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TV 2016 The good, the bad and The X-Files


I don't care what they think I enjoyed it.

By Chuck Barney | [email protected]
December 13, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Right about now, I am hunkered down in my dank laboratory, sifting through a vast barrage of television programming and making all kinds of assiduous calculations in order to determine my Top 10 shows of the year. (And you thought I just went, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…”).

That list will be presented to you in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I realize such endeavors can’t even begin to reflect what a wild and crazy year it has been in TV.

So with that in mind, let’s rifle through some of the highlights — and lowlights — of 2016:



http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/12/13/the-year-in-tv-the-good-the-bad-and-the-x-files/

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Thank's @Pippy-4,

I read the link you provided So with that in mind, let’s rifle through some of the highlights — and lowlights — of 2016:

— Best comeback: “Gilmore Girls.” Lorelai, Rory and the entire Stars Hollow gang returned in four mostly delightful 90-minute episodes on Netflix, and it was like no time had passed at all. As for those final four words? Perfect.

— Most disappointing comeback: “The X-Files.” Sometimes, the truth hurts. Chris Carter’s highly anticipated six-episode reboot felt clunky and contrived and disjointed. We really wanted to believe but just couldn’t.

I do not disagree with the author's opinion of The X Files Revival as at the time I had missed about the three episodes in the middle on TV and bought the Bluray's to watch the entire six episodes only a few month's back.

I didn't mind the two-part My Struggle book end's but did dislike they did so with a major cliff hanger knowing full well no deals had been made or secured to continue for a green lit season 11 at all and negotiations are allegedly "definite maybe" on going.

The middle stand alone episode's were ok but just that just ok. I figure if they are going to ever resume the show at just six episodes per year drop the weekly episodic formula to begin with and cramming too much between.



Do a straight out six part Mythic-arc story, then following next year do a straight out six part thriller ditto year after that a six part monster of the week story line and resolve them all from start Ep 1 to finish Ep 6.

Like a true mini-series also Gillian Anderson is going to be an on-going headache to the production as she only want's to do a limit of six episodes not an order of 10-13 and lives in UK so doesnt want to be away from home too long or her younger school aged children. So I strongly suggest FOX and Chris Carter and David Duchovny do as many as they like whether that be 13-22 or 10 even and just write Scully in for only six episodes and create more show's around Mulder and new agents and other characters.

Because six episodes per year for just having Gillian alone and appeased isn't really worth the effort X Files need's more show's so write her in sparingly as a re-ocurring guest-star over six shows only and do a full season with carter, Duchovny and others instead but do us a favour and make better casting than the mirror image young folk in a couple of season 10s episodes as Mulder & Scully's dopple ganger's because they weren't so good especially the awful female Einstein agent.




Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there;

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I'd be happy with your suggestion. If David and the others do want to do more then what you suggested is a good idea. I also agree that Einstein was just awful.

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Like a true mini-series also Gillian Anderson is going to be an on-going headache to the production as she only want's to do a limit of six episodes not an order of 10-13 and lives in UK so doesnt want to be away from home too long or her younger school aged children. So I strongly suggest FOX and Chris Carter and David Duchovny do as many as they like whether that be 13-22 or 10 even and just write Scully in for only six episodes and create more show's around Mulder and new agents and other characters.

Because six episodes per year for just having Gillian alone and appeased isn't really worth the effort X Files need's more show's so write her in sparingly as a re-ocurring guest-star over six shows only and do a full season with carter, Duchovny and others instead but do us a favour and make better casting than the mirror image young folk in a couple of season 10s episodes as Mulder & Scully's dopple ganger's because they weren't so good especially the awful female Einstein agent.


You are under the impression that this show works without either Anderson / Scully or Duchovny / Mulder. It does not.

And I disagree entirely with the description of Anderson as an "on-going headache." She's a busy and accomplished actress who likely has no inclination to revisit an old character unless she truly feels inspired to. The same goes for Duchovny.

Think about this: how interested would you be if, 20 years later, it was suggested that you really should go back and work at that same first job you got right out of college. Does that sound challenging to you? Under the right circumstances and payscale you might have some fun with it, but at the end of the day, you've moved on.

If Anderson and Duchovny can make it work with their schedules and their inclinations then great, I'm all for it. But neither should be considered an "ongoing headache" for a project they are under no obligation to undertake.

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You still do not understand after reading up all articles and Comic Con videos on Youtube GA has "Stated" she is happy to reprise Scully just not in any format longer than six episodes of six hours.

It does have everything to do with her home being in UK and her two youngest children being of school age. GA has also said that is why she agreed to do a third season of The Fall because it was a short order of six episodes. GA has said she isnt willing to do any more long grueling full seasons and their work hours same for even a shorter 13 episode she just doesn't want to do that amount of work load or time to it away from her family life and home.

That's why she has been keen for X Files features instead for several years. She has been quite vocal about her wants and needs and that being "No more than Six hrs of six shows" for her.

Clearly CC and Fox are not listening or if they are have realised that is the limit and GA doesn't want bigger salary better this and that, just a limited participation is all.

So the alternative's are obvious do 1 to 2 TV movies per year as self contained story's or a longer season as Ive said that changes the format has Mulder and new crew lead the charge and has Scully pop in and out for just six episodes as a re-occurring guest-star. Simple


I do actually think that could work but the scripts have to be there and have to have good characters and then the casting becomes crucial to success.

GA was missing for some of season 2 when she was heavily pregnant and they introduced Alex Krycheck with Mulder, that worked. It's a bout time X Files began to move on anyway as it isn't realisitc that the FBI twosome should forever run around after the paranormal into their middle age and geriatric years.

GA is only "Busy" because she is taking on more part time jobs with small roles in more projects that fit into her life style for home and family rather than a few long term demanding commitments. As a single working mother I understand her reasoning and choices made to do so for her career and family.

But this is show buisness not show friends and The X Files is a huge property for Fox with a willing and loyal large audience. They should make good on that also and proceed with or with out GA. fans will either get over it or they wont and if ratings fail then they fail. But there always a chance the show could become better and with proper attention and care to writing and casting just like with TVs Cheers when lead lady Shelly Long departed after many years the introduction of her replacement Kirstie Alley was a bouyed success not missing a beat and bringing knew character dynamics and life to the show.

David Duchovny hasn't been as out spoken about Vancouver location or family life at all by comparison and assume isnt as much of an issue.

Introduce more character's, shake it up more with the show as it is twenty plus years later and let Scully go save for six shows per year.





Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there;

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You still do not understand after reading up all articles and Comic Con videos on Youtube GA has "Stated" she is happy to reprise Scully just not in any format longer than six episodes of six hours.


I'm pretty sure that I've forgotten more things about the X-Files, and the entertainment industry in general, then you will ever know, so a patronizing retort such as yours earns you no consideration from me.

Guess what? I don't care if GA wants big parts in small films or small parts in big films or small parts in small films or if she wants to do exclusively webisodes or maybe a VR treatment. I don't care if she wants to be a full-time human rights ambassador or if she decides to just be a full time stay at home mother. It's her career and her choice. Your putting "busy" in quotation marks not only implies that you don't think she's busy at all or that you don't believe she has her own agency to select the kind of projects that work best for her lifestyle.

Newsflash to d-bags like you: GA owes you nothing. She owes Fox nothing. She doesn't owe DD or CC anything.

But this is show buisness not show friends and The X Files is a huge property for Fox with a willing and loyal large audience. They should make good on that also and proceed with or with out GA. fans will either get over it or they wont and if ratings fail then they fail.


If you didn't suffer from complete amnesia you would remember that Fox tried to move on from having both DD and GA on the show and it utterly failed. Unlike you, they don't need to learn that lesson twice.

Your insistence that there is any investment to make in a show that is absent both its leads only demonstrates that your knowledge of film/TV production is limited to what you think should happen rather than what basic economics shows us to be true.

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Ouuch quite the radical local nutcase on this meassage board I see with any one whom disagree's with your most un-enchanted self I see.

Frankly my dear i dont give a damn about GA or her career or even if she returns to X Files. I would rather have a full season 11 with out her than none at all.

So I say cut her a deal for six episodes that picks up and concludes the cliff hanger of season 10 and be done with her already.

You can either tune in or turn off, you also assume too much in regard's to myself as some one who has never worked with in the television industry for my "ignorance" because I have.

Fox only utterly failed moving on with a new show because it wasnt The X Files it was the geeky Lone Gunmen which nobody was interested in seeing aside from their cameo bit's in X Files and frankly the X Files was tired and done by 2002. It had a very good long run.

A hot young new actress with some cred's could easily become the female lead to opposite David Duchovny much like when Kirstie Alley replaced Shelly Long to Ted Danson on Cheers.

Besides recton and reboot's are all the rage these day's I think it's time.


Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there;

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Frankly my dear i dont give a damn about GA or her career or even if she returns to X Files. I would rather have a full season 11 with out her than none at all.


This is why you're not in charge of production investment at Fox. Unfortunately, you can't seem to work out the reason why that might be.

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[deleted]

OMG LOL are you for real ???


Do you mean do I "for real" think you are ignorant about all things production related? By that measure, yes I am. Your every post further cements that impression.

What a pathetic little troll you are, you live for conflict on the message board threads. So terribly sad, now get off that chair, behind your computer screen, go to the front door and go for a good nice long jog to clear the cobwebbs from your distraught and disturbed little mind, meet and greet at least just two people you know or dont and live damn you LIVE ! Life be in it sweetie !!


Just two people? Why so limiting?


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Frankly, I admire your patience, bailey. LMAO

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Words, words, words, soupful, and you still don't seem to understand the most basic thing, namely that no one here, including you, is privy to the negotiations. There are probably many conditions to be met. For all we know, GA may have demanded to see the scripts before signing on, because, as you yourself put it, " this is show buisness not show friends." Whatever. At this point a Scully-lite X-Files makes no sense and even Fox suits understand that.

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Quite often when you post you either show yourself to be entirely ignorant of the entertainment industry or you're just an ass.

...also Gillian Anderson is going to be an on-going headache...


A headache? Really? Because she has a life and work?

Good luck getting people to watch The X-Files without Scully. You and Pippy may be the only viewers.

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Get over yourself as I recognise the fanatical fan follower you are of GA and it's not healthy also you are argumentative, insulting and most belidegerant.

I dont' give a damn how busy or how full GA is with all her little bits and parts as a casual to part time actress in cameos or doing six episode shorts or a few weeks here and there on productions.

I am only interested in a season 11 of The X Files, Ive made suggestions that1 to 2 TV movies per year would probably suit her rather than a 22-13 episode of which she has flat out said she isnt willing to do anymore and that is understandable.

From a buisness point of view though Fox and Chris Carter face the challenge of wanting to make more after all it's called show buisness not show friend.

Why shouldn't they be able to make a full season if they want it will employ many people with families and more jobs is good for the economy, ya know make America great again.

So given this juncture and all the scheduling conflicts ect it does indeed make GA a "headache". So I say give her what she wants "A six episode deal only" as a re-occurring guest-star it's good for her, good for her family & home life, good still for X Files fans and let's her free.

But they must use DD more to lead a new charge of characters around to solve paranormal cases and the challenge is to write better moreinteresting roles that are not carbon copies of Mulder & Scully but new breeds for a new generation.

Im all for it to move on and forward and Ive been a fan watching the show since 1994.

If you dont like it then dont tune it you really are quite an obnoxious wookieebitch ya know that already though dont you? My that must be quite some personality you have.



Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there;

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You've shown yourself to be ignorant and an ass. Learn how to calm down before you post an idiotic rant so you can use proper grammar and keep your letters in the proper order. You look like a child throwing a tantrum.

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I know you want a Season 11 (so do I!), but damn. For the record, I'm not an Anderson fan outside of her work on The X-Files. But even I know that...

Without Anderson, there would've been no (to few) Emmys to my knowledge. Without Anderson, there would've been no cancer arc because very few actresses (or actors, for that matter) could've pulled it off. For that matter, without Anderson, there would've been no S8 or S9 at all, so you might as well have thrown out a Season 10 without a S8 or S9.. And for all any of us know, there might not be any seasons of The X-Files past the first season were it not for Anderson and her stellar acting.

Also, there is no X-Files without Scully, no matter how you slice it.

Taking time for one's personal life and/or work on other projects is not a headache. It's called filling the well. If a person doesn't fill the well creatively-speaking every so often, the well dries up. Now, if she's gonna play Scully, we can't have that, can we?

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@soupful.

Your post and the responses seems to prove how difficult it will always be to satisfy the majority of X-Files fans, with whatever format and cast combination that gets offered: TV-based. Movies. A mixture of both. Etc.

Maybe the answer has already been presented though. When Mulder was abducted, Duchovny only had occasional screen time in occasional episodes, and at the end of the Season 10 cliffhanger, it appears as if Scully is on the verge of being abducted, so...

The answer seems simple.

More X-Files, in whatever format with whatever cast = Good.

No more X-Files at all = Bad.





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And that is the problem of be one the most famous tv show of all time,the expectations will be too high does not matter what you put on screen,i not saying that was good,i enjoyed as a fan but the six episodes ending with probably the bigest cliffhanger of tv in years was a big let down.
For me only the second episode make justice to the series.
Now talking about the list of the top 10 tv shows of 2016,i see the flash at number six,i mean seriously a CW show,if this is nightmare please wake-me up.

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I agree that the cliff hanger we were left with would be awful if we don't have a follow-up

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