The X-Files Was So Influential That It Changed TV Forever

Science fiction television has truly never been in a better place. Far from a niche genre, series like Andor and Stranger Things prove that sci-fi TV is big business. Even with that success, though, the most influential science fiction series of the past 40 years is one that just couldn’t be made in the era of streaming TV.

The X-Files Still Ranks Among The Best Sci-Fi Shows Ever

Premiering in 1993, The X-Files was nothing short of generation-defining.

The series sees two FBI agents, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), investigate unexplained occurrences in America. Though the series’ premise is simple, The X-Files gets a lot of mileage out of it, exploring strange crimes that tap into a deep well of conspiracy theories, classic American folklore, and entirely unique monsters made up for the show’s mythology.

That mythology has been a key part of the show’s success ever since its first episode. Beyond the mysteries present in individual episodes, broader mysteries focusing on aliens kept viewers intrigued week-to-week.

Perhaps the biggest feather in The X-Files’ cap, however, is its two leads. Mulder and Scully are both well-written and believable characters. Helping matters immensely are the performances from Duchovny and Anderson. Their chemistry is nothing short of infectious and makes even the dullest episodes, at the very least, entertaining.

To the surprise of modern viewers, The X-Files has also aged quite well for the most part. The series’ multifaceted roles for women and girls stand out as quite admirable, even three decades later. All of these elements combined to make The X-Files one of the most important sci-fi shows ever.

The X-Files Remains Incredibly Influential, Even After 30+ Years

It’s difficult to overstate The X-Files’ impact on TV. While there are a few shows that obviously took inspiration from The X-Files, like Supernatural, Fringe, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, bits of The X-Files’ DNA can be seen in a diverse range of places.

The show’s developing mythology and laundry list of mysteries can be seen as a precursor to big hits like Lost, Stranger Things, and Westworld. Ongoing mysteries and a broader lore are huge parts of modern TV, and while The X-Files wasn’t the first TV series to prominently feature these things, it was among the earliest and most prominent.

It’s difficult to imagine what the landscape of modern TV would look like without the direct influence of The X-Files.

This is why it’s so unfortunate that modern TV just couldn’t make something like The X-Files. While some might write that off as overly cynical, the proof is apparent. The streaming era did try to make The X-Files, and it just did not work.

The X-Files’ Modern Reboot Just Couldn’t Compete In the Streaming Era

Despite ’90s nostalgia being huge, the 2016 and 2018 The X-Files reboot just didn’t work from a critical or commercial perspective.

Season 10 of The X-Files just lacked much of the creative energy and fun of the series’ heyday. While Duchovny and Anderson’s chemistry was still enough to keep the series moderately entertaining, it wasn’t enough to save weak scripts and a feeling that the series was being brought back more out of obligation than out of any need to express something creatively.

Not helping matters was one of The X-Files’ weakest season finales in My Struggle II.

While season 11 of the series was a step up for many long-time fans, even the series’ creator regrets The X-Files season 11’s finale, leaving the franchise on something of a cold note. So why doesn’t The X-Files work in the modern era? Quite simply, because the structure that made it such a phenomenon in the 1990s is absolutely impossible to replicate in 2026.

The X-Files’ Structure Is Just Incompatible With the Streaming Era

TV in 2026 is very different than TV in 1993. In the early 1990s, it wasn’t uncommon for a single season of TV to run for half a year, take a break, and then return to the air that same year with another run of episodes.

The X-Files’ first season consisted of 24 episodes and ran from September 1993 to May 1994. Meanwhile, season 2 of The X-Files ran for 25 episodes and ran from September 1994 to May 1995. This is the pattern every season of the show followed until it ended with its 9th season in 2002.

Compare that to The X-Files’ reboot. Season 10 of The X-Files ran for 6 episodes from January 2016 to February 2016. Then, after no new episodes in 2017, the series returned with 10 more episodes for its 11th season.

Far from an anomaly, this is the nature of modern TV. Stranger Things, the biggest modern TV show by most available metrics, ran for 9 years, but only gave fans 42 episodes spread across 5 seasons. While the creators of Stranger Things have defended the long wait for new seasons, it caused young stars to age up and ultimately hurt the series’ pacing.

Additionally, the modern era’s emphasis on cliff-hanger-centric storytelling and total serialization can keep viewers in the lurch for years as they wait for a beloved series’ return.

Part of the appeal of a series like The X-Files is just how wild and experimental it gets at times. Many of The X-Files’ best episodes have nothing to do with the series’ overarching plot. The only reason that was possible was that, with so many episodes a season, the series could afford to get weird.

While sure, The X-Files produced more than its fair share of duds during its original run, the sheer volume of episodes released let viewers understand the world and characters better. Even monster-of-the-week episodes of The X-Files will often reveal bits of Mulder and Scully’s past, making them feel like real and believable characters.

Unfortunately, it seems like the era of TV series like The X-Files is well and truly over. While the modern era of TV has many advantages and has produced some absolute hits, it’s a shame that long-running episodic series like The X-Files are mostly a thing of the past.

Release Date

1993 – 2018-00-00

Network

FOX

Showrunner

Chris Carter