For 11 seasons, Fox’s beloved sci-fi thriller captured the attention of TV viewers from all corners thanks to its hybrid genre that combined horror, science, and tight detective procedural storytelling. Chris Carter’s The X-Files premiered on Fox in September 1993 and ran for nine seasons before being brought back in 2016 for two more seasons.

A typical detective procedural in many ways, The X-Files has all the hallmarks of many other dramas on the air at the time, but it adds a science-fiction flavor that takes the show up to another level. There aren’t too many shows like it, and those that have tried to replicate it haven’t been nearly as memorable.

The X-Files Is One Of The Best Sci-Fi Thrillers Of All Time

In The X-Files, Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are FBI operatives who investigate cases that the agency has dubbed “X-Files”, unsolved cases that involve some sort of paranormal phenomena. Mulder is an ardent supernaturalist, whereas Scully plays the skeptic. Together, they slowly uncover a government agenda to hide extraterrestrial life.

The X-Files is a monster-of-the-week show, with an alien, mutant, monster, or some other supernatural being usually serving as the big bad of the episode. For a year or two, the series was something of a cult phenomenon, but it very quickly became a classic with an expansive franchise that spawned out of it.

The show is everything that sci-fi lovers could want in a series. There’s an overarching lore with plenty of space to make your own determinations, and even for those only semi-interested in the genre, the detective procedural aspects are as smart and intriguing as any typical police TV show.

The X-Files offers something new every episode, but it keeps enough consistent over the seasons, with longer arcs, that you’ll run through the exceptionally large episode library faster than you might suspect.

Why The X-Files Has Aged Better Than Other Shows From The 1990s

Over three decades since it premiered, The X-Files remains a winning series, and one of the handful of shows from the 1990s that has barely aged. The X-Files did not depend upon the shock value of having monsters and aliens be the villains in its procedural storyline. It started with great police mysteries, then deftly overlaid the supernatural elements.

The X-Files was made with care in every aspect. It wasn’t a chance to shoehorn sci-fi storytelling into a traditional TV drama; it’s a story that can only be told with its sci-fi and police procedural elements working together. It’s also a show with a very high-caliber legacy, considering the actors who appeared in it and the creatives behind it.

Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, David Nutter, James Wong, and Lily Tomlin are just a few of the names who have either written for the series or appeared in it, and as their legacies continue, it ensures The X-Files won’t soon be forgotten. You can watch the 1993 premiere or the 2016 revival, and enjoy it all the same.

Release Date

1993 – 2018-00-00

Network

FOX

Showrunner

Chris Carter

Directors

Rob Bowman, David Nutter, R. W. Goodwin, Michael W. Watkins, Tony Wharmby, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, David Duchovny, Jim Charleston, James Wong, Peter Markle, Rod Hardy, Thomas J. Wright, William A. Graham, Jerrold Freedman, Joe Napolitano, Kevin Hooks, Larry Shaw, Richard Compton, Tucker Gates, Allen Coulter, Barry K. Thomas, Brett Dowler

Writers

jeffrey bell, Frank Spotnitz, Howard Gordon, David Amann, Darin Morgan, Steven Maeda, Greg Walker, Chris Ruppenthal, Kim Newton, Paul Brown, Sara B. Cooper, Thomas Schnauz, Tim Minear, William Gibson, Jeff Vlaming, Charles Grant Craig, Chip Johannessen, Chris Brancato, Daniel Arkin, Gillian Anderson, Jessica Scott, Jim Guttridge, Kenneth Biller, Larry Barber