Reverse Cameo Effect
August 18, 2012 11:52 AM Subscribe
Ribisi was an established child actor by the time he was in the X-Files.
posted by griphus at 12:01 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 12:01 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you haven't watched X-Files in forever, the first four seasons are still solid gold. Plus hilarious hair and giant brick cellphones that never work!
posted by mek at 12:01 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by mek at 12:01 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
Nic Turiciano is an Awl summer reporter.
Is this new code for "we don't pay Nic"?
posted by maxwelton at 12:02 PM on August 18, 2012 [6 favorites]
Is this new code for "we don't pay Nic"?
posted by maxwelton at 12:02 PM on August 18, 2012 [6 favorites]
I'm currently making my way through this series on Netflix and while this is great and all, I'd actually prefer if someone out there could create a tumblr devoted to the evolution of pant-suits that Scully wears throughout the series.
posted by Fizz at 12:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [10 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 12:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [10 favorites]
Plus hilarious hair and giant brick cellphones that never work!
I remember one flashback episode where Mulder uses an 80s-era brick cell phone, but I don't remember them in other eps. The Nokia 1011 came out the year before the show started, and it was a 'normal'- sized phone.
It's definitely worth watching those first seasons again, though... and they're on Netflix streaming! Whoop!
posted by Huck500 at 12:10 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
I remember one flashback episode where Mulder uses an 80s-era brick cell phone, but I don't remember them in other eps. The Nokia 1011 came out the year before the show started, and it was a 'normal'- sized phone.
It's definitely worth watching those first seasons again, though... and they're on Netflix streaming! Whoop!
posted by Huck500 at 12:10 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
As an extra, my 'character' died in an X-Files episode, "The Field Where I Died". I drank the Kool-Aid and got stepped on a few times by Gillian Anderson, who always apologized in between takes. Duchovny seemed like an ass and a primadonna, sweeping in and out of the set wearing his sunglasses, even inside, only removing them for the duration of the scene.
posted by WaylandSmith at 12:13 PM on August 18, 2012 [47 favorites]
posted by WaylandSmith at 12:13 PM on August 18, 2012 [47 favorites]
This reminded me that Filter was a band and "Hey Man, Nice Shot" was a song.
posted by Beardman at 12:30 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by Beardman at 12:30 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
Ribisi was an established child actor by the time he was in the X-Files.
And Jack Black wasn't? Who can forget his amazing star-making turns as Slip, the leader of the Nasties in The Neverending Story III or as Lee Majors's buddy in a flashback in The Fall Guy?
posted by swishypants at 12:38 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
And Jack Black wasn't? Who can forget his amazing star-making turns as Slip, the leader of the Nasties in The Neverending Story III or as Lee Majors's buddy in a flashback in The Fall Guy?
posted by swishypants at 12:38 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Cranston stole that episode from Duchovny.
When Duchovny started to get moving again Cranston hadn't quite finished stealing as much of the episode as he wanted and ended up risking the life of his partner just to get an ego-stroking round thousand gallons of episode.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:39 PM on August 18, 2012 [5 favorites]
When Duchovny started to get moving again Cranston hadn't quite finished stealing as much of the episode as he wanted and ended up risking the life of his partner just to get an ego-stroking round thousand gallons of episode.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:39 PM on August 18, 2012 [5 favorites]
Okay, so he's maybe not super-famous and more of a Scifi cult favourite, but let's not forget Mark Sheppard in S1's "Fire" episode. He'd later turn up in Doctor Who, BSG, and, of course, Firefly (Badger!).
posted by kariebookish at 12:50 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by kariebookish at 12:50 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
Except maybe for Reynolds and LeBeouf, all of those people were established actors when they appeared on the show. So I guess it's just a matter what defines being "famous".
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 12:52 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 12:52 PM on August 18, 2012
Ribisi was an established child actor by the time he was in the X-Files.
And Jack Black wasn't?
Yeah, R. Lee Ermey not famous in when he appeared on The X-Files? The guy had been in major roles in Full Metal Jacket and Seven and I suspect his casting in Toy Story and The Simpsons (both pre-X-Files)was based on people knowing who he was.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:53 PM on August 18, 2012
And Jack Black wasn't?
Yeah, R. Lee Ermey not famous in when he appeared on The X-Files? The guy had been in major roles in Full Metal Jacket and Seven and I suspect his casting in Toy Story and The Simpsons (both pre-X-Files)was based on people knowing who he was.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:53 PM on August 18, 2012
Did you not read the paragraph under Ermey's picture?
posted by shakespeherian at 1:03 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 1:03 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Aaron Paul (Jesse from Breaking Bad) was also on the X-Files, that is how Vince Gilligan (of the X-files) cast both those guys in BB.
posted by lkc at 1:08 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by lkc at 1:08 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
It's a sort of arbitrary list of famous famous that were on the show when they were somewhat less famous. But that would have been a bad title, so they called it "before they were famous," and now benefit from us arguing about that.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:13 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:13 PM on August 18, 2012
famous famous.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:13 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:13 PM on August 18, 2012
If you haven't watched X-Files in forever, the first four seasons are still solid gold.
Terrible hair though.
I really want to rewatch the Vince Gilligan episodes.
Also: R Lee Emery unknown in 1995? What is your major malfunction?
posted by Artw at 1:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Terrible hair though.
I really want to rewatch the Vince Gilligan episodes.
Also: R Lee Emery unknown in 1995? What is your major malfunction?
posted by Artw at 1:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
It literally says that they are aware he was an established character actor at the time.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:21 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 1:21 PM on August 18, 2012
Did you not read the paragraph under Ermey's picture?
I didn't even read this comment!
posted by elizardbits at 1:24 PM on August 18, 2012 [11 favorites]
I didn't even read this comment!
posted by elizardbits at 1:24 PM on August 18, 2012 [11 favorites]
I just started watching season 2 of BB and guy-who-goes-ding is totally an X-files character.
(we probably shouldn't be making this all about Breaking Bad, but damn, such a great show.)
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on August 18, 2012
(we probably shouldn't be making this all about Breaking Bad, but damn, such a great show.)
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on August 18, 2012
famous famous.
I see everything twice!
posted by shakespeherian at 1:28 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I see everything twice!
posted by shakespeherian at 1:28 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Duchovny seemed like an ass and a primadonna
I'm glad to hear this, it confirms the strange seething hate I feel towards Duchovny.He seems entirely ridiculous as a person.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2012
I'm glad to hear this, it confirms the strange seething hate I feel towards Duchovny.He seems entirely ridiculous as a person.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2012
I'm still a-boggle about the fact that it's been 10 years since the series ended. Yikes. I remember all that apocalyptic 2012 stuff in the last episode, and at the time it seemed like a really obvious set-up for another movie or something. Guess that's not gonna happen.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2012
Did you not read the paragraph under Ermey's picture?
Yeah and it's total bullshit! Come on people. If stigmata were an actual thing, they would never appear on hands.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2012
Yeah and it's total bullshit! Come on people. If stigmata were an actual thing, they would never appear on hands.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2012
It literally says that they are aware he was an established character actor at the time.
Well, some of the others were famousish too but none of them would SNAP YOU LIKE A TWIG.
posted by Artw at 1:42 PM on August 18, 2012
Well, some of the others were famousish too but none of them would SNAP YOU LIKE A TWIG.
posted by Artw at 1:42 PM on August 18, 2012
Don't forget Terry O'Quinn (who later played John Locke on "Lost")
posted by churl at 1:44 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by churl at 1:44 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Man Seth Green always seems to pop up in the weirdest places and with the same group of people and that episode with Luke Wilson is one of the best in the series.
" he did not have bad teeth."
posted by The Whelk at 1:45 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
" he did not have bad teeth."
posted by The Whelk at 1:45 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
I just started watching season 2 of BB and guy-who-goes-ding is totally an X-files character.
(we probably shouldn't be making this all about Breaking Bad, but damn, such a great show.)
Guy who go ding! It's kind of amazing/bizarre that he was nominated for a guest actor Emmy this year for a role that had no dialogue.
Also I really wanted to turn the most recent BB thread into a Deadwood thread (poor justification) after finally watching the show and being six years behind lamenting its cancellation. Someone should make a Deadwood post just so I can whine.
Anyway I'm always hesitant to go back and rewatch X-Files because I'm afraid it won't hold up and destroy whatever adolescent affection I had for it. Then again by the time the series finale rolled around I had already ditched it in favor of Six Feet Under, which aired at the same time.
posted by palidor at 1:56 PM on August 18, 2012 [4 favorites]
(we probably shouldn't be making this all about Breaking Bad, but damn, such a great show.)
Guy who go ding! It's kind of amazing/bizarre that he was nominated for a guest actor Emmy this year for a role that had no dialogue.
Also I really wanted to turn the most recent BB thread into a Deadwood thread (poor justification) after finally watching the show and being six years behind lamenting its cancellation. Someone should make a Deadwood post just so I can whine.
Anyway I'm always hesitant to go back and rewatch X-Files because I'm afraid it won't hold up and destroy whatever adolescent affection I had for it. Then again by the time the series finale rolled around I had already ditched it in favor of Six Feet Under, which aired at the same time.
posted by palidor at 1:56 PM on August 18, 2012 [4 favorites]
I totally need to rewatch 6FU again and maybe not lose interest at one of the points where it changes direction this time round.
Oh, and Jesse was in Big Love, IIRC as the boyfriend of one of the daughters.
posted by Artw at 2:06 PM on August 18, 2012
Oh, and Jesse was in Big Love, IIRC as the boyfriend of one of the daughters.
posted by Artw at 2:06 PM on August 18, 2012
Don't forget Terry O'Quinn (who later played John Locke on "Lost")
Terry O'Quinn will always be the Stepfather to me.
posted by jonp72 at 2:07 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
Terry O'Quinn will always be the Stepfather to me.
posted by jonp72 at 2:07 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
I also looked up who played the landlord, Henry Weems, on the X-Files episode with Shia LeBoeuf. I had thought it was Dan Castellaneta in one of his non-voice-acting roles, but it was Willie Garson, who later went on to play Stanford on Sex and the City. I guess they look similar if Garson is not wearing his glasses.
posted by jonp72 at 2:11 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by jonp72 at 2:11 PM on August 18, 2012
Someone should do this in a few years with the cast of The Wire, who are *everywhere* at the moment.
posted by Artw at 2:18 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 2:18 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I honestly don't feel bad at all for not really watching X-Files after the movie came out. It had already lost a lot of steam by that point and I didn't think Doggett quite filled Mulder's shoes.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 2:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 2:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ha. Jim Beaver, who played Ellsworth on Deadwood and sells Walt gun(s) on Breaking Bad, had roles in Big Love, Six Feet Under, and The X-Files. I guess he wins.
posted by palidor at 2:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by palidor at 2:19 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Willir Garson also played a small but pivotal role on SG-1. He was in the episode Wormole X-treme! It is a great episode, it not only pokes fun at the ridiculousness of the show but also implies that stargates are real and SG-1 is part of a govenment coverup. Man it would be great if Mulder and Scully could investigate SG-1.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:20 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Ad hominem at 2:20 PM on August 18, 2012
Someone should do this in a few years with the cast of The Wire, who are *everywhere* at the moment.
The Internet would have exploded if this had happened
posted by palidor at 2:21 PM on August 18, 2012
The Internet would have exploded if this had happened
posted by palidor at 2:21 PM on August 18, 2012
Don't forget Terry O'Quinn (who later played John Locke on "Lost")Terry O'Quinn will always be the Stepfather to me.
posted by jonp72 at 16:07 on 8/18
[+] [!]
Terry O'Quinn can't throw a resume into a garbage can to save his life.
posted by samofidelis at 2:43 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
d.p.o. (jack black) is probably the best of these episodes.
posted by RTQP at 2:54 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by RTQP at 2:54 PM on August 18, 2012
Oh, and, if you want to rewatch X-Files, I can't recommend Jose Chung's "It Came from Outer Space" enough. I love the Scully episodes.
posted by samofidelis at 2:56 PM on August 18, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by samofidelis at 2:56 PM on August 18, 2012 [6 favorites]
Oh my God, Mulder ... it's me.
giant brick cellphones that never work!
Aaaand now this is happening.
posted by PapaLobo at 2:58 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
giant brick cellphones that never work!
Aaaand now this is happening.
posted by PapaLobo at 2:58 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Another X-Files Fashion Mishaps tumblr
posted by desjardins at 3:02 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by desjardins at 3:02 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
I can't recommend Jose Chung's "It Came from Outer Space" enough
Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
posted by stebulus at 3:10 PM on August 18, 2012 [5 favorites]
Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
posted by stebulus at 3:10 PM on August 18, 2012 [5 favorites]
I had a bizarro moment the other day rewatching Batman Begins, and seeing psycho child-king Joffrey sharing a tender scene with the Batman. I swear, for a couple seconds I was thinking "but but but Bats kill him with fire now augh maaaan".
posted by Iosephus at 3:22 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Iosephus at 3:22 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you want to feel old, please note that Gillian Anderson's daughter Piper turns 18 next month.
posted by ErikaB at 3:26 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by ErikaB at 3:26 PM on August 18, 2012 [7 favorites]
Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
One of the other ones by the same guy, probably.
posted by Artw at 3:54 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
One of the other ones by the same guy, probably.
posted by Artw at 3:54 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I can't recommend Jose Chung's "It Came from Outer Space" enough
Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
posted by stebulus at 17:10 on 8/18
I love the Devil's Triangle/WWII one as well -- Scully as the tough guy + Mulder telling the Germans Puddingtang, ask me again and I'll tell you the same. Good stuff.
posted by samofidelis at 4:06 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
posted by stebulus at 17:10 on 8/18
I love the Devil's Triangle/WWII one as well -- Scully as the tough guy + Mulder telling the Germans Puddingtang, ask me again and I'll tell you the same. Good stuff.
posted by samofidelis at 4:06 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
This reminded me that Filter was a band and "Hey Man, Nice Shot" was a song.
I touched my first boob and my boner was first touched by a girl to this song. Filter will forever live in my heart. If Mr. Filter kills a bus load of pensioners and manages to survive to trial, I will be recused from the jury.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:07 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
I touched my first boob and my boner was first touched by a girl to this song. Filter will forever live in my heart. If Mr. Filter kills a bus load of pensioners and manages to survive to trial, I will be recused from the jury.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:07 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
(Also it's Jose Chung's From Outer Space)
//nerd glasses.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
//nerd glasses.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
"... I'm always hesitant to go back and rewatch X-Files because I'm afraid it won't hold up and destroy whatever adolescent affection I had for it."
posted by palidor
I watched them recently, all the way through (yes, even the Doggett ones). They are still worth watching mate, they are like timeless fairy tales for adults. You can just lose yourself in the whole fantasy of it, that the FBI (of all places) has 2 special agents going round investigating paranormal/ufo stuff. (Mulder is a class A student who (AFAIR) came first in his class at Oxford University and they let him do this?)
But yes, watch them, they still hold up, the stories are pretty good, if a little daft sometimes, but they are well made (filmed/music/atmosphere). Sometimes they seem to steal almost to the point of imitationfrom 70s stuff like the conversation and so on - there is a scene with Mulder trashing his flat looking for bugs, and I'm shure in one of the episodes (possibly that one but definitely a main Big Conspiracy episode) there is a little 4 note ascending musical motif, and I'm shure they nicked it from All The Presidents Men, but I am probably mistaken.
"Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
One of the other ones by the same guy, probably.
posted by Artw
That guy being Darin Morgan.
[ditto]
Yeah, the Cockroach episode is also good, and is also a Darrin Morgan episode. Also (Nerd Alert) in one of the episodes, Mulder is at a newstand, and one of the magazines has the headline "Where the Hell is Derrin Morgan".
posted by marienbad at 4:27 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by palidor
I watched them recently, all the way through (yes, even the Doggett ones). They are still worth watching mate, they are like timeless fairy tales for adults. You can just lose yourself in the whole fantasy of it, that the FBI (of all places) has 2 special agents going round investigating paranormal/ufo stuff. (Mulder is a class A student who (AFAIR) came first in his class at Oxford University and they let him do this?)
But yes, watch them, they still hold up, the stories are pretty good, if a little daft sometimes, but they are well made (filmed/music/atmosphere). Sometimes they seem to steal almost to the point of imitationfrom 70s stuff like the conversation and so on - there is a scene with Mulder trashing his flat looking for bugs, and I'm shure in one of the episodes (possibly that one but definitely a main Big Conspiracy episode) there is a little 4 note ascending musical motif, and I'm shure they nicked it from All The Presidents Men, but I am probably mistaken.
"Amen. If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
One of the other ones by the same guy, probably.
posted by Artw
That guy being Darin Morgan.
[ditto]
Yeah, the Cockroach episode is also good, and is also a Darrin Morgan episode. Also (Nerd Alert) in one of the episodes, Mulder is at a newstand, and one of the magazines has the headline "Where the Hell is Derrin Morgan".
posted by marienbad at 4:27 PM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]
I can't recommend Jose Chung's "It Came from Outer Space" enough
Man, I must be one of the five people on this planet who could not stand that freakin' episode. It struck me as cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree, and I remember thinking, "Well, I hope they got that out of their system." So you can imagine how thrilled I was when the fifth season rolled around and it was just one goofy, self-parodying episode after another. The only thing that saves this one from being a series low was that incoherent mess of an episode that Duchovny directed a few seasons later, with the dancing zombies.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:29 PM on August 18, 2012
Man, I must be one of the five people on this planet who could not stand that freakin' episode. It struck me as cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree, and I remember thinking, "Well, I hope they got that out of their system." So you can imagine how thrilled I was when the fifth season rolled around and it was just one goofy, self-parodying episode after another. The only thing that saves this one from being a series low was that incoherent mess of an episode that Duchovny directed a few seasons later, with the dancing zombies.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:29 PM on August 18, 2012
Doing a quick look on Wikipedia, it seems season 4 isn't quite as loaded with the goofy episodes as I remembered. I don't know when it was in the run exactly, but I remember a long stretch where every commercial for the next episode made me cringe. "Another self-parody?"
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:38 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:38 PM on August 18, 2012
I can't recommend Jose Chung's "It Came from Outer Space" enough
Man, I must be one of the five people on this planet who could not stand that freakin' episode. It struck me as cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree
Well, sure. But I, too, am cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree
posted by samofidelis at 4:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Man, I must be one of the five people on this planet who could not stand that freakin' episode. It struck me as cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree
Well, sure. But I, too, am cutesy and self-indulgent to an appalling degree
posted by samofidelis at 4:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
As an SG-1 fan, watching the X-Files all the way through last year was AWESOME. Thanks to the law of "We filmed the first bunch of seasons in Vancouver but then we moved production to LA because of the lead actor who then promptly dropped out of the series" there is SO MUCH that is the same between the two shows. Including about three-fourths of the secondary & tertiary characters. Except that some of the tertiary characters on X-Files turned into primary characters (or very important secondary characters) on SG-1. Specific recurring characters on SG-1 who showed up in the X-Files include Gen. Hammond, Dr. Frasier, Sam Carter, Lt. Hailey, and Dr. Beckett.
Also, thanks to having seen both shows, I know that some people played late-teenaged girls for like, fifteen years.
posted by SMPA at 5:20 PM on August 18, 2012
Also, thanks to having seen both shows, I know that some people played late-teenaged girls for like, fifteen years.
posted by SMPA at 5:20 PM on August 18, 2012
If that's not the best episode of the whole damn series... well, then I guess I wish someone would tell me what is, because I'd like to watch that too.
I'd say that Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose and Pusher are at least strong potential contenders.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [9 favorites]
I'd say that Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose and Pusher are at least strong potential contenders.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [9 favorites]
I touched my first boob and my boner was first touched by a girl to this song. Filter will forever live in my heart.
That's kind of awkward for a song about a man shooting himself in the head.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:49 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
That's kind of awkward for a song about a man shooting himself in the head.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:49 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ah yes, Darin Morgan, most favored disciple of Lord Kinbote. What is he doing now? Seems a shame to waste such talent.
posted by Kevin Street at 5:57 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 5:57 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
That's kind of awkward for a song about a man shooting himself in the head.
To be fair, we don't yet know to whom the boob and the hand were attached.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 6:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
To be fair, we don't yet know to whom the boob and the hand were attached.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 6:42 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Or if indeed they were attached at all.
posted by elizardbits at 6:46 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by elizardbits at 6:46 PM on August 18, 2012
please push the drama button immediately after reading that comment
posted by elizardbits at 6:46 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 6:46 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
i've always thought of the bryan cranston episode as a clever re-working of vanishing point.
the darrin morgan eps were great. they were not so much self-indulgent as self-referential - which can be appalling, but in those instances it was really well done meta-narrative.
don't hate on the meta.
posted by lapolla at 7:30 PM on August 18, 2012
the darrin morgan eps were great. they were not so much self-indulgent as self-referential - which can be appalling, but in those instances it was really well done meta-narrative.
don't hate on the meta.
posted by lapolla at 7:30 PM on August 18, 2012
I also looked up who played the landlord, Henry Weems, on the X-Files episode with Shia LeBoeuf. I had thought it was Dan Castellaneta in one of his non-voice-acting roles, but it was Willie Garson, who later went on to play Stanford on Sex and the City. I guess they look similar if Garson is not wearing his glasses.
Wait wait wait. Shia whatshisname is the kid who needs the liver transplant in the one with the sex and the city guy who builds the doomahiggies and wins the lottery?
posted by double bubble at 7:43 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Wait wait wait. Shia whatshisname is the kid who needs the liver transplant in the one with the sex and the city guy who builds the doomahiggies and wins the lottery?
posted by double bubble at 7:43 PM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I loved all of the fourth-wall-ish (sorry, "cutesy farty") X-Files episodes; The Post-Modern Prometheus in season 5, How the Ghosts Stole Christmas in s6, the already mentioned Bermuda Triangle earlier in s6.
Also, Hollywood A.D. in s7 with Gary Shandling and Tea Leone learning how to be Scully. I'm sure I'm missing a few (can someone fill me in?).
But "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" in s3 is still the best of them, but I contend that its own success relies a lot on the success of the worldbuilding through the first two seasons.
posted by porpoise at 7:57 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also, Hollywood A.D. in s7 with Gary Shandling and Tea Leone learning how to be Scully. I'm sure I'm missing a few (can someone fill me in?).
But "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" in s3 is still the best of them, but I contend that its own success relies a lot on the success of the worldbuilding through the first two seasons.
posted by porpoise at 7:57 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
Oh! Hollywood A.D. reminded me of The Unnatural, which not only was a wonderful episode, but also featured a not-a-nobody-exactly-but-not-quite-as-famous-yet-as-he-became-eventually Jesse L Martin.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:09 PM on August 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
How the ghosts stole Christmas was the episode that made me think " wait could the x-files be the US Dr Who? Like just get new agents for Adventures? Cause it would totally work"
posted by The Whelk at 8:16 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by The Whelk at 8:16 PM on August 18, 2012
Cause that is a Dr. who episode don't you lie to me.
posted by The Whelk at 8:16 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by The Whelk at 8:16 PM on August 18, 2012
Willie Garson was also in an episode of Twin Peaks - he was a friend of Ted Raimi's dead character.
posted by crossoverman at 8:40 PM on August 18, 2012
posted by crossoverman at 8:40 PM on August 18, 2012
Writer got a character name wrong in the blurb about the Ryan Reynolds character--Brenda Summerfield was the "good girl" in that episode. He's thinking of Margie Kleinjans.
/pedantic mode off--I just know the X-Files too well.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:16 PM on August 18, 2012
/pedantic mode off--I just know the X-Files too well.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:16 PM on August 18, 2012
That Filter song should just be a NIN-on-valium blip consigned to the dustbin of history, where it can go to live with Stabbing Westward, God Lives Underwater and Prick, except for how it was in Demon Knight. That makes it immortal, yo.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:02 AM on August 19, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:02 AM on August 19, 2012 [1 favorite]
I liked that song... the album its on was utterly bland and uninteresting outside of it though.
/goes off to listen to Helmet or the Judgement Night soundrrack or something.
posted by Artw at 7:17 AM on August 19, 2012
/goes off to listen to Helmet or the Judgement Night soundrrack or something.
posted by Artw at 7:17 AM on August 19, 2012
Can someone answer a Jose Chung question? Was Jose Chung himself based on any real author? Because the book cover at the end was clearly a parody of Communion, but Jose Chung isn't meant to be Whitley Striber.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 7:42 AM on August 19, 2012
posted by Kitty Stardust at 7:42 AM on August 19, 2012
Just my 2 cents, but I think the last good X-Files episode was the Bermuda Triangle episode in season 6. I kept watching all the way to the end, but I was increasingly disgruntled and after the completely shitty series finale, I was done with the show. It's only in the last couple of years that I will even watch a re-run.
I did recently re-watch Twin Peaks for the first time in a decade and it is a work of genius. X-Files, and for that matter a lot of TV of the last 20 years, owed a lot to it.
posted by vibrotronica at 8:13 AM on August 19, 2012
I did recently re-watch Twin Peaks for the first time in a decade and it is a work of genius. X-Files, and for that matter a lot of TV of the last 20 years, owed a lot to it.
posted by vibrotronica at 8:13 AM on August 19, 2012
Was Jose Chung himself based on any real author?
The X-Files wiki asserts that Darin Morgan wanted "a writer like Truman Capote writing a version of an alien abduction that would be similar to In Cold Blood". Not sure if that counts as "based on" or not.
posted by stebulus at 8:58 AM on August 19, 2012
The X-Files wiki asserts that Darin Morgan wanted "a writer like Truman Capote writing a version of an alien abduction that would be similar to In Cold Blood". Not sure if that counts as "based on" or not.
posted by stebulus at 8:58 AM on August 19, 2012
Terry O'Quinn will always be the Stepfather to me.Even after X-Files, Millenium, and Lost I still think of him as "that guy who played the dad in PIN." (Trailer, full movie)
posted by usonian at 9:26 AM on August 19, 2012 [1 favorite]
They missed Perrey Reeves! She didn't become exactly famous, I guess, but she got a great role on HBO's Entourage. Really interesting shape for a female actor's career to take in my opinion. She survived David Duchovny too.
posted by BibiRose at 10:00 AM on August 19, 2012
posted by BibiRose at 10:00 AM on August 19, 2012
Terry O'Quinn will always be the Stepfather to me.
Even after X-Files, Millenium, and Lost I still think of him as "that guy who played the dad in PIN."
Wow, I'm just amazed there's another person out there who saw Pin.
posted by jonp72 at 10:07 AM on August 19, 2012 [1 favorite]
Even after X-Files, Millenium, and Lost I still think of him as "that guy who played the dad in PIN."
Wow, I'm just amazed there's another person out there who saw Pin.
posted by jonp72 at 10:07 AM on August 19, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ultimate nerd pedant here to say that the true episode title is "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", with emphasis, because From Outer Space is the title of the book he's working on.
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is the best, though.
Bruckman: "You know, there are worse ways to go, but I can't think of any more humiliating than autoerotic asphyxiation."
Mulder: "Why are you telling me this?"
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:49 PM on August 19, 2012 [5 favorites]
Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose is the best, though.
Bruckman: "You know, there are worse ways to go, but I can't think of any more humiliating than autoerotic asphyxiation."
Mulder: "Why are you telling me this?"
posted by Flannery Culp at 12:49 PM on August 19, 2012 [5 favorites]
Years ago my wife, mostlymartha, watched all nine seasons of the X-Files in nine weeks and blogged about it for work. One of the reoccurring themes she noticed was what she called Guests Who Later Got Big, so this doen't surprise me at all, and indeed, I feel like she caught more of them.
While that startup has since go under, those pieces are still around. All though she might be a bit embarrassed if anyone read those old posts.
posted by jaybeans at 10:22 PM on August 19, 2012
While that startup has since go under, those pieces are still around. All though she might be a bit embarrassed if anyone read those old posts.
posted by jaybeans at 10:22 PM on August 19, 2012
Nic Turiciano is an Awl summer reporter.
Is this new code for "we don't pay Nic"?
Nah, just means that he's there awl summer.
posted by dhartung at 11:48 PM on August 19, 2012
Is this new code for "we don't pay Nic"?
Nah, just means that he's there awl summer.
posted by dhartung at 11:48 PM on August 19, 2012
I'm just going to have to share my sadness that we're talking about things that Jim Beaver and Mark Sheppard have done, but no one mentioned either of their excellent roles in Supernatural.
posted by terilou at 10:51 AM on August 20, 2012
posted by terilou at 10:51 AM on August 20, 2012
I feel like Mark Pellegrino was also on XF but I am far too lazy to check imdb or RFTA again.
posted by elizardbits at 11:58 AM on August 20, 2012
posted by elizardbits at 11:58 AM on August 20, 2012
If you haven't watched X-Files in forever, the first four seasons are still solid gold. Plus hilarious hair and giant brick cellphones that never work!
I never watched it - not convinced I've actually seen a full episode - is it worth it? My landlord has the box set downstairs, but it didn't interest me too much at the time - the supernatural thing meant I overlooked it, thinking it would all be a bit David Icke. Is there more to it than that? Has it held up well?
I have to admit my hobby at the moment is spotting cameos from now-famouses in old TV shows. I saw Jeffrey Tambor on The Golden Girls the other day!
posted by mippy at 3:25 PM on August 20, 2012
I never watched it - not convinced I've actually seen a full episode - is it worth it? My landlord has the box set downstairs, but it didn't interest me too much at the time - the supernatural thing meant I overlooked it, thinking it would all be a bit David Icke. Is there more to it than that? Has it held up well?
I have to admit my hobby at the moment is spotting cameos from now-famouses in old TV shows. I saw Jeffrey Tambor on The Golden Girls the other day!
posted by mippy at 3:25 PM on August 20, 2012
I had a bizarro moment the other day rewatching Batman Begins, and seeing psycho child-king Joffrey sharing a tender scene with the Batman. I swear, for a couple seconds I was thinking "but but but Bats kill him with fire now augh maaaan".
Sean Bean is the voice of 02 in the UK. It's very distracting to hear Ned Stark tell us all about the special deals you can get at Prezzo with their loyalty service.
posted by mippy at 3:29 PM on August 20, 2012
Sean Bean is the voice of 02 in the UK. It's very distracting to hear Ned Stark tell us all about the special deals you can get at Prezzo with their loyalty service.
posted by mippy at 3:29 PM on August 20, 2012
"Is it worth it" is an interesting question. At the time, the show was mind-bending, genre-breaking, convention-defying. It brought long narrative arcs and a quirky paranormal worldview to a medium - television - at a time where these things were bracingly fresh.
Much like William Gibson's Neuromancer, The X-Files is in a strange position of being so instantly canonical and revolutionary that it ages poorly. It's not that you have never watched The X-Files; it's that you have watched everything which came since. The X-Files was there first, but if you circle back around to it today, it feels very "been there, done that, did it better."
Rewatching the episodes now, they seem stilted and sluggish, even plodding. There is an awful lot of clunky exposition. Mulder's saucy attitude towards Scully now strikes me as "inappropriate for the workplace," although at the time it was charmingly flirty.
Paranormal themes? Television has it in spades. Ghosts? Sure. We hunt them, befriend them, make them the critical dramatic personae. Long-form storytelling? It's practically old hat now. Snappy dialogue? Joss Whedon has a lock on it. Bizarre mysteries that never quite get solved woven into a long-running fictional show? Hello, LOST.
Even the show's most rabid fans (i.e. me) freely admit that later seasons saw a severe degradation in quality. I recently tried to start again where I left off, at the beginning of season 7. After 10 minutes of the season premiere I was like OH MY GODDDDD SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING THIS IS SO FULL OF ITSELF I COULD DIEEEEEE.
posted by ErikaB at 4:18 PM on August 20, 2012
Much like William Gibson's Neuromancer, The X-Files is in a strange position of being so instantly canonical and revolutionary that it ages poorly. It's not that you have never watched The X-Files; it's that you have watched everything which came since. The X-Files was there first, but if you circle back around to it today, it feels very "been there, done that, did it better."
Rewatching the episodes now, they seem stilted and sluggish, even plodding. There is an awful lot of clunky exposition. Mulder's saucy attitude towards Scully now strikes me as "inappropriate for the workplace," although at the time it was charmingly flirty.
Paranormal themes? Television has it in spades. Ghosts? Sure. We hunt them, befriend them, make them the critical dramatic personae. Long-form storytelling? It's practically old hat now. Snappy dialogue? Joss Whedon has a lock on it. Bizarre mysteries that never quite get solved woven into a long-running fictional show? Hello, LOST.
Even the show's most rabid fans (i.e. me) freely admit that later seasons saw a severe degradation in quality. I recently tried to start again where I left off, at the beginning of season 7. After 10 minutes of the season premiere I was like OH MY GODDDDD SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING THIS IS SO FULL OF ITSELF I COULD DIEEEEEE.
posted by ErikaB at 4:18 PM on August 20, 2012
The X-Files takes directly from Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and other week-to-week serials, so I don't think those kudos necessarily should fall securely on it's shoulders. There is no denying it had a really great dynamic, though. It also came along at the right time for a thriving fan base to be built around it on the internet, and that's a huge factor for its popularity to this day.
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 4:46 PM on August 20, 2012
posted by Rocket Surgeon at 4:46 PM on August 20, 2012
The X-Files takes directly from Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and other week-to-week serials
More than any of those Kolchak: The Night Stalker. And, from cinema, The Silence of the Lambs seems a big influence. It's basically Clarice Starling teams up with Kolchak of the FBI and they investigate draculas and mummies and stuff with the odd 90s alien abduction plot.
posted by Artw at 6:30 PM on August 20, 2012
More than any of those Kolchak: The Night Stalker. And, from cinema, The Silence of the Lambs seems a big influence. It's basically Clarice Starling teams up with Kolchak of the FBI and they investigate draculas and mummies and stuff with the odd 90s alien abduction plot.
posted by Artw at 6:30 PM on August 20, 2012
I have to admit my hobby at the moment is spotting cameos from now-famouses in old TV shows.
I like to do this too--although nothing has beaten my husband's and my game of "spot the actor crossover between Dark Angel and Battlestar Galactica." I swear half the BSG cast pops up at least once in DA. (X-Files is actually pretty good for that as well.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 2:07 PM on August 21, 2012
I like to do this too--although nothing has beaten my husband's and my game of "spot the actor crossover between Dark Angel and Battlestar Galactica." I swear half the BSG cast pops up at least once in DA. (X-Files is actually pretty good for that as well.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 2:07 PM on August 21, 2012
...spotting cameos from now-famouses in old TV shows.My brain initially parsed that as "now-famous houses", which is another fun TV and movie-watching game. It's amazing how often the Ennis House pops up once you learn to recognize it. Other houses/locations are perhaps less "famous", but as a transplant to Los Angeles in the late 1990s/early 2000s I loved watching reruns of Adam-12 and CHiPs to see how many locations I could recognize, sometimes within a few blocks of my apartment.
Speaking of Adam-12... that's another great show for spotting now-famouses in bit roles. Wikipedia even has a list.
posted by usonian at 10:05 AM on August 22, 2012
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posted by Pope Guilty at 11:55 AM on August 18, 2012 [3 favorites]