PASADENA, Calif. — The premiere episode of Fox’s limited series reopening of “The X-Files” (approximately 10 p.m. Sunday following the NFC Championship game, WPGH) reminds viewers that for all the aliens and conspiracy theories, this was one exposition-heavy, talky TV show.
But for fans, it’s still fun to be back in this world, to spend time with Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) even if the latest conspiracy rabbit hole they dive down makes little sense. Then again, did it ever?
For those new to the show, “X-Files” opens with a lengthy Mulder voice-over that basically recounts the show’s premise and touches on the most salient plot particulars. At one point Mulder and Scully were together as a romantic couple, and there are references to that, but they’ve clearly gone their separate ways since their last outing, 2008’s theatrical release “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.” There’s also talk of them having a child together — William was given up for adoption for his own safety — which plays more heavily in episode two.
As the new six-episode series begins, a UFO crashes in the New Mexico desert in 1947, an event that will figure into the present-day story that finds Mulder holed up in a cabin and Scully still working as a doctor.
A conspiracy theory-minded media figure, Tad O’Malley (Joel McHale, “Community”), asks Mulder and Scully to investigate a woman who was abducted and impregnated by aliens — unless she wasn’t.
By episode two (8 p.m. Monday, the show’s regular time slot), Mulder and Scully are, jarringly, back on the job and once again investigating an X-Files case that may or may not involve alien-human hybrids.
The third episode is an “X-Files” comedy, written by Darin Morgan, who wrote original series episodes “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” and “Jose Chung’s From Outerspace.” In “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster,” the pair investigates reports of a lizard-like creature in an episode featuring guest star appearances by comic actors Rhys Darby (“Flight of the Conchords”) and Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”). It’s the best of the first three episodes but also the weirdest. And while it’s in keeping with “X-Files” tradition, it’s not the aspect of “X-Files” that casual viewers are most likely to remember — the monsters of the week and mythology episodes — and might feel out of place to some viewers. (It’s really just episodes one and six that advance the show’s mythology.)
If this new iteration of “The X-Files” feels overly familiar and less unique than it did in the first go-around, it’s probably because “The X-Files” changed television, popularizing the TV conspiracy thriller that’s been attempted over and over in its wake.
Along with the many “X-Files”-inspired misfires (“Nowhere Man,” “Prey,” “Strange World”), “X-Files” also begat plenty of popular supernatural-free series built on a conspiracy theory foundation, including “24,” “Prison Break” and “Revenge.”
At a press conference earlier this month, “X-Files” creator Chris Carter said if post-Watergate paranoia inspired the original series, this new iteration flows from post-9/11 conspiracy theories.
“We’re living in a time now when there’s a tremendous amount of distrust of authority, government, even the media,” Mr. Carter said. “Conspiracy sites are chockablock with the most outrageous stuff, but some of it actually is quite plausible, and I think that,s what you find in the mythology episodes here.”
Mr. Carter said his goal with the new season is to keep continuity with “X-Files” canon, which he said was a challenge because he doesn’t remember the entire mythology of the series.
“You make a mistake, and you’re gonna hear about it loudly from fans who have cataloged all these things, and they know the bits and pieces,” he said.
Mr. Carter said he wrote a line in the first episode back where Mulder calls the UFO cover-up in Roswell, N.M., a “smokescreen.” Mr. Carter just happened to see episode two of the original series where Deep Throat said the same thing.
“I’ve already written that line,” he realized, before changing it up so Mulder responds to another character’s characterization of Roswell. “Now I have Mulder say, ‘So I’ve heard,’ so that it’s a callback to something that took place 23 years earlier.”
And if this “X-Files” run of episodes proves a ratings success — episode six ends in a cliffhanger — Mr. Carter is game to revisit his creation again.
“If we do well in the ratings,” he said, “I can’t imagine we wouldn’t be asked to do more.”
Documentaries with local ties
Three documentaries of local interest debut in the next week, including the “Independent Lens” (10 p.m. Monday, WQED-TV) program “In Football We Trust,” about the “Polynesian pipeline” that brings Pacific Islanders to play in the NFL, including retired Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.
On the 30th anniversary, National Geographic Channel’s “Challenger Disaster: The Lost Tapes” (9 p.m. Monday) chronicles the destruction of the space shuttle and deaths of seven crewmembers, including 1970 Carnegie Mellon University grad astronaut Judith Resnik. The documentary tells the story entirely through news footage, audio recordings and NASA footage.
PBS’s “American Experience” film “Mine Wars” (9 p.m. Tuesday, WQED-TV) chronicles unionizing coal miners in West Virginia in the early 20th century.
Channel surfing
Western Pennsylvania native Joe Kenda continues to be a hit nationally in the fifth season of “Homicide Hunter” on Investigation Discovery with the Jan. 12 episode drawing more than 2 million viewers, the network’s highest ratings for a telecast ever. … Syndicated talk show “FABLife” has been canceled after just one season and the departure of host Tyra Banks in December.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “The Man in the High Castle,” “The Great British Baking Show” and “Art Breakers.” This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Baskets” and press tour parties. Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/arts-entertainment-living/tuned-in.
This week’s podcast includes conversation about midseason shows on broadcast networks. Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at https://soundcloud.com/pittsburghpg.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.
First Published: January 22, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
