MovieChat Forums > Millennium (1996) Discussion > Could Carter Launch Millennium Today?

Could Carter Launch Millennium Today?

posted 14 years ago by Alan Smithee
14 replies | jump to latest

Gather 'round, children, and hear the tale (if you don't know it already) of the birth of Millennium.

Once upon a time in the mid 1990's a man named Chris Carter had a leetle show called The X-Files.

Mr. Carter then had an idea. He'd seen a movie by David Fincher called Se7en and decided that he wanted to make a t.v. show like that.

And that is what Mr. Carter pitched to the studio execs at Fox... he wanted to make a show like Se7en... starring Lance Henriksen. Fox was so pleased with the gold mine that was the X-Files they would not dream of denying Mr. Carter anything, so with little more than the idea (and Lance Henriksen), Millennium was created.

Even among its stalwart fans, the disagreements continue to this day over which episodes and seasons of Millennium were "the best." It could be argued that the main reason that the show changed so much over its short life is that no-one ever really had a firm idea on where the show was going from the start.

As weird an experiment as Millennium turned out to be, there is something to be said for its open-ended-plotline-could-and-does-go-anywhere structure. Everything has become formulaic in dramas, and now they just spin-off other dramas from established ones with the only difference being their setting. The protagonists in most dramas tend to be happily stuck in whatever genre they are in. The central characters live in fairly constant universes where even if somebody dies or leaves the location the show is set in it is all taken within the context of the show's reality. Modern dramas are like nothing so much as soap operas with high production values- whatever changes come along to the cast the central core of the show has to remain as it is the brand image of the show that counts.

So here's my thing:

If Carter was doing X-Files today and pitched Millennium to the Fox execs., would they let him do it as an independent project or would they make him brand it as X-Files: Seattle and include some minor character(s) from the parent show in the cast?

What would Millennium have been like if it was X-Files: Seattle and loaded down with crossovers from the X-Files? Would it still have been as good? If the show got locked into a strict formula would it have lasted for ten seasons or more... and would it have still been worth watching?

I doubt that in the scenario outlined above season 2 could ever have happened the way it did, but for those of you like me who adore season 2 would it have been worth sacrificing for three or more seasons that were like the first part of season 1?

[–] mwhite182 14 years ago

^No, it would not have been as good if it were X-Files:Seattle. The X-Files and Millennium are two very distict shows that were both very different from any other TV shows at the time. And the two shows were very different from each other. The X-Files dealt with unexplained cases and had a huge government conspiracy story arc throughout it's run. If Millennium had gone and done the same thing it would have probably failed during its first season.

Millennium was about real crimes and, more importantly, about how evil people really can be. The crimes investigated in Millennium were not unexplainable and that was part of the draw, at least it was to me. Now while there were some episodes of The X-Files that dealt with similar themes (the episode Irresistable was a lot like season 1 of Millennium) it was primarily focused on the paranormal. Even in the 2nd and 3rd seasons of Millennium when more supernatural forces came into play, the show maintained a consistant difference from The X-Files.

Basically if the shows were made to be crossovers, such as the CSI's I don't think that Millennium would have even made it to 3 seasons. But if they had made later seasons to be the same as season 1, I do think the show would have lasted much longer. I'm pretty sure the main reason that the show was cancelled was because so many people that tuned in for the first season were completely thrown off by the second season. And after that no one wanted to watch the third season (I know I never did until recently).

But to answer the main question of this thread: could Carter launch Millennium today? I think the answer is yes. I believe this show was very much ahead of its time and that was another factor in it's downfall, people weren't ready for it. But I think nowadays it would do much better. Considering all the procedural shows (such as CSI and Criminal Minds) and shows based around a core mythology (Lost, Fringe) I really believe that Millennium could be launched today.

Guns don't kill people. I kill people... With guns.

[–] laurasmileerb 14 years ago

Absolutely, this show still has relevance, even more so now that we have passed over into the next millenium......it's only the beginning of the next 1000 years, all sorts of elements could come into play.

It's just that right now, the country in general is in such a *beep* mood, I think escape is more the mode of the day (i.e. the success of Glee, Dancing With the Stars, etc....feelgood shows) BUT, there will always be the darkside and they will always have that audience, no matter what. To try and go for the commercial success seems redundant, the whole idea behind Millenium is not mainstream, and to try and make it mainstream would be to do the concept harm. Why can't Chris
Carter just be happy with a smaller, dedicated audience? Why does everything have to be on a MEGA scale? I think some things are better left indy, edgy and not corporate cloned. Just MHO.
"Down and out but always dreamin', gonna dream the love to grow..." Daryl Hall

[–] The_Usurper_Robb_Stark 13 years ago

The show as it was probably wouldn't be picked up. People need a show that is going somewhere with a solid story arc. Millennium was a cross between shows like Criminal Minds and Supernatural, and that was the problem. Who was Frank Black? What was his purpose? Why should I care about him? The OP said it best in that the network just let Chris Carter have full free reign over yhe show because of the success of The X-Files, and he never really dedicated asuch time to it as he should have.

[–] DingusStudley 13 years ago

Don't know what horrendous dramas you're watching. The good ones, the ones worth tuning in for, are nothing like you describe.

Anyways, i think carter still would have enough clout that he could get a show like this on tv. The whole "millennium = end of the world" thing would have to be altered though, as the year 2000 came and went with no problem.

Not sure why you're asking about a millennium and x files combination show haha, what does that have to do with the topic at hand. Anyways, it wouldn't work. Millennium started to suffer BIG TIME when it attempted a large, conspiracy storyline involving a mysterious, shadowy organization and whatnot. Plus, the episode of x files that features black and millennium is a disgrace to this incredible tv show.

There's no way the show could have gone 10 seasons, not with the end of the world aspect to it. It ALWAYS felt like it was building up to something, the tension was just too great in practicially every episode. You just KNEW something bad would happen.

It definitely would have been worth it to get more seasons similar to the glorious and brilliant season 1. As long as they could come up with enough episode plots, it would have been possible too, as one of the great things about season 1 is how it leaves damn near everything so open. It's not like season 2 and FAR worse, season 3, both of which start telling the viewer exactly what the score is, exactly what is going on, removing the incredible mystique from the show and its portrayal of evil.

[–] Sly_Vaping_Guy 12 years ago

Well, ultimatley they did make Millennium part of the X-File Universe but that was pretty much after the show ended.

I loved Millennium but the major flaw in the show was that it could have no life beyond 2000 (or 2001, depending on your view of the millennium). I know they briefly touched on another date but the show was firmly set in the fear and anxiety about the coming of 2000.

Likewise, X-Files pretty much sealed it's own doom with the whole "2012" crap. Everybod seems to have hope for a 3rd movie but I don't at this point. It's far too late to make a movie and have it out before next December.

Every Girl With A Henna Tattoo And A Spice Rack Thinks She's A Sister To The Dark Ones.

[–] swinggold 12 years ago

No. I think the premise of the show has been overdone in movies and other tv shows and not even a reboot would work. It would have to be a totally different show. That being said, I'd love to see how Jordan Black grows up to follow in her father's shows and become a profiler or a psychic who helps law enforcement. It would be interesting to see a female version of Frank Black but I think unlike her father, she should be an upbeat and positive woman trying to fight her "gift" continuously being dragged into investigations. And there, folks is that premise that we've seen 100 x already (Medium, Profiler, The Mentalist). And there's already a dozen or so shows using The X-FIles format (Supernatural, Fringe, etc) So no need to go there again. (Of course, ironically, none of these other shows would even exist today if not for The X-FIles and MillenniuM). It has to be something totally different and unrelated. No mixing of supernatural and crime drama.

[–] mcgill_j 11 years ago

Actually yes.. I think people AFTER the turn of the Millennium have actually amped up the crazy.. But could Fox do it NOW and today in 2013? Sadly no.

While at the time of its launch I thought the show was AMAZING and season 1 easily supplanted ANY season of X-Files to me.. it really had a hard time keeping that footing in subsequent seasons, sadly I was still OTA at that time.. so I probably missed alot of episodes, and don't think I've ever gone back to watch ALL of the episodes, I think I've seen seasons 1-2 even though I own all 3. It's actually on my list to refinish the series, which is brought me here.

But beyond that the problem is that Millennium in itself was a cleavely packaged but still kind of a knock off in form of the Will Graham archetype and actually would have worked as an almost spiritual sequel to the original "Manhunter" (later itself remade as "Red Dragon", the original title of the novel).

I think at the time it really was WAY WAY ahead of its time in gore on mainstream network television (back when FOX was still one to really press the envelope and be edgy) which every other network has really picked up.

Sadly in the last 7 or so years starting with ShoTime's "Dexter" tv has been piling up with the serial killer kind og genre.. from Dexter, this season bowed 2 more Fox's "The Following", NBC's (ironically) offshoot/prequel re-imaginging of the Will Graham character in "Hannibal", as well as A&E re-imaginging the iconic Norman Bates for its "Bates Motel" as well as the CW's now already cancelled "Cult" (I haven't seen, I kind of nodded off in the pilot.. but it seemed to fit the category).

Sadly right now TV has kind of a glut of the serial killer type shows so a relaunch now would be a problematic notion at its best.

[–] DingusStudley 11 years ago

"I think at the time it really was WAY WAY ahead of its time in gore on mainstream network television (back when FOX was still one to really press the envelope and be edgy) which every other network has really picked up.

Sadly in the last 7 or so years starting with ShoTime's "Dexter" tv has been piling up with the serial killer kind og genre"

I still don't think anything has come out since that's as creepy and scary as Millennium, especially when we're talking season 1. Sure, there may be a ton of other serial killer shows, but not a single one comes anywhere close to how disturbing Millennium was and still is. The dark atmosphere in that show simply can not be matched.

Speaking of Lecter stuff, I watched one episode of Hannibal on nbc, no thanks. I was not impressed in the slightest. Such wooden, uninteresting characters. And as much as i love mads mikkelson, it was by far the dullest and least interesting take on Lecter yet. Perhaps it's unfair to judge it on just one ep, but even beyond the characters the show just didn't do it for me. Total yawnfest.

[–] rtd3ws 9 years ago

At least in my case, if it was another Fox series it wouldn't work. Chris Carter copped out, couldn't remain committed to the series, so it kind of fizzled out. To me, this was such a huge disappointment that to this day, I've never watched the entirety of season three when the emphasis stupidly switched from Frank Black to Emma Hollis. When you have a series where the audience identifies with the main character, a white male, and then switch the main character to the antithesis, a black female, that was unacceptable. And racism or sexism has nothing to do with it.

Then along came Fox's excellent and trend-setting "Firefly" series, which they pulled the rug out from under for apparently no good reason. When that occurred, I vowed NEVER AGAIN to commit to watching a series on the Fox network.

To this day, I've made good on that vow and I will continue to do so.

Now if *another* network took up the call to do a remake of Millennium, or even to take up where it left off, that would be another story. At least to me.

Years ago, there was the exceedingly excellent science fiction series "Babylon 5". It was pulled from I believe, CBS, and continued on via (I hear) TNT. Since I didn't have cable, the rug was pulled out from under me regarding that series as well. Recently, I spent around $170 on the entire series (including movies and offshoots) on DVD. I was *not* disappointed.

Then there was the great sequel to Firefly, the movie "Serenity", a movie which left me mouth agape, stunned at how well it was written and produced, how well it wrapped up the series.

On the other hand, the way Chris Carter dropped the ball in Millennium broke my heart. The wasted potential for story telling and philosophical examination of the human condition was wasted by that man, and that's unforgivable.