At the
end of season six of The X-Files - which has just
finished its run on Sky One - Mulder has gone mad,
Scully has discovered a spaceship, and FBI Assistant
Director Skinner had seemingly teamed up with the
badguys. Just what is going to happen in the next
season? It may be getting a bit
"long-in-the-truth", and bogged down in its
own stew of continuity, but Chris Carter’s gloomy
conspiracy show continues to surprise and shock.
Let’s
face it, one bad episode of The X-Files is twice as good
as a decent episode of Stargate SG-1, so those people
complaining that the series may have lots its way in
recent seasons should shut their fat mouths. To mark the
traditional summer hiatus until Season Seven gets
underway, use your eyes to read Bubblegun’s 20 Things
You Genuinely Didn’t Know About The X-Files... There
it is below, look:
1.
The X-Files is shown in 60 countries worldwide. The
pilot episode was first broadcast in the USA on 10th
September, 1993, at 8pm on a Friday night. It began with
a message informing viewers that the events depicted
therein were based upon a true story. Strictly speaking,
this was a lie.
2.
After its first season, The X-Files was ranked 102 out
of 118 shows. By the time its second season had
finished, it had moved up to 64th place, and was voted
Best TV Show of 1994 by Entertainment Weekly.
3.
During
its third season, David Duchovney and Gillian Anderson
received Golden Globe nominations for best actor and
actress respectively. They received nominations again
the following year - and won. The X-Files also won a
Golden Globe for best drama show. Further awards would
follow.
4.
The X-Files’ creator Chris Carter was originally a
freelance journalist. In 1985 he went to work for
Disney, writing several made-for-TV movies, and a number
of sit-coms, including The Nanny. Which was awful.
5.
David Duchovny originally studied to be a teacher, but
had a pipe dream to become a screenwriter. While at Yale
University, he studied acting part-time to better
understand the process. His big break came when he
landed a small role in big-haired 1988 movie comedy
Working Girl.
6.
Gillian Anderson’s birthday on August 9th is only two
days after David Duchovny’s birthday.
7.
Gillian Anderson was just 24 when she landed the role of
Scully, which required her to play somebody six years
her senior.
8.
In
real life, Anderson’s and Duchovney’s beliefs are
reverse: she believes in UFOs, while he is septic (a
sceptic).
9.
In
the original proposals for the series, Scully had a
regular boyfriend called "Ethan Minette".
10.
In
several episodes throughout the series, clocks can be
seen reading "11:21". Chris Carter’s
wife’s birthday is on the 21st of November.
11.
The second season episode Red Museum was originally
planned as a cross-network crossover with the CBS show
Picket Fences. Though both shows’ production teams
were keen on the idea, it was ultimately vetoed by
wankered network officials.
12.
David
Duchovney appeared on a special celebrity edition of the
quiz show Jeopardy. He lost when he failed to answer a
question about Breakfast At Tiffany’s. During the
episode War Of The Cophrages, Scully can be seen reading
the Breakfast At Tiffany’s novel. In the next episode,
Syzyzgy, Grover Cleveland Alexander High School is
another reference to a botched answer from Duchovney.
13.
When
Duchovney appeared on the Conan O’Brien show, he make
a remark that Vancouver - where the first five seasons
of The X-Files were filmed - received "400 inches
of rain a day". Scully makes a similar remark about
the town in the episode Schizogeny, to which Mulder
replies "That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t
you think?". He so funneee.
14.
There is a third season episode entitled Piper Maru.
Gillian Anderson’s daughter is called Piper Maru.
Piper appeared briefly in a later episode peering from a
bus window as it sped past Assistant Director Skinner.
15.
William B. Davis, who plays arch-villain The Cigarette
Smoking Man, is one of Canada’s top water-skiers among
his age bracket. In the episode Talitha Cumi, the CSM
remarks on his own proficiency as a water-skier.
16.
The
fifth season episode Chinga was written by horrow
maestro Stephen King. It’s set in King’s home town
of Maine - also the setting of many of his novels.
Evidently, King has never been anywhere else.
17.
After
Anderson and Duchovney appeared in The Simpsons, The
X-Files repayed the compliment with the opening episode
of the sixth season, which featured a sleeping nuclear
power plant worker named "Homer".
18.
Gillian
Anderson also lent her voice the the computer-generated
kids’ show ReBoot, in which she played "Data
Scully". Her assistant was named "Fax
Modem".
19.
Chris Carter had a childhood friend called
"Fox". His mother’s maiden name is
"Mulder".
20.
Scully’s
name is a tribute to Carter’s baseball hero Vin
Scully.
21.
Carter
and Mulder share a birthday: the 13th of October.
22.
Ten
Thirteen is also the name of Chris Carter’s production
company.
23.
The
Ten Thirteen title card at the end of each episode is
accompanied by the voice of Nathan Couturier saying the
words "I made this", Nathan Couturier is the
son of the show’s supervising sound editor, Thierry
Couturier.
24.
In the Barenaked Ladies song One Week, there is a line
which reads "Watching X-Files with no lights
on/We’re dans la maison/I hope the Smoking Man’s in
this one."
25.
Welsh popsters Catatonia also released a single with an
X-Files reference. Entitled Mulder And Scully, the
chorus of the song went: "Theengs are getting
stray-enge/I’m star-ting to worr-eee/This could beee a
ca-ayse for Muld-eeerrr and Scalleeee."
**
STOP PRESS - EXCLUSIVE
SEASON 7 SCRIPT EXTRACT **
While
compiling this feature, we were given a copy of the
entire script for the first episode of the new X-Files
season. While we wouldn’t want to give away too much,
we’re happy to present here an "X-clusive
X-tract". As you will see, fans are in for a few
surprises when the show hits the air later this year...
INT.
ALIEN SPACECRAFT. DAY
MULDER
paces the floor of the bare, metal room. A door opens in
a far wall, filling the room with a bright light. SCULLY
is wheeled in on a medical gurney. She is semi-concious.
MULDER
Scully?
Scully, are you OK?
SCULLY
They did
things to me, Mulder.
MULDER
What kind
of things?
SCULLY
Terrible
things...
MULDER
You want
to be specific here? I mean...
He
sniggers.
Did they
use anal probes?
SCULLY
What?
MULDER
Y’know
- did they probe your anus?
Mulder
giggles.
SCULLY
Uranus?
MULDER
Your. A.
Nus. Anus. Anal probes.
SCULLY
I don’t
think so... I don’t remember.
MULDER
You will
tell me if you do remember, won’t you?
SCULLY
Why?
MULDER
I...
well... y’know. Heh.
SCULLY
I don't
have time for this. I need to rest.
MULDER
Ok. Sure.
SCULLY
So
very... tired...
Scully
closes her eyes for a moment, and appears to drift into
sleep.
MULDER
Does your
anus feel bruised in any way?
SCULLY
(snapping
awake)
I don’t
want to talk about my anus right now.
MULDER
I respect
that, but does it feel bruised? Does it feel like it
might have been probed?
SCULLY
What is
it with you? Why do you care if my anus has been probed
or not?
MULDER
No
reason. Just making conversation...
SCULLY
Talk
about something else.
MULDER
‘Cause,
well, it’s just, I know what it feels like to be
anally probed.
SCULLY
Oh? How
so?
MULDER
I went to
an all-boys boarding school. There was this one kid we
used to call Brownfinger, who would...
SCULLY
(interrupting)
I’m not
interested, Mulder!
MULDER
...Who
would come up behind you in the shower, and say
"Hey - I just dropped my soap between your legs.
Would you be so kind as to bend down and pick it up for
me?". And then he’d...
SCULLY
Enough!
Mulder
is silenced. There is no sound in the room for some
time, save for the distant hum of the spacecraft’s
engines. Eventually...
MULDER
Scully?
SCULLY
What?
MULDER
I just
dropped my soap between your legs, Scully.
Would you be so kind as to bend down and pick it
up for me?
SCULLY
This
better not be some kind of trick, Mulder...
