The X-Files

[Jocky Balboa]

My fiance and I have been in nostalgic mode of late and have been running through my seasons 1-9 box set, in order (approx. halfway through!) and have been discussing how the show generated endless hype at the time.

 

Are we alone in thinking it still stands up as one of the best contemporary TV shows of the last 20yrs?

 

For those who are fans, do you have a favourite season(s)? We don't have 1 favourite, but like 3-5 best. The first 5 are all classics, though. 6 and 7 have their moments, but are less consistent and 8 & 9 were underrated (Robert Patrick did a great job, imo).

 

...and Smoking Man is still one of the best baddies in memory!

[Bluto10]

A show for nerds

[Ke1t]

My fiance and I have been in nostalgic mode of late and have been running through my seasons 1-9 box set, in order (approx. halfway through!) and have been discussing how the show generated endless hype at the time.

 

Are we alone in thinking it still stands up as one of the best contemporary TV shows of the last 20yrs?

 

For those who are fans, do you have a favourite season(s)? We don't have 1 favourite, but like 3-5 best. The first 5 are all classics, though. 6 and 7 have their moments, but are less consistent and 8 & 9 were underrated (Robert Patrick did a great job, imo).

 

...and Smoking Man is still one of the best baddies in memory!

 

The X-Files was one of my favourite shows, still is, and I'll still watch the odd episode from time to time.

 

Chris Carter was at the top of his game when he wrote the show, and the main story arc was one of the most impressive I've seen on a TV show.

 

As a Conspiracy Theory aficionado it was a buzz to see fringe lunacy given prime time exposure... since many of the things they 'investigated' came straight out of the Big Book O Mad Conspiracies.

 

In fact some of the stuff, a good deal of it, wasn't conspiracy theory at all, but rather uncomfortable fact that government would much rather no-one spoke about, such as the amnesty to NAZI scientists in Project Paperclip, or the amnesty to Japanese scientists who had performed live human experiments on Allied prisoners as part of Unit 731.

 

I remember one of the episodes has the TR-3B hovering over an airbase... which to a non-conspiracy theorist would just seem like a UFO, but the TR-3B is allegedly the result of the United States' Black Project attempt at creating an anti-gravity craft, also allegedly under the name Aurora... a triangular craft powered by spinning plasma at high speed to generate power and lift almost silently and with no standard engine. Might seem like sci-fi, but literally trillions of dollars have been swallowed up in the black projects, so it would be foolish to assume that there has been nothing in the way of breakthrough in the field. That sort of money will buy you some seriously exotic research, including a secret space programme, as uncovered by Gary McKinnon

 

 

 

 

The triangular TR-3B would also explain why the majority of 'UFO' sightings these days involve triangular shaped craft.

 

Obviously the US government denies the existence of the TR-3B, but they also denied the existence of the stealth fighter/bomber, in the same way they deny the deployment of Passive Denial Systems or Scalar Weaponry...

 

Anyway, X-Files was great, Tunguska being probably my favourite episodes.

 

Krycek was a great villain.

[Jocky Balboa]

Agreed on Krycek. He and Robert Patrick's John Doggett were/are very underrated characters. Skinner was great too, in what was a difficult role, intermittently playing the hard-ass boss and sympathising with the leads at crucial times.

 

I hope X-Files movie 3 gets the go-ahead.

[granite sheep]

Sometimes happen upon reruns of this, still one of the best 90s tv shows. I remember the creators made a scifi war show called Space Above And Beyond, great show if i mind although, being on Fox it got canned after one series.

 

In time, still think the new version of Battlestar will be remembered quite fondly as THE scifi show of the 00's, although it did disappear up its own arse quite a bit towards the end of its run...

 

EDIT: oh aye, Skinner was immense.

 

To be honest, for me, defining scifi shows of the decades (of the shit that went on in their times:

60s Star Trek Original

70s Nae too sure, Mork and Mindy?

80s Buck Rogers, the first few seasons of Star Trek Next Generation

90s X Files

00s New Battlestar Galactica, hell the first couple of seasons are an allegory of The War On Terror and the Occupation Of Iraq by the USA

Leaves us with the 10s, what would be the definer for this decade? Has there been one yet?

[NorthernLights24]

Sometimes happen upon reruns of this, still one of the best 90s tv shows. I remember the creators made a scifi war show called Space Above And Beyond, great show if i mind although, being on Fox it got canned after one series.

 

In time, still think the new version of Battlestar will be remembered quite fondly as THE scifi show of the 00's, although it did disappear up its own arse quite a bit towards the end of its run...

 

EDIT: oh aye, Skinner was immense.

 

To be honest, for me, defining scifi shows of the decades (of the shit that went on in their times:

60s Star Trek Original

70s Nae too sure, Mork and Mindy?

80s Buck Rogers, the first few seasons of Star Trek Next Generation

90s X Files

00s New Battlestar Galactica, hell the first couple of seasons are an allegory of The War On Terror and the Occupation Of Iraq by the USA

Leaves us with the 10s, what would be the definer for this decade? Has there been one yet?

 

Got that on DVD as well as all 9 X-Files seasons.

[granite sheep]

Immense. Especially R Lee Ermey reprising his role as (a tv version of) Gunnery Sergeant Hartman fae Full Metal Jacket in the pilot. As said, very stupidly cancelled by Fox, but the very best bit was the squad's CO one on one with Chiggy Von Richtoven.

[DD1903]

Surely 'V' must get a for the 80s?! What a show.

[Jocky Balboa]

V is spectacular. I have the triple DVD box set of that. Never seen the recent remakes, though. Anyone?

[DD1903]

I watched them. It wasn't that bad, but I had zero expectation. It was canceled before it reached a proper conclusion

[1983]

 

The X-Files was one of my favourite shows, still is, and I'll still watch the odd episode from time to time.

 

Chris Carter was at the top of his game when he wrote the show, and the main story arc was one of the most impressive I've seen on a TV show.

 

As a Conspiracy Theory aficionado it was a buzz to see fringe lunacy given prime time exposure... since many of the things they 'investigated' came straight out of the Big Book O Mad Conspiracies.

 

In fact some of the stuff, a good deal of it, wasn't conspiracy theory at all, but rather uncomfortable fact that government would much rather no-one spoke about, such as the amnesty to NAZI scientists in Project Paperclip, or the amnesty to Japanese scientists who had performed live human experiments on Allied prisoners as part of Unit 731.

 

I remember one of the episodes has the TR-3B hovering over an airbase... which to a non-conspiracy theorist would just seem like a UFO, but the TR-3B is allegedly the result of the United States' Black Project attempt at creating an anti-gravity craft, also allegedly under the name Aurora... a triangular craft powered by spinning plasma at high speed to generate power and lift almost silently and with no standard engine. Might seem like sci-fi, but literally trillions of dollars have been swallowed up in the black projects, so it would be foolish to assume that there has been nothing in the way of breakthrough in the field. That sort of money will buy you some seriously exotic research, including a secret space programme, as uncovered by Gary McKinnon

 

 

 

 

The triangular TR-3B would also explain why the majority of 'UFO' sightings these days involve triangular shaped craft.

 

Obviously the US government denies the existence of the TR-3B, but they also denied the existence of the stealth fighter/bomber, in the same way they deny the deployment of Passive Denial Systems or Scalar Weaponry...

 

Anyway, X-Files was great, Tunguska being probably my favourite episodes.

 

Krycek was a great villain.

 

The boy McKinnon is quite obviously an ego maniac, and the bird interviewing him in that clip is a complete bam. Nae offence Kelt, but the IT sector, along with camera club enthusiasts, harbour some of the most dangerous child predators alive.

[Ke1t]

 

 

The boy McKinnon is quite obviously an ego maniac, and the bird interviewing him in that clip is a complete bam. Nae offence Kelt, but the IT sector, along with camera club enthusiasts, harbour some of the most dangerous child predators alive.

I can't talk for his egomania, but I know he's autistic, and that might account for the perception.. or maybe even fact, I don't know... that he's egomaniacal. In my experience of autistic sorts there's obvious social disconnects,.

 

The interviewer is Linda Moulten Howe. She comes off as batshit crazy, but she's an award-winning jpurnalist with an impressive depth of experience in investigating the ufo field, as well as vanished civilisations, the paranormal and other fringe areas that otherwise are ignored by the mainstream. Her main failing is her lack of cynicism, which I think is an important tool in any investigative process. She works a lot with George Noory and George Knapp of Coast to Coast, which I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in the field.

 

Coast to Coast is a radio show that focuses on ufology, the paranormal, cospiracies and all the stuff that gets pigeon-holed as 'loonytown'.

 

To counter the obvious crazies who populate the show they also have people on from NASA, JPL, ex-military, DARPA, and a slew of other reputable sources. My personal favourites are shows with guys like Bob Lazar and Phil Schneider.

 

Much of it needs to be taken with a huge pinch of salt, of course, but not all.

 

The shows with Father Malachi Martin on exorcism are interesting stuff, even though I personally don't hold any kind of belief in demons or the like.

 

http://youtu.be/DEDXYPgsp9M

[bonzodaddy73]

What do you make of Lazar Kelt?

[1983]

 

 

The boy McKinnon is quite obviously an ego maniac, and the bird interviewing him in that clip is a complete bam. Nae offence Kelt, but the IT sector, along with camera club enthusiasts, harbour some of the most dangerous child predators alive.

I can't talk for his egomania, but I know he's autistic, and that might account for the perception.. or maybe even fact, I don't know... that he's egomaniacal. In my experience of autistic sorts there's obvious social disconnects,.

 

The interviewer is Linda Moulten Howe. She comes off as batshit crazy, but she's an award-winning jpurnalist with an impressive depth of experience in investigating the ufo field, as well as vanished civilisations, the paranormal and other fringe areas that otherwise are ignored by the mainstream. Her main failing is her lack of cynicism, which I think is an important tool in any investigative process. She works a lot with George Noory and George Knapp of Coast to Coast, which I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in the field.

 

Coast to Coast is a radio show that focuses on ufology, the paranormal, cospiracies and all the stuff that gets pigeon-holed as 'loonytown'.

 

To counter the obvious crazies who populate the show they also have people on from NASA, JPL, ex-military, DARPA, and a slew of other reputable sources. My personal favourites are shows with guys like Bob Lazar and Phil Schneider.

 

Much of it needs to be taken with a huge pinch of salt, of course, but not all.

 

The shows with Father Malachi Martin on exorcism are interesting stuff, even though I personally don't hold any kind of belief in demons or the like.

 

http://youtu.be/DEDXYPgsp9M

 

 

Agree Kelt. Her questions are too leading and, ultimately, there to fit her agenda. Having an agenda is ok, but she should be smarter about it. Plus, when Gary has to explain that the Administrator Account isn't an actual person... I feel she's nae idea what's she's speaking about.

 

I knew Gary had a form of Aspergers which falls within the autistic spectrum, but I feel this is maybe being used to explain too many of his flaws. He apparently is too transparent when maybe it would of helped him to make no comment, however, when asked if he was holding anything back he enjoyed saying that he maybe had seen more secretive material. He loves having the power of information obviously.

 

He also dismisses his previous colleagues who had paper qualifications in favour of his 20+ years experience. Aspergers or not, he acted like an arse. More Neil than Neo.

[Ke1t]

What do you make of Lazar Kelt?

 

I suspect he's legit.

 

There's been a pretty intensive campaign to discredit him, which is my first clue that he's legitimate.

 

What compounds that are things like the government's claim, "He never worked at S4", yet later his personal number at S4 is found by an investigative journalist who simply looked at an old phone book for the base. So suddenly the official line becomes, "Ah, right.. he DID work at S4, but he was the janitor."

 

Also the fact that even the records for his birth are missing from the hospital.

 

Every avenue of investigation for the guy beyond high school just turns up blank, which either means he's lying about everything (including what hospital he was born at) or there has been a systematic removal of documentation regarding him. The discovery that the government did indeed lie about his employ at S4 points towards Lazar being credible and the authorities being deceptive.

 

He's living in Michigan, somewhere near where I live I think. Or at least he was...

[Jocky Balboa]

So... for argument's sake, people... what was the best X-Files season?

 

I can't choose one myself, so it's a tie between seasons 3-5. The first 2 were great, but 3-5 peaked, imo.

 

Seasons 6 & 7 had some classics, but too many filler episodes.

 

I actually enjoyed 8 & 9 more than many and thought Robert Patrick did a fine job and the finally with Mulder back was excellent.

 

I hope they do a 3rd movie and bring closure to the entire franchise and its arcs. The 2 movies were great, imo, but there is scope for 1 more.

[GlezgaRed]

Sometimes happen upon reruns of this, still one of the best 90s tv shows. I remember the creators made a scifi war show called Space Above And Beyond, great show if i mind although, being on Fox it got canned after one series.

 

In time, still think the new version of Battlestar will be remembered quite fondly as THE scifi show of the 00's, although it did disappear up its own arse quite a bit towards the end of its run...

 

EDIT: oh aye, Skinner was immense.

 

To be honest, for me, defining scifi shows of the decades (of the shit that went on in their times:

60s Star Trek Original

70s Nae too sure, Mork and Mindy?

80s Buck Rogers, the first few seasons of Star Trek Next Generation

90s X Files

00s New Battlestar Galactica, hell the first couple of seasons are an allegory of The War On Terror and the Occupation Of Iraq by the USA

Leaves us with the 10s, what would be the definer for this decade? Has there been one yet?

 

70s = Space 1999 (John Koenig along with Cpt Kirk were my heroes growing up)

[GlezgaRed]

Have to agree that Seasons 3 through to 5 were immense !!

 

Most moving episode in these seasons was Emily from Season 5.

 

My favourite bad guy/weirdo from the show was Donnie Pfaster.

[Jocky Balboa]

Have to agree that Seasons 3 through to 5 were immense !!

 

Most moving episode in these seasons was Emily from Season 5.

 

My favourite bad guy/weirdo from the show was Donnie Pfaster.

Aye, Pfaster was creepy as fuck and I'm glad he got to return. Tooms was another great recurring baddie, as was Duane Barry.