The X-Files Almost Certainly Coming Back For New Season

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS)

The X-Files returned to television this past January, and even though there were some definite growing pains, I really did enjoy seeing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return to their iconic roles as Mulder and Scully.

During the TCA press tour, Fox Broadcasting Company Entertainment President David Madden and Fox Television Group Chairman and CEO Dana Walden expressed their enthusiasm for a second season of the relaunched show. Here’s what Madden said during the panel (via /Film):

“We would obviously love to do another season. There are significant talks going on with all three of the principals. Schedules are hard but we’re working hard to get this done.”

The two were also asked about the criticism of the new season with Madden defending the six episodes saying:

“I actually think that the season, the six episodes were strong. We worked hard with Chris on the previous season. The episodes represent Chris and his team’s vision. Everybody reads what they read. If we have the opportunity to do more episodes, we will take our cue from Chris and his team.”

Walden added that the difficulty of restarting the series was at the heart of any problems the season had. If a second series were to go forward, The X-Files wouldn’t have that kind of responsibility the next time through:

“I would just add the show was off the air for a very long time and was introduced to a variety of new viewers through OTT [over the top] platforms [like Netflix and On Demand services]. There was still a lot of time to cover in these six episodes. They had the challenge of filling in the mythology and how they go to where they were at the start of the six. Going forward, there won’t be the same obligation to reset the series. On our social platforms, the chatter is overwhelmingly positive. The fans want more episodes. I did read some negative reviews and I also read some glowing reviews. Like most shows, I thought it was mixed.”

Walden added more detail about the potential upcoming season which includes a (hopefully) longer season. Here’s what she said after the panel:

“We would have liked to have done more in the first place. It was really the limitations of David [Duchovny] and Gillian [Anderson] and Chris [Carter]’s schedules. Gillian lives in the U.K., David lives in New York and California, and we do the show in Vancouver. Chris lives up north, so it’s just trying to coordinate a time where they all could carve out a period to be in Vancouver. I think now we have longer to plan. We’re in conversations that potentially we could do more. I don’t imagine it being a full season of The X-Files, but I would be really happy if we were able to get eight to 10 episodes.”

Personally I’m really hoping for 13-episode second season — or 11th season depending on how you’re counting. Six episodes were just not long enough for this past season, and eight episodes is not enough to tell any elaborate conspiracies, and would probably only add a third mythology episode into the mix. My feeling is that ten episodes would be the bare minimum for a season of The X-Files to fire on all cylinders.

Nothing is set in stone, but I suspect that Fox is shooting for a fall/winter 2017 release for the next season at the earliest.