Preparing to Reopen ‘The X-Files’

Note: this article was also published on SciFi4Me.com.

In 1993, The X-Files premiered on Fox and changed everything. Spanning nine seasons, two movies, and two spin-off series, the series had a huge impact on the television landscape. Shows from Lost to Fringe have acknowledged the series’ influence, with plenty of nods in others. The conspiracy theory-based ‘trust no one’ darkness, while not completely original, was definitely a product of the post-Watergate world it lived in, and hinted at things now commonplace such as rigging elections, NSA tapping your phone, and even the potential for life on other planets.

As we wrote about in March, Fox has joined the wave of nostalgia that has been gripping the nation and has brought the show back for a six-episode miniseries. Yesterday, on the X-Files YouTube channel, a 21-minute long featurette was released “Re-Opened”, giving a fairly in-depth look at the upcoming series.

Everything from acknowledging returning characters (with not only Mulder and Scully, but Skinner, Monica Reyes, and Cigarette Smoking Man and the Lone Gunmen somehow surviving their apparent deaths), introducing new characters (mainly Joel McHale’s senator and Annet Mahendru’s alien abductee), and discussing how this show is a continuation of where we left these characters in 2008. They will not only be delving even further into the mythology — including the actual crash at Roswell — but also dealing with the (no longer a) baby, William.

The series premieres January 24 on Fox.