A skeptic and a believer investigate unexplained phenomena and enjoy a heavy dose of sexual tension. The X-Files, created by Chris Carter, premiered on FOX on September 10, 1993 and introduced the world to one of TV's best duos: ever-the-opposites, "Fox Mulder" and "Dana Scully."

David Duchovney played Mulder: an FBI profiler, Oxford-educated psychologist, and firm believer in the paranormal (his sister was abducted when he was 12-years-old.) Gillian Anderson portrayed Scully: an FBI agent recruited straight out of med school, and a scientist to the core, always looking for the logical explanation for mysteries. Together, Mulder and Scully were the yin to each other's yang.

The original series ran for nine seasons and followed the personal and professional lives of Scully, Mulder and others in The X-Files, the FBI department dedicated to exploring the paranormal. Unlike many shows, not every mystery was solved at the end of each episode, and the series finale, "The Truth," introduced several new questions rather than tie up loose ends. Two movies of the series were made, in 1998 and 2008, and a six-episode miniseries aired in 2016.

The X-Files spawned a plethora of catchphrases including, "The truth is out there," "I want to believe," "Deny everything," and "Trust No one." It managed to not only appeal to sci-fi fans, but to a broader audience as well, thanks largely to the "will they or won't they?" chemistry between Scully and Mulder. Watch Chris Carter's Archive interview to see if the pair actually ended up together.

- by Adrienne Faillace

Creator: Chris Carter

Programming History: 202 episodes, 9 seasons, FOX

September 10, 1983 - May 19, 2002

Friday nights at 9pm seasons 1-3, Sunday nights at 9pm seasons 4-9

 

Thumbnail of Vince Gilligan

Vince Gilligan on the conspiracy theories explored by writers on The X-Files; on the influences for the show

57:46
Thumbnail of Chris Carter

Chris Carter on coming up with The X-Files characters "Mulder" and "Scully"

01:15
Thumbnail of Chris Carter

Chris Carter on the premise of The X-Files, and on his thoughts on area abduction

02:07
Thumbnail of Vince Gilligan

Vince Gilligan on the The X-Files episode "Drive" where he met and worked with actor Bryan Cranston for the first time (later Cranston would star in Gilligan's Breaking Bad  series playing a similar role, and why Cranston was perfect to play a "sympathetic creep")

07:06
Thumbnail of John Bartley

John Bartley on the look of The X-Files

01:04
Thumbnail of James Hong

James Hong briefly on guest-starring on The X-Files

01:14

John Bartley

John Bartley on the directors of The X-Files

01:11

John Bartley on a typical workday on The X-Files

01:07

John Bartley on working with X-Files leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson

01:26

John Bartley on the look of The X-Files

01:04

John Bartley on leaving The X-Files

00:48

John Bartley on the amount of darkness in the lighting of The X-Files

00:38

John Bartley on X-Files /Roswell producer-director David Nutter

00:50

John Bartley on getting hired for The X-Files

01:35

John Bartley on his impressions of the X-Files pilot, and his own work on the series

00:58

John Bartley on lighting The X-Files when he first started

01:54

John Bartley on the set of The X-Files and the long hours he and the crew put in

01:51

John Bartley on adding color to The X-Files as he continued with the show

00:39

John Bartley on the kinds of equipment he used on The X-Files

03:02

John Bartley on watching The X-Files on TV while he worked on the show

00:38

Peter Boyle

Peter Boyle on guest-starring as "Clyde Bruckman" on The X-Files

02:22

Chris Carter

Chris Carter on coming up with The X-Files characters "Mulder" and "Scully"

01:15

Chris Carter on the premise of The X-Files, and on his thoughts on area abduction

02:07

Chris Carter on pitching The X-Files to Fox executives and on their reaction to the pilot

04:00

Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files

06:03

Chris Carter on the filming the pilot of The X-Files, and on the audience reaction to it and the mythology arc

09:08

Chris Carter on The X-Files main theme and title

03:03

Chris Carter on the characters' motivation in the first season of The X-Files, and on the romance, themes, and goals of the show

06:22

Chris Carter on "Fox Mulder's" shooting on The X-Files, and on coming up with story ideas

05:25

Chris Carter on The X-Files' core audience

01:50

Chris Carter on the first season finale of The X-Files

02:14

Chris Carter on what made The X-Files scary

01:48

Chris Carter on the process of collaborating with other writers and producers on The X-Files

06:20

Chris Carter on The X-Files' themes of government conspiracy theories

02:15

Chris Carter on various The X-Files storylines, including the disapearance of "Mulder's" sister and the "Cigarette Smoking Man"

04:31

Chris Carter on putting humor into the mix on The X-Files

01:52

Chris Carter on on how they handled Gillian Anderson's pregnancy on season 2 of The X-Files, which led the the "Scully abducted" storyline

01:52

Chris Carter on the "Alex Krycek" character on The X-Files, and on getting an Emmy nomination for the episode "Duane Barry" which he directed

02:28

Chris Carter on those episodes of The X-Files that he labeled "monster of the week" and the alien mythology of the series

01:23

Chris Carter on how the early episodes of The X-Files impacted television at the time, including the cinematography of the show

02:55

Chris Carter on The X-Files' following, and the impact of the internet and new media on the show

01:45

Chris Carter on getting "Mulder" and "Scully" romantically involved on The X-Files

02:18

Chris Carter on the "Mulder" and "Scully" relationship as the show and feature films progressed on The X-Files

05:28

Chris Carter on the importance of Emmy Award nominations and other awards to The X-Files team and himself

01:01

Chris Carter on Cher guest-starring on The X-Files

00:48

Chris Carter on the season 5 finale of The X-Files, and on the first feature film based on the series

03:29

Chris Carter on the decision to move The X-Files from Canada to Los Angeles starting with season 6

01:31

Chris Carter on responding to fan criticism of season 6 of The X-Files

01:07

Chris Carter on Vince Gilligan writing for The X-Files season six, and on the plot points of that year

02:39

Chris Carter on having stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson direct episodes for season 7 of The X-Files and the major plot points of that season

03:17

Chris Carter on David Duchovny leaving The X-Files and on replacing him with Robert Patrick as "John Doggett"

04:13

Chris Carter on his decision to end the first run of The X-Files

01:08

Chris Carter on how 9/11 impacted The X-Files

01:03

Chris Carter on the fate of "The Lone Gunman" on The X-Files, and on tying up loose ends at the end of the series

02:13

Chris Carter on The Outer Limits' influence on The X-Files

00:38

Chris Carter on his favorite season of The X-Files, and on leaving some storylines and questions open

01:06

Chris Carter on The X-Files documentary "The Threads of Mythology"

01:00

Chris Carter on the legacy of The X-Files

00:51

Chris Carter on the feature film X-Files spin-off "I Want to Believe"

03:00

Thomas Del Ruth

Thomas Del Ruth on acting as director of photography for The X-Files and establishing the "look" for a series in the pilot

02:57

Thomas Del Ruth on being director of photography for The X-Files and working with show creator Chris Carter

06:29

Vince Gilligan

Vince Gilligan on getting hooked on The X-Files in 1993 and getting an introduction to Chris Carter, who was related to Gilligan's agent

33:18

Vince Gilligan on writing The X-Files episode "Soft Light" and then being offered a job as a staff writer on the show, which he initially turned down

29:56

Vince Gilligan on The X-Files "The second greatest job of my life" that taught him everything he needed to know about writing for TV; on the mythology versus the stand-alone episodes

19:51

Vince Gilligan on the writers' room at The X-Files; on the first episode he wrote as a staff writer "Pusher"; on the writing process

02:16

Vince Gilligan on what he liked about the lack of rules on The X-Files for the writers

15:20

Vince Gilligan on "Folie Aux Deux" - an X-Files episode he wrote and how the visual element was incorporated into the show; on why the visual is as important as the dialogue

02:14

Vince Gilligan on the importance of the visual element on The X-Files and his input as a writer

09:17

Vince Gilligan on the only script he wrote for The X-Files that was re-written

06:45

Vince Gilligan on the censorship limits on The X-Files; on the episode "Pusher" about Russian Roulette; on the episode "Paper Hearts" where he couldn't show an entry wound

02:33

Vince Gilligan on the writers on The X-Files

59:44

Vince Gilligan on the conspiracy theories explored by writers on The X-Files; on the influences for the show

57:46

Vince Gilligan on whether the writers on The X-Files actually believed in supernatural phenomena: "I Want to Believe"

56:06

Vince Gilligan on The X-Files episode "Bad Blood" influenced by the film "Rashomon"

53:51

Vince Gilligan on how The X-Files writers' room would "break" the story by building a scene "brick by brick"; on the hardest part of writing for TV

03:14

Vince Gilligan on how much the writers on the The X-Files were aware of the early Internet forums and fan chat rooms

41:35

Vince Gilligan on The X-Files mythology episodes 

38:15

Vince Gilligan on the balance between comedy and drama on The X-Files; on his reputation for writing the funnier episodes; on his episode "Small Potatoes"

33:51

Vince Gilligan on the first episode of The X-Files he directed "Je Souhaite" (I Wish) in Season 7

29:33

Vince Gilligan on directing The X-Files episode "Sunshine Days" in which the reconstructed The Brady Bunch house

05:41

Vince Gilligan on the The X-Files episode "Drive" where he met and worked with actor Bryan Cranston for the first time (later Cranston would star in Gilligan's Breaking Bad  series playing a similar role, and why Cranston was perfect to play a "sympathetic creep")

07:06

Vince Gilligan on being nominated for an Emmy for The X-Files episode "Memento Mori" 

10:13

Vince Gilligan on The X-Files episode "Memento Mori" in which "Scully" gets cancer

08:47

Vince Gilligan on how the writers adapted to news that David Duchovny was leaving X-Files

06:14

Vince Gilligan on the "jump the shark" episode of The X-Files and the resolution for The Lone Gunmen spinoff series

03:07

Vince Gilligan on the finale of The X-Files

53:35

Vince Gilligan on the legacy of The X-Files

01:02

James Hong

James Hong briefly on guest-starring on The X-Files

01:14

Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman on appearing on an episode of The X-Files in 1993

02:24

Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless on guest-starring on The X-Files

00:45

Mark Snow

Mark Snow on being hired to work on The X-Files and composing the show's theme song

14:24

Mark Snow on The X-Files theme song being released as a single

02:57

Mark Snow on composing for The X-Files

06:12

Mark Snow on composing for The X-Files and the importance of the music to the show

03:40

Mark Snow on using music to build emotion and suspense on The X-Files

03:08

Mark Snow on a typical work week on The X-Files

03:06

Mark Snow on the times he used an orchestra while scoring The X-Files and themes he wrote for characters

03:52

Mark Snow on The X-Files episode, "Humbug"

04:23

Mark Snow on The X-Files episode, "Home"

01:57

Mark Snow on The X-Files episode, "Per Manum," on which he appeared in a cameo

03:25

Mark Snow on The X-Files episode, "Post Modern Prometheus"

01:35

Mark Snow on The X-Files episode, "Closure" and the use of music other than Snow's in the show

01:54

Mark Snow on composing for the finale of the original series of The X-Files

01:12

Mark Snow on working with directors on The X-Files

07:49

Mark Snow on composing for The X-Files movies and the 2016 reboot of the show

15:51

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