said the actual ongoing plot stories for Xfiles were pretty bad; especially after season 2. I mean its fine to not know what you're doing, but its not just lame its horribly dated now because of where Chris Carter's interests lay. Super secret doesn't have to mean super stupid. But every time they went to <remote location> and found <wierd shit> involving <bizarre characters> that provoked <outrageous scientific speculation> the show worked again.

Like that video where Jesse Ventura insists that people are dumb as fuck and it was the planet Venus? That was gold.

[Connor MacLeod]

I suspect X-files had some of the same problems B5 did, maybe there was a sort of 'overall' plot going on there, and I've always had the feeling it did, but by the end it feels like the 'arc' was just some frankensteinin patchwork monstrosity, and it really had taken a back seat to what was really driving the show. I mean I'd actually forgotten that they'd tried to build up some sort of 'relationship' between Mulder and Scully - when I watched it the whole intention was that they would always remain platonic. Except that apparently the fandom wished otherwise, and to draw in the ratings the fans owuld get what they wanted.

I bet if Lance henrikson had been David Duchovny the ratings would have been much stronger in Millenium.

[Stark]

My only memory of Millenium was wondering when it would actually show the hook; I think they set up his daughter blah blah, but it wasn't engaging. Maybe Henriksen can't do engaging. Maybe he needed a robot to emote for him.

[Connor MacLeod]

Clearly we just have different standards of acting ability (or quite possibly I just don't care. I mean I do actually listen to some American Voice acting in gundam without wincing. Thats a sign of poor taste isnt it? )

I remember Millenium playing up on a bunch of Bible stuff and prophecy shit and 'turn of the millenium' paranoia in some way. Again I like that kind of 'fantasy' shit so it appeals to me, but I expect not everyone would like it the way I do. That might be a blessing. imagine Lance having some sexual tension with Skinner or something.

[Alkaloid]

It might be because I went into it knowing Scully and Mulder were Scully and Mulder, but I couldn't work out why they weren't fucking each other stupid by halfway through the first season. I hate shipping and most fandom as much as anyone, but at some point keeping two characters out of a relationship feels as forced as pushing them into one against all logic.

The only really good thing about the arc episodes though were that they were the ones with the best of Skinner.

[Connor MacLeod]

Like I said the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully seemed to carry the series quite a bit farthre than any 'dramatic tension' ever could. I suspect if it wasn't for that partiuclar combination of actors X-files would not have done nearly as well as it did, because the plot itself got a bit confusing (and vague) as more details were revealed.

[Stark]

People who wanted them to have a sexual relationship to meet their need to make everything the same in objective fact killed the series. So that's something to be proud of.

[Connor MacLeod]

Its kind of interesting because I suspect the whole 'chemistry' between Mulder and Scully was completely unintentional. I suspect Carter wanted the series to succeed on its whole 'drama/paranoia/supernatural/sci fi' angle, but I suspect it more often than not just confused and distracted people. I'm not sure American TV audiences have remained all that cerebral or were very much even back then, given we've come from shit like 'Quantum Leap' to 'Honey Boo Boo'. Americans want voyeurism, a spectacle to laugh at, and to feel superior too (SWAMP PEOPLE.) or they want something simple and uncomplicated that feeds that sense of superiority (putting a SPECIAL FORCES MURICAN TROOPER in Dual Surival is the only example I could come up with. lol)

I mean X-files wasn't super-intelligent but compared to alot of reality TV its fucking einstein.

[Stark]

We eventually got doe-eyed soap opera, and it sucked shit right out of assholes. Who could have possibly... oh right everyone.

[Connor MacLeod]

Well sexual tension is always a cheap replacement for actual dramatic tension. Thats why reality TV shows are so popular. They feed that quasi-voyeuristic need however they manifest it.

'Soap opera' is also a good term for it since that fits pretty much into that same 'wish fufillment' category. Heck, TV talk shows did too, and they had their bout of popularity.

[Alkaloid]

Well Carter is on record as saying that he never intended for Scully and Mulder to hook up, he just ended up in a position where he didn't think he could not have them do it. Theres even a late episode about a writer who has everything that he writes happen, so he for some reason decides to write a story where Scully has sex with him (because that's not creepy at all) and eventually can't do it because she's already in love with Mulder or some such thing. I sort believe that given the way the show plays out, but I'm sceptical given I know there were at least three network executives a day phoning him and telling him how awesome it would be if Scully and Mulder got together, only not too soon because that kills ratings.

Part of the problem could be that, on balance, I don't think Carter is a very good writer. I'm not overly familiar with his other work, but if we assume he was responsible for the plot of most of the arc episodes and the movies, which were both rambling disjointed messes, then I can't say I was impressed. Even the stuff he should have been making sure kept happening from a show runner position, like Mulder being an unconventional but very good agent that had the respect of a lot of other senior agents, or Scully and her science being right at least some of the time just didn't get done, which led to the quality of the stand alone episodes in later seasons declining. The guy had a decent concept that was kept afloat by some very good stand alone episodes I suspect were mostly the result of staff or guest writers and two good actors with excellent chemistry, and it tanked almost as soon as one of them left the show for good. (Although again, Carter apparently suspects 9/11 changed the national mindset to something that couldn't deal with conspiracy shows, and that was why it tanked so hard in season 9)

[Connor MacLeod]

It might be Carter is more of an 'ideas' sort (that I will leave up for people to debate) but when it comes to anything but purely world building he fucks it up. Plenty of 'writers' I've read are like that (Weber, Jordan, etc. Even Tolkein was like that.) and their stories quite often suffer because they do the writing like they do the world-building.

That said it wouldn't surprise me if the whole 'Mulder and Scully hook up' shit came from someone else in the Fox Network pushing that on Carter. Sexual tension and shit was always a big thing for them in the 90s (except for the Simpsons.)

[NeoGoomba]

Millennium kind of suffered from the same fate as X-Files in the sense that its stand-alone episodes were better than the big(ish) story arc involving "The Millennium Group". The only decent thing about those episodes was John Locke being nice and sinister at the same time.

And Christ, even though I dig him, listening to Bishop's voice for too long is painful. Like a constant belt sander gnawing through a 2x4-sound.

[Darth Klingon]

I prefer the TV version of the X-files. The reason for that is, certain sci-fi like Star Trek or X-files, I'm so used to watching them on the screen, that a book version of them seems strange, and not as entertaining to me.