Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > TV Talk
Reload this Page >

Revisiting THE X-FILES

Community
Search
TV Talk Talk about Shows on TV

Revisiting THE X-FILES

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-02-10, 07:00 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 568
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Revisiting THE X-FILES

Last time I watched The X-Files I was a kid. It was definitely my favorite show on television. Anyhoo, my girlfriend got me a couple seasons for Christmas and we've been watching them... Amazing show. Only thing, it definitely has it's tacky moments. hehe. A lot different looking from what I remember as a kid. I remember being terrified to where I couldn't sleep.

Anyone else watching these by chance? What are your thoughts? Does it get less tacky as the seasons progress?
Old 01-02-10, 09:14 AM
  #2  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
dhmac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Posts: 7,422
Received 67 Likes on 58 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Which season are you on now?

If it's Season 1, the show definitely gets better after that up until the first movie comes out, then it starts to slide in quality sometime during the season after that.
Old 01-02-10, 12:00 PM
  #3  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Shannon Nutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 18,360
Received 324 Likes on 242 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

I think THE X-FILES really started to get interesting around the time Gillian Anderson had to take maternity leave and they had to write a kidnapping plot so she could miss a few shows. From there until when they moved the show from Vancouver to LA (bad move), it was top-notch.
Old 01-02-10, 12:25 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 486
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

I actually just watched through Season 5 for the first time - I finished a few weeks ago. I'm going to watch the rest of the seasons sometime later this year, but I decided to take a break.

My favorite episodes of the show:
1. Home
2. Bad Blood
3. Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose
4. Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'
5. Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
6. Humbug
7. Beyond the Sea
8. Paper Hearts
9. Small Potatoes
10. War of the Coprophages
Old 01-02-10, 12:30 PM
  #5  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Pillowhead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 2,844
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

About 3 and 1/3 years ago I watched these all for the first time. While the 1st 5 seasons were really good - seasons 6-9 went bad really quickly. Some of these episodes were downright unbearable.

There's a smattering of some quality eps in there, but the good ones are few and far between.

Seasons 2 and 3 were probably my favorite.
Old 01-02-10, 12:36 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Very far away..
Posts: 4,999
Likes: 0
Received 87 Likes on 66 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

All 9 seasons had their share of awful episodes.
Seasons 3-6 are probably my favorite, allthough I like them all. The noticeable drop in quality happened in season 7.
Old 01-02-10, 05:07 PM
  #7  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,835
Received 3 Likes on 2 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Seasons 1 through 5 had an excellent mix of mythology episodes and stand-alone episodes.

Seasons 6 through 9 had pretty much HORRIBLE myth-arc episodes but still had some excellent stand-alone ones.

It would've been ideal had they stopped after season 5 and just made films every few years.

ah well. It's still a damn good show...warts and all.
Old 01-02-10, 06:06 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 568
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Agreed, still a damn good show regardless of the bad seeds...

I'm on Season 1, disc 3 (about episode 9)... Loving every bit of it even though some of the scenes are cheesy. For instance, the episode SPACE in season 1. It is a great concept but the way the episode plays out is silly at times. Is that what Nasa (Houston) control really looks like!? haha. Things like that. Obviously they had a tight budget in the first season but still...

Oh well, this is one of my favorite shows of all time. I'm loving it.
Old 01-02-10, 07:13 PM
  #9  
Needs to Contact Admin about multiple accounts
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Winston Salem, NC
Posts: 2,806
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

For me this is one of those shows I wish I had never seen before just so I could watch them all again without knowing what happened.

Sure there were some bad episodes, and I honestly never cared to much for the mythology episodes, and preferred the more "stranger" ones.

When the Ultimate Collection drops to a decent price, I'll hopefully pick it up to enjoy all over again.
Old 01-02-10, 07:43 PM
  #10  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Bluelitespecial's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 10,588
Received 417 Likes on 302 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

It was my favorite show when it premiered, and watched regularly up until the movie. I wish it had stayed on friday nights instead of moving to Sundays. My favorite memories were watching it on friday night. I just lost interest after the movie came out. I hope Supernatural doesn't suffer the same fate, it should end this season or next, and go out on a high note.
Old 01-02-10, 10:28 PM
  #11  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 568
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Didn't Anderson and Duchoveny (sp?) leave the show after season 6 or something??? Is that when the show started to tank?

Also, did they ever release lone threesome dudes on DVD. remember mulders paranoid buddies. They did a separate series on them but it took a nose dive before the season even ended.
Old 01-02-10, 11:29 PM
  #12  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
Michael Corvin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 62,516
Received 912 Likes on 647 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Raw & Vital:

Duchovny basically left after the seventh season, that's when Robert Patrick(Doggett) was brought in. Duchovny was in a handful of episodes in season 8 but totally absent for season 9 except for the finale, IIRC.

Gillian Anderson was a regular up until the end, although she played a smaller role in season 9 leaving the leads to Doggett and Reyes.

The Lone Gunmen is on DVD.
Old 01-02-10, 11:32 PM
  #13  
DVD Talk God
 
DJariya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: La Palma, CA
Posts: 78,922
Received 3,634 Likes on 2,607 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Originally Posted by Raw_and_Vital
Didn't Anderson and Duchoveny (sp?) leave the show after season 6 or something??? Is that when the show started to tank?

Also, did they ever release lone threesome dudes on DVD. remember mulders paranoid buddies. They did a separate series on them but it took a nose dive before the season even ended.
Gillian Anderson stayed through the entire run. Duchovny left after season 7, but made sporadic guest spots in season 8-9, but more in the later part of season 9.

Robert Patrick was hired as a full-time series regular for season 8, essentially as Duchovny's replacement. Annabeth Gish later joined the show as a series regular. I believe Gish was brought on to give Anderson a break from the show every now and then.
Old 01-02-10, 11:33 PM
  #14  
DVD Talk God
 
DJariya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: La Palma, CA
Posts: 78,922
Received 3,634 Likes on 2,607 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Sorry Michael I posted moments after you.
Old 01-02-10, 11:36 PM
  #15  
DVD Talk God
 
DJariya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: La Palma, CA
Posts: 78,922
Received 3,634 Likes on 2,607 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

I didn't really care for Monica Reyes, but I thought Doggett was a solid replacement for Mulder.
Old 01-02-10, 11:48 PM
  #16  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
Michael Corvin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 62,516
Received 912 Likes on 647 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Agreed. Doggett was an excellent character, it was the scripts that were lacking. It's also a testament to Robert Patrick that he was able to come in and fit right in. Reyes was an all around terrible character, it didn't matter if she was in one of those rare gems from the final two seasons, she was automatically the low point.
Old 01-03-10, 04:02 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Josh-da-man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Bible Belt
Posts: 43,910
Received 2,725 Likes on 1,881 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Yeah, season seven is where they really lost the game:

Spoiler:
Lame Millennium send-off (zombies?), Samantha Mulder turned into starlight by faeries, (WTF dude!), and too many 'funny' episodes. Though I did sort of like the magician episode and the Cops episode, they were pretty much just phoning it in at that point, like they were waiting for Duchovney to leave or Fox to cancel it.
Old 01-03-10, 04:09 PM
  #18  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Josh-da-man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: The Bible Belt
Posts: 43,910
Received 2,725 Likes on 1,881 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
Agreed. Doggett was an excellent character, it was the scripts that were lacking. It's also a testament to Robert Patrick that he was able to come in and fit right in.
Yeah, Doggett was a good character, and Patrick played him well. The problem was that he was always overshadowed by Mulder, and the show never really went anywhere in seasons 8 and 9. They should have closed out the Mulder/Scully story completely by the seventh season or the end of the eighth season at the very latest, and then given Doggett and Reyes their own conspiracy to deal with. That particular alien abduction/syndicate/Cancer Man thing was Mulder's crusade.

But instead, they
Spoiler:
grafted Doggett's "super soldier" arc onto the alien invasion arc, never properly dealt with Mulder's conspiracy storyline, and ultimately ended the series with a big whimper.
Old 01-04-10, 12:13 AM
  #19  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
davidh777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Posts: 52,611
Received 1,015 Likes on 839 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Big fan here I videotaped and rewatched the episodes during broadcast, bought the three-VHS collections, have all the season DVD sets, and saw both movies in theaters (and rewatched the second one). And I watch Fringe.

If they'd had podcasts and such back in the day, I would have done those too.
Old 01-04-10, 07:54 PM
  #20  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Portland OR
Posts: 1,747
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Originally Posted by Raw_and_Vital
Also, did they ever release lone threesome dudes on DVD. remember mulders paranoid buddies. They did a separate series on them but it took a nose dive before the season even ended.
The Lone Gunmen. Came out on DVD years ago. Looks like 3/29/2005.
Old 01-04-10, 08:46 PM
  #21  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,023
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

I don't mind the last 4 seasons, but that series finale just sucks.
Old 01-05-10, 03:26 AM
  #22  
DVD Talk God
 
DJariya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: La Palma, CA
Posts: 78,922
Received 3,634 Likes on 2,607 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Was Chris Carter the showrunner for the entire 9 year run?

I seem to recall that he left temporarily to be the showrunner for season 1 of Millenium and then came back.
Old 01-05-10, 11:58 AM
  #23  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
davidh777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Posts: 52,611
Received 1,015 Likes on 839 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Originally Posted by davidh777
Big fan here I videotaped and rewatched the episodes during broadcast, bought the three-VHS collections, have all the season DVD sets, and saw both movies in theaters (and rewatched the second one). And I watch Fringe.

If they'd had podcasts and such back in the day, I would have done those too.
Having said that, I don't think I own either movie.
Old 01-05-10, 12:19 PM
  #24  
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
 
Decker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Vegas, Baby!
Posts: 75,751
Received 6,178 Likes on 4,207 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

I sort of lost interest in the final couple of seasons. I think this show did a huge favor to Lost by being a cautionary tale of how to NOT to end a series. They got too caught up in extending and expanding on the mythology and made it so complicated with the bees, the black oil and the super-soldiers that I just stopped caring after a while.
I think the folks on Lost saw how X-Files spun out of control with no end in sight and that really helped them sharpen up and refocus their story-telling.
Old 01-05-10, 12:20 PM
  #25  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Puyallup
Posts: 16,430
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 4 Posts
Re: Revisiting THE X-FILES

Originally Posted by Raw_and_Vital
Last time I watched The X-Files I was a kid. It was definitely my favorite show on television. Anyhoo, my girlfriend got me a couple seasons for Christmas and we've been watching them... Amazing show. Only thing, it definitely has it's tacky moments. hehe. A lot different looking from what I remember as a kid. I remember being terrified to where I couldn't sleep.

Anyone else watching these by chance? What are your thoughts? Does it get less tacky as the seasons progress?
The series being 'tacky' is one of its charms. The series starts to go down hill in quality I would starting by Season 5.

But there are still quality gems littered the last few seasons, but I am a completist, so the wife and I are watching every episode, good and bad from the start of the 1st season. We just started Season 5.


Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.