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Chris Carter's 1993 paranormal investigation series "The X-Files" was one of the defining media outings of its decade. Few shows better captured post-Cold War America's paranoid suspicions about its own government. Without an enemy to fight, and with no wars on the immediate horizon, 1990s America became wary of the systems that caused war and "enemies" to form in the first place. If we could live without them, why didn't the government jettison them earlier? Could it be that the government was up to something sinister? 

"The X-Files" manifested that paranoia through Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), two FBI agents assigned to investigate paranormal cases. They frequently met aliens, monsters, psychics, vampires, and other unusual creatures. Sadly, each case usually involved a cover-up or a lack of hard evidence. The series was enough of a hit to last nine full seasons before its cancelation in 2002. "The X-Files...

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So it’s spooky time, and instead of doing something productive like making a Flukeman costume, we’ve taken a dive back into The X-Files—specifically the ‘Monsters of the Week’ episodes. Sure, everyone talks about the alien conspiracy, and don’t get me wrong, I love digging into the mythology arc as much as anyone. But what about the ones that still keep us up at night? Whether it’s from the hellish nightmares or those 3 a.m. ‘what is my existence?’ thoughts, these episodes have a way of sticking with you. You’ve been waiting for more so let’s go reignite those childhood fears…or joys.

Bad Blood- Season 5, ep 12: I’ve got a thing for unreliable narrators, especially when both Mulder and Scully are on storytelling duty. Bad Blood is classic Vince Gilligan, mixing absurdity with just enough Halloween flavor to make the list.

The one fatal mistake that most TV shows make is using TV cameos gratuitously. If the cameo doesn't mean something to the audience and the characters in the show, it's pointless, and little more than a random Stan Lee Appears gag.

On the other hand, too many shows have fallen into the trap of celebrity worship with their cameos.

Having cast members gawk and gape at their celebrity crush as if to reinforce the celebrity's prestige while doing nothing for the universe we enjoy is a waste of talent.

For this list of the top TV cameos worth celebrating, we will focus on iconic cameo appearances that gave the show some unforgettable moments that made TV history.

Seinfeld Cast, Curb Your Enthusiasm

What better way to give Seinfeld the better ending many feel it deserved than by bringing back the cast and the original set and doing a bit of self-parody?...

Never mind the truth — what’s really “out there” is the fact that it’s already been 30 years since The X-Files debuted on Fox. In that first episode — which, as we’ve already observed, is peak 1990s — medical doctor Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) meets FBI outcast Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and joins his “X-Files” investigations, seeking to explain the unexplained. Fast-forward 30 years, and Chris Carter’s The X-Files has 11 seasons, two big-screen movies, a spin-off series, and a possible reboot to its name. In honor of The X-Files’ three-decade anniversary falling on September 10, here are the top 10 episodes of the series, according to IMDb voters. 10. Season 4, Episode 20: “Small Potatoes” A shape-shifting man — played by X-Files writer Darin Morgan — comes under suspicion when multiple residents of a small West Virginia town give birth to babies with tails. “This was an absolute hoot, very funny from start to finish,” an IMDb user writes.

Brace yourselves, “The X-Files” fans: your favorite TV show is turning 30 years old. Yep, it’s true. Fox’s Emmy-winning sci-fi juggernaut that followed FBI Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) in their investigations into the paranormal debuted on September 10, 1993. Nine complete seasons aired until the series finale on May 19, 2002, with two movies premiering at the box office in 1998 and 2008, and then two additional revival seasons dropping in 2016 and 2018. All told, a whopping 218 episodes were produced for television — think of all those discarded cigarette butts! In Gold Derby’s photo gallery above, fans rank the 30 best episodes in honor of the 30th anniversary, according to IMDb.com votes.

Created by Chris Carter, who grew up watching TV shows like “The Twilight Zone” and “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” “The X-Files” broke ground with its spooky premise and government-is-lying ideology. In fact, many of the show’s taglines...

Brace yourselves, “The X-Files” fans: your favorite TV show is turning 30 years old. Yep, it’s true. Fox’s Emmy-winning sci-fi juggernaut that followed FBI Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) in their investigations into the paranormal debuted on September 10, 1993. Nine complete seasons aired until the series finale on May 19, 2002, with two movies premiering at the box office in 1998 and 2008, and then two additional revival seasons dropping in 2016 and 2018. All told, a whopping 218 episodes were produced for television — think of all those discarded cigarette butts! In Gold Derby’s photo gallery below, fans rank the 30 best episodes in honor of the 30th anniversary, according to IMDb.com votes.

Created by Chris Carter, who grew up watching TV shows like “The Twilight Zone” and “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” “The X-Files” broke ground with its spooky premise and government-is-lying ideology. In fact, many of the show’s taglines...

David Duchovny's favorite X-Files monster-of-the-week just happens to be the show's most terrifying. The X-Files often divided its time between mythology episodes or those that built on the increasingly convoluted conspiracy storyline, or "monster-of-the-week" outings. There's a good reason X-Files led to a revival in horror TV series, because at its best The X-Files monsters were pure nightmare fuel. While fans have their own favorites, some of the most iconic include Eugene Tooms - the mutant who could squeeze into any space - the family from the infamous season 4 episode "Home" or the Stephen King-created doll "Chinga."

The X-Files undeniably lost its golden touch for creating memorable monsters in later seasons, especially as the mythology of the show began tying itself in knots. Still, the best "monster-of-the-week" stories play out as terrifying mini-horror movies in their own right. With Gillian Anderson ruling out any kind of return as Scully,...

The temptation in ranking The X-Files is just to list each season in reverse order. It’s a series that started out incredibly strong, became a global cultural phenomenon, and brought mainstream audiences back to Sff television, but buckled under an unwieldy and increasingly unsatisfying myth-arc until it finally dwindled into ignominy after a somewhat lackluster comeback. You can pretty much divide The X-Files into a first half which is a truly great, ground-breaking show (Seasons 1-6) and a second half that’s flawed but still pretty decent sci-fi (Seasons 7-11).

One of the key things that makes a great season of The X-Files is a balance between myth-arc episodes and Monster of the Week episodes. In the seasons with a strong myth-arc, this results in a compelling story overall that provides plenty of variation in its storytelling. In a weaker season, it provides an opportunity to step away from...

The X-Files, for all its later imitators was a unique show. One aspect of that uniqueness was the way it blended mytharc episodes about alien abductions, alien invasions, and government conspiracies with Monster of the Week episodes about paranormal criminals. These usually had a pretty strong thread of horror running through them and dealt with some classic “horror” creatures – vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, among others. They also devoted a large number of episodes to serial killers with varying degrees of paranormal abilities, since Mulder and Scully were FBI agents and a murder spree was the most obvious reason to put them on a case.

And so, for Halloween, we present the 13 scariest hours of The X-Files for your viewing pleasure!

13. The Host

The ‘Flukeman’, the Monster of the Week in ‘The Host’, is best remembered for one of freakiest monster designs of the series. Played by one of the show...

One only needs to look at the fan reaction (some positive, much not) to last week’s news of a Sex and the City sequel series to know that bringing back an old TV property is dangerous territory. But when it works — either as a continuation of the original series, or a fresh take on a familiar title — it can be thrilling. Here are 10 of our favorites: five revivals with some or all of the original actors, and five reboots that started from scratch.

10. DuckTales (2017-2021, Disney Xd/Disney)

The...

The X-Files as we once knew it appears to be all but over after 11 seasons spanning the course of 25 years, two feature films, and numerous comics, books, and video game tie-ins. On a show where famously no one ever really dies, the prospect of another run with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is all but dead. That’s thoroughly disappointing for fans who were (to put it nicely) unsatisfied with the season 11 finale and series creator Chris Carter himself recently said he was “sorry” for how the series ended with a string of cliffhangers that may never get resolved.

The good news for X-Files diehards is that any franchise worth, well, anything in Hollywood these days never dies. Carter embodies this wholeheartedly and has been quietly working on the next iteration of The X-Files, which is an animated spinoff series script recently ordered by Fox. The series, titled The X-Files: Albuquerque,...

October 13, 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic “The X-Files” episodes of all time, “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” Written by Darin Morgan and directed by David Nutter, this darkly humorous episode focuses on guest star Peter Boyle as the titular life insurance salesman who can predict how people will die. It originally aired October 13, 1995 on Fox as the fourth episode of Season 3. (See all Morgan-penned episodes below in our photo gallery.) The episode went on to win two Emmy Awards: Best Drama Guest Actor for Boyle and Best Drama Writing for Morgan.

See‘The X-Files’: We rank the Top 10 monsters from worst to best, including Flukeman and Eugene Victor Tooms

In the 45-minute entry, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) meet Bruckman during their investigation into a series of murders of fortune tellers and psychics. The lonely man eventually helps them catch the serial killer,...

It’s the cast and creatives of The X-Files like you’ve never seen (or heard) them before. The group reunited recently to record a special version of the show’s previously instrumental-only theme song for a charity video benefiting the World Central Kitchen.

The “Song in the Key of X” video, done remotely, includes actors David Duchovny (Fox Mulder), Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner), Robert Patrick (John Doggett), Annabeth Gish (Monica Reyes), Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek), and William B. Davis (Cigarette Smoking Man), as well as creator Chris Carter, writer/director/executive producer Vince Gilligan, writer/director/consulting producer Darin Morgan, and writer/director/co-ep James Wong. (You’ll have to watch the video to see where Scully pops in). Lyrics were written by fans Jennifer Large and Rebecca MacDonald.

“The unforgettable theme to The X-Files had no lyrics. Until now,” the spot’s title card reads at the beginning of the video.

The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson virtually reunited with dozens of the beloved sci-fi series’ cast and crew to provide new lyrics for the show’s spooky theme song.

The show’s creator Chris Carter, series vets like Vince Gilligan, Frank Spotnitz, Darin Morgan and Michelle MacLaren, composer Mark Snow and cast members like Mitch Pileggi, Robert Patrick, Annabeth Gish and William B. Davis also took part in recreating the X-Files theme with fan-written lyrics.

The reunion and its corresponding fundraiser, kickstarted by the show’s executive producer Spotnitz,...

The world needs a lot of things right now, and one of them just happens to be easygoing entertainment. So be grateful for “Banana Split,” a charming teen romance that fits neatly into the era of “Booksmart” but also manages to stand solidly on its own.

Cowriter Hannah Marks (“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”) also stars as April, a high-school senior in a long-term relationship with dim hottie Nick (Dylan Sprouse). Marks, cowriter Joey Power and director Benjamin Kasulke spend about five minutes introducing, capturing and ending this relationship, in a quick but clever montage that both fills us in and keeps us at a distance.

That detachment does leave a nagging hole in the story, because we never have the chance to become invested in this couple. But it’s also a purposeful choice: It soon becomes clear that the filmmakers have something other than romance in mind.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic “The X-Files” episodes of all time, “Humbug.” Written by Darin Morgan and directed by the late Kim Manners, this episode about a series of murders in a circus town originally aired March 31, 1995 on Fox. It was the first hour that perfectly blended horror with comedy, a combination fans later saw in such Morgan-penned episodes as “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “War of the Coprophages” and “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.” (See all Darin Morgan episodes below in our photo gallery.)

See‘The X-Files’: We rank the Top 10 monsters from worst to best, including Flukeman and Eugene Victor Tooms

Throughout “Humbug,” FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) bicker about what’s really causing the murders in town. Mulder thinks it’s the fabled Fiji mermaid, which Scully believes is nothing but a hoax. Scully is eventually proven correct,...

You bet your blankety-blank bleep that Darin Morgan is one of “The X-Files” fans’ favorite writers. Morgan’s quirky style is one of a kind on the show, and he was even rewarded with an Emmy in 1996 for writing the Season 3 classic “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” Despite his renowned reputation among fans, Morgan has only written six episodes of “The X-Files,” just a drop in the bucket when you consider there’s been more than 200 (and counting). Tour our photo gallery below to see all of Morgan’s “The X-Files” episodes.

Chris Carter's sci-fi classic The X-Files is one of the quintessential 1990s TV shows that still has a loyal following and keeps drawing in new fans. The show ended in May 2002 and then came back with a movie six years later. The film received mostly mixed reviews, but that didn't stop Fox from trying again.

Related: The 10 Best Celebrity Cameos On The X-Files

In 2016, The X-Files came back with a six-episode tenth season that once again got mixed reviews, aside from the outstanding "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster." Season Eleven arrived in 2018 and fared better with the critics. Special praise went to yet another Darin Morgan episode, "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat." Morgan's episodes are, in general, favored by both the critics and the fans, as evidenced by IMDb's top ten highest-rated X-Files episodes ever. Check out the full list below.

The cultural touchstone of the 1990s, Chris Carter's sci-fi classic The X-Files started out as a tense thriller about conspiracies, aliens, and the paranormal, but over the years, the show became increasingly self-aware, especially in a number of highly entertaining comedic episodes. Unsurprisingly, most of those gems were written by either Vince Gilligan or Darin Morgan, who penned a good number of X-Files' best installments.

Related: The Ultimate '90s TV Gift Guide

For a sci-fi drama, The X-Files sure does have a lot of funny episodes and before we get to the top ten, we'd like to shoutout the runners-up: "Humbug", "Arcadia", "The Post-Modern Prometheus", "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas", "Hollywood A.D.", "Syzygy", and "Triangle".

Forget Lady Gaga. The real breakout star of “A Star Is Born,” Warner Bros’ romantic musical that’s poised to take awards season by storm, is D.J. “Shangela” Pierce.

However, many fans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the reality TV show that gave Shangela her big break, are wondering why she’s not nominated along with the rest of the cast at this year’s SAG Awards. As it turns out, the Screen Actors Guild has a rule that in order for an actor to receive a bid as part of the ensemble they must receive “single card billing.” Since only seven “A Star Is Born” cast members receive such billing — Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay, Rafi Gavron and Anthony Ramos — those are the film’s only SAG-eligible contenders.

SEE2019 SAG Awards nominations: Full list of Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees

A rep...

A funny thing happened last week. Funny coincidental, not funny ha-ha, since it involved two different comedies going completely serious. Last Friday, Netflix released the fifth season of the animated BoJack Horseman, while Amazon premiered the first season of its new Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen series Forever. Two seasons released on the same day, both featuring sixth episodes that completely broke from what had happened before or since, structurally as well as tonally. BoJack gave us the remarkable episode-length eulogy “Free Churro,” while Forever‘s “Andre and Sarah” abandoned the...

When “The X-Files” debuted Sept. 10, 1993, it broke a lot of rules about television series. So at a press gathering, the creative group was asked what the show was aiming for. David Duchovny deadpanned, “Syndication.”

The series has surpassed even his expectations, running nine seasons (with an added two-season revival) and is still airing worldwide after 25 years.

On the day that the show debuted, Variety reviewer Tony Scott raved about the “ingenious script” by creator-exec producer Chris Carter. Scott continued, “The artful presentation gives TV sci-fi a boost … the series kicks off with drive and imagination.”

The show earned respectable ratings for Fox Broadcasting, in its first year of seven-nights-a-week programming. Soon there was a growing community of “X-Philes,” who used the new internet (aka “information superhighway”) to exchange ideas with other fans about the actions of FBI agents Mulder and Scully. The show quickly progressed from modest TV success to internet cult fave,...

The famed comedian Sinbad, who plays Lil Rel Howery’s father in the upcoming Fox sitcom “Rel,” has dozens of credits listed on IMDb. But it’s the one not there that is perhaps his most infamous — though if you ask Sinbad about “Shazam,” he knows exactly what you’re talking about. “It came out of nowhere,” he told IndieWire, laughing. “And nobody knows why.”

The short version of one of pop culture’s weirdest memes is as follows: A few years ago, a growing number of people began to believe that at some point in the 1990s, they had seen a movie called “Shazam.” Not the upcoming Zachary Levi superhero comedy, though — a completely different film, starring Sinbad.

It’s one example of a phenomenon known as the Mandela Effect, which was recently the focus of an “X-Files” episode from Season 11. As Mulder and Scully discussed in “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat,...

The 2018 season of Fox’s “The X-Files” — the second of the revival and 11th overall — is staging a spooky Emmy campaign for five of its cast members. Leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are of course back on the Emmy ballot as FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Duchovny previously earned two nominations (1997-98) for the original run of “The X-Files,” while Anderson received four bids (1996-99) and won the 1998 Emmy for Best Drama Actress. This time around they’re joined by three of this season’s standout guest stars: Karin Konoval (“Plus One”), Haley Joel Osment (“Kitten”) and Fiona Vroom (“Nothing Lasts Forever”).

See‘The X-Files’ Season 11 finale: Are you happy with Gillian Anderson’s tearful goodbye as Scully? [Poll]

Character actress Konoval, who was one of our Emmy spotlights in January, played no less than four characters in Episode 6: Little Judy Poundstone, her twin brother Little Chucky Poundstone,...

Remember last season on The X-Files, when Mulder took out his frustrations by destroying his iconic “I Want to Believe” poster? As a longtime X-Phile, what I’m about to argue feels like a betrayal of equal magnitude, but here goes:

If Fox’s long-running sci-fi drama is to continue, it’s time for series creator Chris Carter to take a giant step back from the show.

I say this not in reaction to the polarizing twist — Cigarette Smoking Man, and not Mulder, was the father of Scully’s son! — that Carter wrote into the Season 11 premiere and doubled down on in the finale.

After playing FBI Agent Dana Scully on “The X-Files” for 25 years, Gillian Anderson finally said goodbye during Wednesday’s Season 11 finale. Scully’s final scene played out on a dock with longtime partner Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). After seeing their son William (Miles Robbins) gunned down by the Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis), an emotional Scully confessed that Mulder wasn’t actually William’s father. When Mulder asked, “What am I now if I’m not a father?” Scully revealed that he still was a father … because she was pregnant. Are you happy with Anderson’s exit on “The X-Files”? Vote now in our poll below.

See ‘The X-Files’: Darin Morgan episodes through the years include ‘Clyde Bruckman,’ ‘Jose Chung’ and …

“You are a father,” Scully whispered as she held Mulder’s hand against her stomach.

“That’s impossible,” Mulder replied, no doubt referring to the fact that she was barren.

In true “The X-Files” fashion, Wednesday’s Season 11 finale is not going to be wrapped up with a pretty little bow. “Hope you tune in tonight for the cliffiest of all hangers,” cast member David Duchovny teased on Instagram. “Thank you to all the fans, old and new, for finding us, sticking by us for these 11 seasons, 2 movies, and 25 years. I don’t know what’s next, but this one’s for you.” What do You think this cliffhanger might be? Give us your theories down in the comments section.

See ‘The X-Files’: Darin Morgan episodes through the years include ‘Clyde Bruckman,’ ‘Jose Chung’ and …

Duchovny included a side-by-side photo in his post showing how his character, FBI Agent Fox Mulder, has aged over the past 25 years. (See the Instagram post below.) On the left, a picture of Mulder in the Season 11 finale. On the right, a screenshot from the pilot episode,...

Did “The X-Files” just set up Gillian Anderson‘s exit from the show she’s starred on for 11 seasons as FBI Agent Dana Scully? At the end of Wednesday’s episode, titled “Nothing Lasts Forever,” Scully whispered something to David Duchovny‘s Fox Mulder while praying in a church. “That’s my leap of faith forward,” she told him after whispering the ominous comment into his ear. “And I’d like to do it together.”

See ‘The X-Files’: Darin Morgan episodes through the years include ‘Clyde Bruckman,’ ‘Jose Chung’ and …

Mulder at first appeared caught off-guard by her words, then finally replied, “I’ve always wondered how this was gonna end.” As “Nothing Lasts Forever” was the last episode before next week’s Season 11 finale, it only makes sense that whatever Scully whispered to Mulder will be important to Scully’s endgame on the long-running series.

Earlier in the...

TV critics are so head over heels with Season 11 of “The X-Files” that it was just certified fresh at review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. That means the season has a score of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews, including five from their Top Critics. In fact, Season 11 has an average rating of 82% so far, eclipsing the 64% score for 2016’s uneven Season 10 revival. Among the many accolades, Gillian Anderson is being heralded for her “truly dynamite performance” as FBI Agent Dana Scully. Do you agree with critics that “The X-Files” is better than ever?

Anderson got to show her acting chops in last week’s fifth episode, titled “Ghouli,” as Scully cried over the dead body of a young man that she believed to be her son, William. Fans also saw a softer side of Anderson’s longtime partner in crime David Duchovny (FBI Agent Fox Mulder) in the...

X-Files Recap is a weekly column by Keith Uhlich covering Chris Carter's 10-episode continuation of the X-Files television series.Some late-night chatter overheard at a diner: “The world’s gone mad…” says Martin (Dan Zukovic), a man of wild stare and clammy brow. “…because Martians have invaded, but nobody seems to care!” The eatery’s owner, Buddy (Alex Diakun), tries to calm the guy down with a bit of coffee and straight talk, but Martin—convinced that these extraterrestrial invaders are using some kind of mind-erasing laser gun—isn’t having it. His paranoia is soon proven true, since Martin turns out to be one of the bulbous-headed, multi-appendage aliens and Buddy is actually Satan himself. (What a twist!) But just before the big reveal, a fearful Martin points down the counter, right at the camera—at us, the audience, watching. “There! I just saw one!” he says, “Outside through that window!

At this point, should the series continue beyond season 11, The X-Files would do well to hand over the truth-seeking reins to longtime series writer Darin Morgan. The brains behind some of the most memorable hours during the series’ initial run — ‘Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose’ and ‘Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’’ among them — Morgan was also responsible for ‘Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster,’ the sole episode from season 10 to approach any sort of positive consensus among critics. The hour was a standout among the five others offered by the revival, a funny and clever episode that not only made great use of its guest stars Rhys Darby and Kumail Nanjiani, but also did what all good Morgan-penned episodes of The X-Files do: It put the entire premise of the series under the microscope, poking at the conventions that made the show an overwhelming force in television and pop culture in general.

The 11th season of “The X-Files” continued Wednesday night on Fox with acclaimed Emmy-winning writer Darin Morgan‘s latest episode, titled “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat.” In the hour, Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) explored the Mandela Effect, where the memories of large groups of people inexplicably differed on certain details, like as if they were remembering an alternative history without even realizing it. They encountered hilariously sweaty Reggie (Brian Huskey) in their investigation, and in doing so, Mulder and Scully found out how the X-Files might really have originated.

What did we think of the episode overall? In our new video recap (watch above), senior editors Marcus James Dixon, Rob Licuria and Daniel Montgomery dish the highs and lows of Season 11, Episode 4, written and directed by Darin Morgan.

See ‘The X-Files’: Darin Morgan episodes through the years include ‘Clyde Bruckman,’ ‘Jose...

Poison Ivy introduces one very lucky Bruce Wayne to her latest magical makeover in a new promo for Fox’s Gotham, which will resume Season 4 on Thursday, March 1 at 8/7c.

RELATEDGotham Recast Twist: Peyton List Is the New and ‘Dangerous’ Poison Ivy

As previously reported, Peyton List (The Flash, Frequency) is stepping into the role of former mop-topped street rat Ivy Pepper, who was initially aged up for Season 3 in the form of Maggie Geha.

RELATED9-1-1 Renewed for Season 2 at Fox

Leading out of Gotham will be the weekly series premiere of Showtime at the Apollo, hosted by (of course) Steve Harvey.

The 13th episode of Criminal Minds‘ 13th season was not a lucky one in the ratings department.

Leading out of an Amazing Race double header, the CBS crime drama drew 5.3 million total viewers and a 0.9 demo rating, hitting and tying series lows.

Tar averaged 6.2 mil and a 1.2, down 20 percent week-to-week.

RELATED2018 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?

Elsewhere….

The CW | Riverdale (1.39 mil/0.5) and Dynasty (560K/0.2, per finals) were steady in the demo, though the latter delivered its smallest audience yet.

RELATEDRiverdale Recap: Wanna Wrassle?

Fox | The X-Files (3.9 mil/1.0) dipped a tenth,...

So far, in my opinion, The X-Files Season 11 has been awesome, but it looks like the best is yet to come! Fox has released a mid-season trailer that gives us an extended look at the upcoming episodes including the episode that aired last night. Things certainly look like they are going to get crazy!

Last night's episode was called “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” and it was written and directed by Darin Morgan, who also wrote fan-favorite episodes “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” and “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” Here's the description:

“Exploring the idea of The Mandela Effect, in which large groups of people remember an alternate history, Mulder and Scully learn how The X-Files themselves may have originated.”

The trailer also shows us footage from Episode 11.05, which is titled "Ghouli". It was written and directed by James Wong:

“When a pair of teenage girls attack one another,...

D.J. Pierce (aka Shangela Laquifa Wadley) returns to the RuPaul’s Drag Race stage on Thursday (VH1, 8/7c) for another season of All Stars — and he’s been busy since we last saw him.

In addition to his work on the big screen — he even appears in Lady Gaga’s upcoming A Star Is Born remake — Pierce has guest-starred on a handful of sitcoms and dramas since debuting on television in 2010. From having a kiki with Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of Glee to helping Scully and Mulder solve an out-of-this-world crime on The X-Files, Pierce has found...

When I first heard that The X-Files was getting a reboot, my first thought was not "Will this new version redeem the 2008 movie's sad attempt at continuing Mulder and Scully's story?" or even "Will we find out if The Smoking Man is actually dead this time?" (We do -- he isn't.) No, my first thought was "Is Darin Morgan going to write any of the new episodes?" Every true X-Files fan knows that Darin Morgan is the backbone of what makes the show so special, even more than the creator himself.

[Editor’s note: Spoilers follow for “The X-Files” Season 11, Episode 4, “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat.”]

Previously, on “The X-Files”…

FBI Agents Mulder and Scully make a living investigating weird phenomena for the FBI. Sometimes, the cases they investigate are super-serious and sad. And then sometimes, they’re just a bit wackadoo.

This Week’s Dossier

Mulder and Scully, just living their lives, are confronted by a stranger (played by erstwhile TV guest star Brian Huskey) who literally likes being led off in a straightjacket because he crazy. But he also might be onto the fact that the X-Files have been a conspiracy, this whole time, to suppress the truth about…him, at least. But is Reggie Something — okay, nee Reginald Murgatroid — actually a former soldier, CIA operative, and FBI agent who worked on the X-Files in its earliest days? Or is he a crackpot who just happens to have evidence of the X-Files tapping into...

Chris Longo Jan 25, 2018

In a comedy episode of The X-Files season 11, memory is under attack. Spoilers ahead in our review...

This review contains spoilers.

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11.4 The Lost Art Of Forehead Sweat

For a show that spent ample time attempting to uncover the truth, the past often took a backseat to fighting the future in The X-Files. You know the drill. Evidence goes missing. Unsubstantiated reports are filed. Multiple accounts of the same event are unreliable at best. At worst? Someone or something could be running interference with a witness’s memory. If the series dwelled on unsolved phenomena instead of moving along to bigger, more important subject matter, Mulder and Scully would still be in the woods hunting for the Jersey Devil.

By definition, the truth has to be out there,...

“I’ve stumbled on the conspiracy to end all conspiracies,” says the guy, and even though he’s arguably right, it’s also funny, because we’ve heard this before. At the heart of most of Darin Morgan’s writing for The X-Files is a man rolling his eyes through tears, and “The Lost Art Of Forehead Sweat” is no exception.…

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If you have grown up, have memories and have ever questioned some of your favorite things in life, you loved "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat."

I don't know how to review The X-Files Season 11 Episode 4, per se, but I can talk about it like there's no tomorrow. Or no yesterday. Or at least that I won't remember the yesterday that was tomorrow. 

Overall, this was one of the silliest hours of The X-Files in a while, but it was also one of the most enjoyable and still had a rather profound message to share.

Although there was, eventually, a message delivered that I found helpful in this crazy world in which we live, it didn't seem to be the focal point. 

Then again, maybe it was. This was a Darin Morgan episode. He's so talented and crafty that he may have been pointedly saying something by way of making...

Ladies and flukemen, The X-Files‘ Darin Morgan has done it again.

The sci-fi drama scribe/director/producer’s latest alien offering, Wednesday’s “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” episode, takes on the concept of manipulated memories — remember the whole Berenstein/Berenstain Bears parallel universe thing a few years back? — and skewers the existence of a post-truth society, all while managing to slot in some very funny (and wildly altered) clips from the series’ original run.

We couldn’t wait to break down the hour with the Guy man himself, but first, a brief recap:

A mysterious man contacts Mulder...

You bet your blankety-blank bleep that Wednesday’s all-new episode of “The X-Files” was written and directed by fan-favorite Darin Morgan. In honor of the occasion, it’s the perfect time to look back at all of the auteur’s episodes through the years. Morgan’s quirky style is one of a kind on the show, and he was even rewarded with an Emmy in 1996 for writing the Season 3 classic “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” Despite his renowned reputation among fans, Morgan has only written six episodes of “The X-Files,” just a drop in the bucket when you consider there’s been more than 200 (and counting). Click through our photo gallery above to see all of Morgan’s “The X-Files” episodes, or read the descriptions below.

“Humbug” — Season 2, Episode 20 — March 31, 1995

Set in the world of a traveling carnival, “Humbug” was Morgan’s first solo script after previously receiving a “story...

Demi Moore is going full-tilt Kathy Bates in a new promo for Empire‘s return on Wednesday, March 28 (Fox, 8/7c).

RELATEDThis Is Us‘ Ryan Michelle Bathe Joins Empire as [Spoiler]’s Ex-Wife

In the above video, Moore’s nurse Claudia takes a cue from the classic thriller Misery and chains up Lucious in a cabin, while Cookie searches for her missing ex.

“I will slit her throat,” Claudia threatens, holding a very sharp knife. (She’s also got an ax, so Cookie better watch her back.)

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Hannah Waddingham (Game of Thrones) will...

“I know you think I’m crazy, but it’s not me, it’s the world. The world’s gone mad.” Sounds like something any one of us could say on any given day of the week, but those words kick off an extended midseason trailer for The X Files.

The three-minute clip includes new footage from the next five episodes, including tonight’s episode, written and directed by Darin Morgan, as well as the Feb. 7 “Skinner”-centric episode guest-starring Haley Joel Osment.

From creator and executive producer Chris Carter The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, along with Mitch Pileggi as FBI Asst. Director Walter Skinner.

In tonight’s episode “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat,” the idea of The Mandela Effect, in which large groups of people remember an alternate history, is explored as Mulder (Duchovny) and Scully (Anderson...

“I know you think I’m crazy, but it’s not me, it’s the world. The world’s gone mad.” Sounds like something any one of us could say on any given day of the week, but those words kick off an extended midseason trailer for The X Files. The three-minute clip includes new footage from the next five episodes, including tonight’s episode, written and directed by Darin Morgan, as well as the Feb. 7 "Skinner"-centric episode guest-starring Haley Joel Osment. From creator and…...

The X-Files is going absurdly funny, again, and taking on "fake news." In "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat," an episode written and directed by Darin Morgan, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) explore The Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is when large groups of people remember an alternate history. In The X-Files' case, this involves guest star Brian Huskey (as Reggie Something) and the duo exploring the history of their investigations. It's a wonderfully bizarre tale from the man who brought you last season's "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" and classic episodes such as "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and "Jose Chung's 'From...

If you’re an X-Files viewer who likes your Mulder a little goofy, your Scully a little put out and your callbacks to previous episodes plentiful, this week’s Darin Morgan-written and –directed hour is a bleepin’ dream.

“The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” (Fox, Wednesday at 8/7c) takes the same irreverent tone as the producer’s previous X-Files eps, which include Season 3’s “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” and “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’,” as well as last season’s “Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster.” It examines the concept of The Mandela Effect — which happens when masses...

This week on Fox’s Lucifer, Pierce aka Cain was ready to make a break for it — but instead he made a deal with the devil. Meanwhile, unexpected news nudged nascent lovebirds Amenadiel and Linda toward a break-up.

RELATEDLucifer‘s Tom Ellis: Cain Twist ‘Opens Up a Nice Can of Worms,’ Tees Up a ‘Strange Bromance’

With the immortal cat now out of the bag, Cain/Pierce tended to his gradually healing stab wound while recounting for Lucifer the extent of his millennia-long existence. As “the world’s first murderer” (having offed his brother Abel), Cain was cursed to...