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?

[–] dinerfood-901-211557 9 years ago

The major studios want X-Files version 2 and I don't think this will fly today. Millennium and the excellent Lone Gunmen were ultimately not wanted. Perhaps if he went to Netflix, Showtime, Cinemax, and so on, he could get a deal.

[–] walking_bread 9 years ago

This is an interesting thread with credible discussion .....

Just a thought....
As several have noted, the impact of the X-Files and Lost will continue to be felt. However, the industry's continued reliance on focus groups and targeted programming is preventing the public from getting something really creative and interesting. Right now one of the more successful series is The Walking Dead, which is bolstering the credibility of cable-hosted original programming.

I do admit to enjoying some of the current offerings like Wayward Pines on Fox, The Whispers on ABC, and the Returned on A&E.

[–] keyser_soze_smokes 9 years ago

PG... ...13.

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

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Happy birthday to the ground!!!

[–] manosrose 8 years ago

I believe Carter could do a short season, much like the X-Files reboot. Paranoia is at an all time high and, of course, serial killers just keep killing.

I would love to see Frank Black again since we did not get closure in the X-Files cross over episode.

[–] mobocracy 8 years ago

I definitely think Millennium could be re-done now, although I would be inclined to reboot it with no ties to X-Files or necessarily the past Millennium universe, although I wouldn't be opposed to rebooting it with Lance Henrikson -- although I do worry about his age a little, he's 75 and it might be hard on him to do a regular series, plus the character should probably be early 50s for which he'd be a stretch.

I think we live in a world of conspiracies and paranoia, with no apparent end to mass killings, serial killers or other creepy subjects. "True Detective" season 1 was a pretty decent hit with a storyline that could have been right out of Millennium Group.

I'm undecided on how much of a serial I'd make it, the obvious risk is that too much series arc and you get cancelled and the story suffers. Too little series arc and its just a creepy investigation of the week, perhaps build it around mini-arcs spanning 2-3 episodes to give each some depth but without poisoning the entire series with an arc that will never finish or relentless teases.