X-Files

The X-Files is a popular American television series created by Chris Carter. It ran for nine seasons from 1993 until 2002, spawning a feature film in 1998 and one brief spin-off series. The X-Files originally aired on FOX. more...

One of that network's first major hits, its main characters and its slogans ("The Truth Is Out There," "Trust No One," "I Want to Believe") became pop culture touchstones, seen both to tap into and inspire a zeitgeist of conspiracy theories, paranoia about the U.S. government, and faith in the existence of extraterrestrial life and UFOs. The show was a critical and commercial success, due in part to its stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. In 2006 The X-Files will lose its title as the longest-running sci-fi show in American history to Stargate SG-1.

In the series, Fox Mulder, played by Duchovny, and Dana Scully, played by Anderson, are two FBI agents tasked with investigating the titular "X-Files." These cases, supposedly marginalized by the FBI, often involve paranormal phenomena. At first Mulder played the role of believer in aliens and the paranormal, while Scully was the skeptic, assigned by higher-ups to debunk his unconventional work and contain its profound implications. As the show progressed both became embroiled in the same larger conflicts (termed "the mythology" or "mytharc" by the show's creators) and developed a close and ambiguous friendship - which some fans, known as "shippers," saw as more than platonic. Mitch Pileggi played Assistant Director Walter Skinner, their boss at the FBI, while William B. Davis and Nicholas Lea had long-running roles as villainous government operatives: Cigarette Smoking Man (or "Cancer Man") and Alex Krycek, respectively.

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