We Kind Of Already Knew Scully Was a Goddess, So...

While news about The X-Files hangs on a day-to-day prayer, there are other productions of highly-prized geekery underway:

Deadline reports that Gillian Anderson will play Media in the Bryan Fuller-created Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Nice.

In Neil Gaiman’s book, Media is the face/PR person of the New Gods. She’s manipulative, savvy, and draws power from the attention people give to various forms of new media. I think this role will give Anderson a chance to show off a different side of herself than we’ve seen in her recent roles, and I’m pumped that she’s re-teaming with Fuller after the pair worked together on Hannibal.

Have you read American Gods? It's got more trope sub-references than a Dennis Miller standup routine back when Dennis Miller was sane. And the character of Media is a twisted, snarky dark goddess that Gillian can chew her teeth on.

"Media. I think I have heard of her. Isn’t she the one who killed her children?"
"Different woman," said Mr. Nancy. "Same deal."

Just don't ask about the bit with Lucille Ball.

You know who could give Darin Morgan a run for his money on an X-Files script? Neil. This is a guy who's written some key screenplays for Babylon 5 and Doctor Who. So where's Neil when you need him...?

Oh, hanging out with Tori.

Scully as Bond?

This is a thing coming out of left field.

Gillian Anderson - who's youthful past in England gives her a posh-enough accent - is throwing her hat into the ring to play James Bond.

It seems Daniel Craig has tired of the role, turning down a ton of money for the next movie, which is opening up the coveted iconic role among a slew of UK actors (and actresses) keen on taking up the mantle.

The list of fan-preferred actors start with Tom "Loki" Hiddleston and goes through Idris "Luther" Elba and Damien "Major Winters" Lewis. But there are so many more... And Gillian's gone onto Twitter to put her name in the mix.

Thing is, I'm kinda conflicted.

I'm a huge Scully fan. I totally would love to see Gillian in anything.

It's just... I don't see her as Bond.

I kinda think Hayley Atwell would be a better Bond.

I'm sorry, but I do.

I'm also partial to Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew "Neville" Lewis, and that other guy.

So, let's settle this Thunderdome style, people...

X-Files Enters The Indeterminate Stage of Maybe/Maybe Not

The current news about an eleventh season:

On a conference call with reporters, Fox chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman said that all parties involved want to do another installment of the show.

The trick is figuring out the schedules of stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. So Fox hopes to announce another installment of the series at their upfront presentation next year.

Essentially, they're planning on having The X-Files serve as a mid-season or late-season filler to cover any gaps that may occur when regular season shows tank and flame out (or are created by Joss Whedon and mercilessly killed off).

So we're in a holding pattern here.

This means I gotta catch up on my backlog of Season surveys during the summer.

In Time for the Revival To Start, an In-Depth Review from New Yorker Mag

Just been a little too busy on other projects to get more surveys uploaded, sad to say.

So I'll just provide a link and some quotable points from the New Yorker's recent review of the revived series AIRING TOMORROW NIGHT OMG IT'S ALMOST HERE.

The "nostalgic" science fiction, as it were:

The weaknesses of “The X-Files”—tendentious dialogue, an alien conspiracy that made no sense—were obvious from the beginning. Still, the show had two real strengths, and they grew with time. The first, of course, was the gentle, intellectual romance between Mulder and Scully. The second was a vibe of improvisational zaniness that remained undiminished for nearly nine years. Fox’s advance publicity had made “The X-Files” look like a straight-faced, alien-themed procedural. (What a drag that would have been.) In fact, the show was sly, hilarious, and unpredictable—it was, in a word, unprofessional, in the best sense. Often, it achieved that rarest of artistic virtues, a genuine feeling of spontaneity...

...Against this material, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny turned out to be ideal straight men. They could carry the show anywhere, even as they communicated, through a slight strain in Mulder’s voice or a small twist in Scully’s lip, that they were in on the joke. Nine seasons of flying saucers would have been unbearable. Because of its playfulness, the show was a joy...

...More fundamentally, nostalgia is central to the appeal of “The X-Files.” It’s true that, back in 1993, there was an au-courant quality to the show: it captured a moment of post-Cold-War, dawn-of-the-Internet paranoia, and capitalized on the alien-abduction craze. Essentially, though, “The X-Files” had its gaze set firmly on the past. Huddled in his subterranean office, Mulder was like a college-radio d.j. surrounded by old records; he was a connoisseur of the weird, a gatherer of nerd-knowledge about the sci-fi and horror stories of yesteryear. As an investigator, that knowledge—shared with Scully using an old-school slide projector—was his tactical advantage...

It rambles a bit into intellecual navel-gazing but otherwise is a challenging, honest read.

Also, WE'RE GETTING MORE 'SHIPPING AGAIN.

Um, one hopes.

Countdown to X-Files

It's the final countdown...

No, wait, not that countdown.

Okay, that's a little closer to what we need here.

It's the X-Files COUNTDOWN!

JANUARY 24 2016.

Another Moment To Regret Flunking Out of College German Class

Edited:
So I've been busy with NaNoWriMo this past month - hint: I won - but here I am regularly checking in to the blog to see if anyone's leaving comments, and instead I see I get a bump in traffic from Germany.

...wait, what?

Turns out there's a German blog/news-site Golem.de that linked to this 'Shipper Survey site.

So here I am following the link, wondering if it's a legit site, and yeah so far it looks like it is, and I can't read it.

I failed out of college-level German, having not really studied it when I was young enough to actually learn the skills (I should have done so in high school when my mind was more open to such things).

I suppose I could use the Translate option, but that feels like cheating.

What the hell is the article saying, may I ask?

Edited I had the site name wrong it's called Golem.de.  And this is weird, from what I can read of the article, they interviewed me, asked questions and I answered and for the life of me I can't... hmmm. Wait. I remember there was an email a few months ago. (checks backlog of emails) Oh ah here it is, from October.

Whoa. GOLEM?!

DUDES! I'm writing a golem into my current urban fantasy novels. What a twist!

New Trailers for the X-Files 9/29/15

I can at least share these from the Intertubes:

So we know for a fact that the FBI just doesn't do a good job of revamping office space when needed.

/ow stop hitting me

News: New Trailer, Binge-Watching 201

As part of promoting a binge-watch marathon, Fox released this trailer:

Which includes a brief NEW clip of Scully and Mulder stepping into a darkened room with their patented "Monster-Detecting Ultra-Bright" Flashlights.

The marathon itself does not seem to be on-air, but Fox is encouraging viewership so they're likely relying on people using their own DVD collection or access to Netflix to follow along each day's episode.  This started on the 7th, so we're looking at episode "Squeeze" as today's episode.

Ooh, I think I got a 'Shipper survey for that...

News: Filming reports June 2015

Recovered via Facebook (Gareth M Smart's account)

There's apparently a BBC Quarry out in British Columbia, where they leave these sort of props around all the time.  (Can't you see Mew-Mew over to the right?  No, your other right...)

You can tell the UFO is fake.  It's not the traditional triangle shape that UFOs on the X-Files go by.  It's surface looks metallic, not organic/stone.  Also, there's parking tickets stuck in the windshield wipers...

Still, SQUEE.

Show's getting made.  SQUEE.

So... The Filming of New Episodes Have Begun...

Let us Squee via the Mary Sue website:

Actually it's from the Twitter account, just passing it along.

I hope to get a new Season One 'Shipper Survey done this weekend.

News: X-Files Crossover Potential With Community or The Soup, Whichever Is More Mind-Blowing

In the news today, Joel McHale is scheduled to guest-star in the X-Files revival.

That means either a crossover episode with Community:

Or a crossover episode with The Soup:

Take your pick.

News: Schedule confirmed for new episodes in 2016!

Squee.

The Fox channel site says the new mini-season will air January 24th following the NFC Championship game (most likely Dallas losing to MY BOYS the Tampa Bay Bucs bwhaha).

The next mind-bending chapter of THE X-FILES debuts with a special two-night event beginning Sunday, Jan. 24 (10:00-11:00 PM ET/7:00-8:00 PM PT), following the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, and continuing with its time period premiere on Monday, Jan. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The thrilling, six-episode event series, helmed by creator/executive producer Chris Carter and starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI Agents FOX MULDER and DANA SCULLY, marks the momentous return of the Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning pop culture phenomenon, which remains one of the longest-running sci-fi series in network television history...

The TRUTH Is Out There on Mondays... really?  Monday?  We're not going to get back to Fridays like before?  Just one Sunday nighter?  I'm not used to this, this is off my schedule... I gotta re-wire my internal mental clock now... sigh.

X-Files News: Skinner Time

Just a heads up:

Mitch Pileggi is set to reprise his role as FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner in Fox’s upcoming revival of The X-Files, EW has confirmed. David Duchovny hinted at Pileggi’s return last month when he appeared on Late Show with David Letterman. Skinner became a fan favorite over the series’ nine-season run, moving from uptight boss to one of Mulder and Scully’s main allies, and was last seen in a brief appearance in 2008’s feature film I Want to Believe. 

While Pileggi may not be in his physical prime anymore (it's been close to 20 years, X-Philers), the fanbase is still a bit aflutter about this:

This is totally from Shaenon Garrity's Monster of the Week site,
which is the best - very snarky - recapping of the series (up to Season 4 though)
The art is Shaenon Garrity, she will absolutely sue me
for cropping this, but you need to know, people...

Skinner's Fist is honest to God great name for a rock band.  Just like Eve 6.