Now the merchandise news. There is a great XF merchandise site, called The X-Files Merchandise Web Site, where I got the following information and pictures with permission. The international "Biogenesis" video will include a behind-the-scenes interview with Mitch Pileggi. It comes out in Australia on January 12. The Screendragon promo CD that I have mentioned before, given out in Australia, was only available at HMV stores from August 11-18, 1999. Here is a much better picture than the one I have. One of the prizes for an Australian contest was a mousepad promoting the Special Edition movie videos (no picture). This is a flyer from HMV for the Special Editions. Here is a better picture of the Scully puzzle card that comes with the Special Editions, and here are two promo slips for the Scully card: 1 and 2. Here is apparently the rarest XF video in existence, an Australian rental dealer preview edition. This here is a pic of both versions of the Australian Special Edition video, that is, with and without the 30-minute making-of special. Here is a pic of the Australian rental video and here is the back of the Video CD version of the movie (and here are the CDs themselves). I already got a pic of the front, and of the bootleg in the Movie Merchandise section. But some great news is that another X-Files CD is coming out, on CD, tape, plus a single with the theme on it! Hopefully more info soon.

The BBC is repeating episodes shown Wednesdays on the Saturdays following, starting January 8 with 6X01. Apparently season 6 will be shown in widescreen. And: "Both Benson's World (www.bensonsworld.co.uk, phone 020 8960 4868) and Home Entertainment (01282 616666) have offers to buy both "Biogenesis" and the Season 6 Collector's Box for £80 (a savings of £15)." Thanks David Yeldon! Finally season 7 will start in March on Sky One.

One last weird thing to end the update. According to The Metro News, a U.K. paper, on Dec. 21, GA gets nightmares from TXF. She apparently couldn't handle filming one scene with an abandoned hospital or something and a dead body in it covered with maggots. Is this an upcoming episode or an old one? I can't seem to recall a scene like that.

On to some merchandise news. I failed to mention that The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to The X-Files is coming out on February 3 and is not out already. The international video of the last 3-parter has been renamed from "The Syndicate" to "Biogenesis" appropriately. That and the following info thanks to David Yeldon. The movie DVD in the U.K. is being released a week earlier, January 24. No word on extras. Price is £25 ($35). "Biogenesis" will cost £15 and the season 6 collector's box will cost £80 (both to be released on Feb. 7). Finally, the BBC will start airing season 6 on January 5 (only 5 eps will air before the season 6 box comes out!), and Sky One will start season 7 in the spring. On December 26 reruns are starting again on Sky; on that day two season 4 episodes will air.

The season 1 DVD set has been officially announced by Fox. Some corrections and additions to previous info: It is made by Image Entertainment, it is 1104 minutes long in total, it is classified under "TV Classics," the prebook date for stores is April 4, and there are English and French Dolby Surround tracks and English and French subtitles (no Spanish). The DVD-ROM content includes games plus paranormal and alien-abduction trivia plus Web links. And 3 new XF novelizations came out: Grotesque, Quarantine ("F. Emasculata"), and Regeneration ("Leonard Betts"). The thing is, I thought these books were out already; possibly they were just rereleased. The latter is in hardcover.

Two last things. First, Tiny Dancer's site is fully up (except seasons 3 and 4 plus the Sound Gallery, to be up soon), at the old address and also at The Ultimate X-Files Information Complex under Opinions. The direct link is here. Finally, I would like everyone to support mulderitzmi's campaign to get XF some awards--I was so disappointed that XF got 0 nominations for the Golden Globes. So here's the info:

"I can't be sure this will be handled just like last year, but just in case you aren't familiar with how this was set up last year...you could only obtain a ballot [for the TV Guide Awards] by purchasing the TV Guide (this coming year, for the weeks of January 8 [on sale the 3rd] and January 15 [on sale the 10th], the awards on March 5), which is a pretty cagey way to get people to buy your wares, I admit. They also had it set up so that you could send in as many ballots as you like...so you can buy as many magazines as you can afford, of course. By entering your name and address on the ballot (not required), you enter yourself into a contest to win a trip to the awards ceremony. In case you missed this too, the fans themselves were seated along the runways the stars walked down to get their awards, and the fans were all seated up close to the stage...the stars had to sit in the back. :) This was cool, I thought. Now, they did have online balloting too, for the more superfluous awards...like best hair (doesn't EVERYONE have a bad hair day now and then?), sexiest male, sexiest female, etc., but you have to buy the mag to get a vote in for the majors. (At last check, I saw no news of the online balloting on their site, but I'll keep checking.) The magazine ballots had picks on them, but you were also allowed write-ins. I certainly hope we won't need to remind them who the best is by writing in 'David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, or X-Files' in any category, but at least there's that option. I've learned not to let anything surprise me in TV Land anymore. The Globes broke my heart yesterday. :("

"Pixel Envy (Santa Monica) completed the visual effects work on the eighth [1H07] and final episode of Chris Carter's Harsh Realm. The show was canceled by Fox after three episodes, but the initial eight episodes were picked up by the FX network to air in March. While no extra shows are currently scheduled for production, FX is considering a possible continuation, a source said."

Yeehaw! In other news.... An X-Phile went to a filming location for "X-Cops" and talked to some of the makeup people. Apparently they were confident that there would be an 8th season with CC, DD, and GA.... Plus apparently David Duchovny was going to direct "X-Cops" instead of Michael Watkins! The final Nielsen ratings for "The Goldberg Variation" were 8.8/13 household, tied #17 for the week. There were 14.49 million total viewers, tied #11 for the week. A summary of 7X13: "The Gunmen bring Mulder and Scully in on this case of software gone bad. Lots of geek testosterone in this one. A cyberbabe wreaks havoc on a first-person shooter game's development." The XF movie DVD will come out in January in Australia. Plus there will be "some exciting new changes coming very soon" to the official fan club's Vault. No idea what they could be. And go to this site for information on ordering a documentary film on...X-Philes. Sounds very interesting. Three more things and that's it for the random blurbs: Here are pictures of the back of the box for the Dark Horse Scully and Mulder statues. Click here to bid in an auction for the script for "Sein Und Zeit," airing in February! Apparently this is the 2nd "blue" draft; the first was written only by Chris Carter! Finally Mitch Pileggi did the voice for one of the characters in the RPG (computer game) Planescape: Torment.

elwood blues told me that Daniel Sackheim will be directing 7X15--or no episode at all. Plus he believes the rumor of Chris Carter directing the final episode. Anyway, Tiny Dancer's site is being relocated to The Ultimate X-Files Information Complex at Fandom, and will be up tomorrow. For now, click on News on the left then Opinions at the top to go to Tiny Dancer's section. Now the following info was given to me by my partner in crime Sang, who says it's from a Korean site. The rumor is that David Duchovny will be in a Korean gangster action flick, shot mostly in L.A. Most likely a small part or cameo, done for the fun of it. The movie is called No Mercy, and the appearance is supposed to be uncredited and kept secret. This would be very interesting. Now, Jason sent me this print ad for the U.K. mail-order "Dreamland" video, confirming all the info I put here a while ago. Finally, "The Goldberg Variation" came back in the ratings, earning a preliminary 11/16. This is one of the best ratings this season. I liked the episode very much, and was surprised by how different the ep was from normal XF fare. It was very interesting and clever and original--Bell's best so far, by far. The Chicago setting and Mafia guys were also new and refreshing. The liver "subplot" that turned into the main plot at the end also added some heart to the episode that I really liked, plus the Goldberg device imagery was cool too. Mulder and Scully sure smiled a lot at each other. I'm so glad this season is off to such a great start. Mulder had his trademark leaps of logic, plus Scully suppressing her laugh at Mulder the plumber was hilarious. Can't wait till "Orison"...in January! :-/

This is about "The Amazing Maleeni": "Mulder and Scully are on the plane to Los Angeles, and Scully's head appears behind the open passenger's side window. Mulder is talking about the 'neat trick' he made. Scully is wondering how Mulder convinced her to drop everything and jump on the very first plane to L.A. Mulder says something like 'This isn't intriguing enough for you?' and asks her if she had seen the picture of the dead--and headless--magician from the pier. Scully declares that she has seen the picture." More on the episode: "Mulder figures out the final move of a very elaborate ploy. You are going to love the final minutes of this ep.... So, anyway, Mulder 'attempts' a little hand trick which produces the final bit of evidence. If the take is used, Scully just giggles with this wonderful expression on her face. It's adorable. Mulder cracks up in response. It really is a pitiful attempt at anything magical. He explains how he figured things out...she responds with a little smirk, a direct hit in the eyes and a breathy, 'You're amazing.' Cute! And, if they use one of the best of Mulder's responses....he closes his eyes and goes, 'Mmmmm.' Another tidbit: As they are walking down a hallway, Scully gets on her knees in front of him and shows him a trick!" Plus I was thinking that this episode could be the "Humbug" sequel that Jim Rose said would be made, or perhaps have some continuity from it. Well check this out: "Watch out for a reference back to a particular 'magician' scene in 'Humbug.'" The funeral? From a set report on alt.tv.x-files from the "Sein Und Zeit: Aliatope" filming last Wednesday: "On the first take, Scully walks out the front door and around the front of the [Denny's] restaurant toward Mulder, while Mulder is simultaneously wandering forward a few steps, gazing up at the [night] sky. Scully approaches from behind him, and when she arrives Mulder turns over his left shoulder and appears to give her a kiss. I swear on my life that's what it looked like. Then Scully wraps her arms around Mulder from behind and hugs him for a few seconds, then breaks away and they cut. [Second take:] Scully walks out the front door and around to Mulder, coming up on his right side and slightly behind him, standing close as always. They're both staring up at the sky and stay that way for quite some time, apparently conversing. Then Mulder bends over and puts his hands on his knees, as he does when he's in pain (emotional or physical--think the teaser of 'Redux II.' Not that much, but the same sort of movement). He straightens up, Scully puts her hand on his back and then walks off."

"Hey, X-Files fans, break out the brewskies and polish up the Pinto, Chris Carter & Co. are working on a special episode that mimics the style of Fox's shaky-cam reality show, Cops. The brainchild of X-Files co-exec producer Vince Gilligan, the episode will follow a rookie cop on the streets of Los Angeles, where he bumps into Mulder and Scully. 'X-Files, in my mind, is sort of a cool and different Cops,' says Gilligan. Still under consideration is whether the Feb. 20 show will open with the familiar Cops logo. 'We don't want people tuning in, seeing Cops, and saying, "What the heck? Our show was preempted this week." We need to try to make clear that it's indeed an episode of The X-Files.' Okay, but can we at least get to see Mulder in a grimy tank top?"

12/8/99

I will start out with the brand-new news: 7X12 is currently called "Bad Boys" (thanks elwood blues!), to be directed by Michael Watkins. And (gasp!) Chris Carter is directing 7X13, which I will soon have the title for hopefully. DeX confirmed that the finale is currently being planned as a 3-parter, but don't hope for a 2-hour final episode. The last 3 episodes would be directed by Rob Bowman, Michael Watkins, and Kim Manners respectively if the current plan is kept, and let's hope it is. He also told me that the Lone Gunmen are in the "Sein Und Zeit" 2-parter! Today's shoot for part 2, which I have listed in the Season 7 Spoilers page, is specifically a Denny's restaurant. Now what does that have to do with the mythology?! Maybe another "Brothers K" restaurant-type thing like from "Talitha Cumi." Here's a nugget on "Sein Und Zeit": "Scully does the autopsy and discovers that Mrs. Mulder had cancer (a very disfiguring sort, called Padgets) and thus, Scully thinks this is why she [committed suicide]. But, Mulder knows his mother was trying to tell him something related to the kidnapping, she left a message on his answering machine. It appears like it may come out that she was murdered (highlight)." I forgot to include this quote from the official magazine, from Lance Henriksen: "David was saying he would do another year if I was on the show." From an article on "Orison": "Reuniting with Carter, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson was great, Chinlund says. But the real surprise for him involved director Bowman, who he says not only helped shape the performances, but also oversaw the intricate special effects required to pull off several scenes in which Pfaster maneuvers in real time as everyone around him carries on in super-slow motion." Sound like "Rush"?? The Bill Davis-written episode (he may direct) may have a flashback with X, and may be 7X17 (unconfirmed). He apparently wrote the script a year ago, and it's Mulder-light. (The ep could work because DD will be doing publicity for Return to Me, requiring a Mulder-light ep.) Thanks elwood blues! Plus from the official site, updated today: The season 1 DVD set "will feature deleted scenes, as well as interviews with Chris Carter, Dean Haglund, and the numerous writers and directors. There are already plans to release the next six seasons." BTW you can also pre-order the set at Reel.com for $89.99 through this site by clicking here. Plus there have been rumors about "Orison" and the 6X08 rerun being switched so the former airs on Dec. 26, but the official site still says it airs Dec. 19 so I'll stick with that for now.

Sources: Yahoo! News, The Official Gillian Anderson Web Site, and The X-Files Australian Conne-X-ion.

12/5/99

Sorry for the kind-of lack of updates lately. But it's catch-up time. I got my official magazine (#12) Friday, and I wasn't expecting it at all so it was a great surprise. Plus I bought the yearbook. The next issue comes out on Feb. 15, and it's about the mythology episodes which air before it comes out. Now what is the point of that?? Anyway here is the info from the latest issue. DD has another idea for an episode to be written with Chris Carter (this is the rumored standalone--George Clooney stars?). Plus he will probably direct another one that he will write. Work on the movie will start right after the series ends, i.e. story and writing. The remaining 5 episodes (out of 8 total) of Harsh Realm are being finished in postproduction. Frank Spotnitz said that "I would think they would see the light of day somewhere, sometime, but I don't know." On Nov. 29 season 6 started airing on FX. There is an ad for the M&S movie busts, which are now cheaper and come with original XF art. Volume 5 (season 6) of the official episode guides is here, called The End and the Beginning: The Official Guide to The X-Files. Chris Carter said: "I've had [the series' final episode] in my head for years." Then: "What I haven't had a chance to do are sequels to episodes that I really liked. Next year, if the show were to go on, I would hope that there might be a way to reinvestigate some of the cases that were left [open-ended]." He may write or co-write 10-12, not just 10, episodes this season. 1013 is also developing a movie about a contemporary rock band (the Foo Fighters? Soul Coughing? Filter? the Barenaked Ladies?). The band approached them, and it would be like the dark media satire Network (directed by Sidney Lumet). Carter would produce and possibly write the screenplay. Plus he has thought up some potential storylines (mytharcs) for the 8th season if it happens. In the interesting article about Jeffrey Bell, it said that in the teaser for "The Goldberg Variation" a guy gets thrown off the top of a building and walks away unscathed. Bell also has directed films, and would like to direct for the show but admits that it is probably unlikely. David Amann is "rapidly approaching another story deadline." (I can't wait till "Rush"...especially after reading the article on it!) And that's about all the new info. But there were some blatant errors in the magazine this time around...calling 7X07 "Oricon," saying that TGV already aired and that "Millennium" airs at the end of December, saying that CC has a "hush-hush" series in the works even though it fell through right after HR was canceled (see below), printing the unaired scene from "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" (which the yearbook called "The Sixth Extinction: Part II") after the episode was shown and labeling it as from the premiere...plus the yearbook had the same sort of errors. However both were enjoyable.

Sources: Haven for the FBI's Most Unwanted, About.com Guide to X-Files Fans, and The Official Gillian Anderson Web Site.

12/1/99

Let's start out with the big DVD/video news first. The X-Files: Season One DVD set comes out on May 16, 2000. All 23 episodes plus the pilot, 12 "conversations with Chris Carter" a la the videos (1 for every 2 eps), 20 Behind the Truth segments, and 1 preview for each episode (cross-referenced) are included. Two interactive DVD-ROM games, Paranormal and Alien Abduction Trivia, are also included, plus Web links. The set consists of 7 discs and is priced at $149.98 (you can find cheaper prices elsewhere--you can preorder it here for $99.95). No word on discs being sold separately. Sound: Dolby Surround (no word on Digital) in English and French, and English and Spanish subtitles. Whew! It will be a long wait but hopefully worth it. Speaking of DVD, the movie will be out in the U.K. (Region 2) on DVD on January 31. No word on extras. The "Biogenesis" trilogy on tape internationally is called "The Syndicate" for reasons beyond me. It will be released on February 7 in the U.K. like I said earlier. On the same day, the Season 6 Collector's Box will come out there (5 videos), limited to around 50,000 and individually numbered. Thanks to David Yeldon for the U.K. info! Oh yeah, more on the U.K. "Dreamland" video thanks to Christopher Wooff. It came out on Nov. 22, price £14.99 including shipping and handling. The number for ordering is 08456 10 22 13, charged at local rate. The "Piper Maru" video (including "Apocrypha") is also available at the number for £12.99.

Sources: About.com Guide to X-Files Fans and The X-Files Australian Conne-X-ion.

11/26/99

Just two things today. First off, the Dreamland (Special Edition) videos are out in the U.K., only available by mail-order. And second, this is from a CC interview (don't really know what to think...):