X-files and brewskies

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Funny you mention Jose Chung because I decided to watch it last night and I was just about to post about it. I hesitate to mention it now, because you list it among your favs from that season, and I don't want it to sound like I'm arguing with you about it being a worthy fav. It has been years sense I saw the episode, and I was a tad disappointed with it.

No, that's fair enough. Everyone has different personal preferences and opinions.

I remember being a little turned off by it the first time, because I found the opening scene to be amateurish looking and kind of lame.

I would just say that you should bare in mind that it is supposed to look like that. The spaceship and the alien costumes are meant to look fake because they are fake, with humans inside the masks. "Lord Kinbote", with its stop-motion animation, is again meant to look that way, a throwback to old effects styles to highlight the absurdity of the moment.

It's often been said, this is definitely not the teaser to introduce a new potential fan to the show, because it would give them the mistaken impression that this is how the show's visuals usually look!

I'm not a huge fan of "Humbug" either. Don't get me wrong, the X-files Jose Chung is a fun episode, with some good highlights and a few laughs, but it lacks the brilliance and magic of the Millennium episodes

I like "Humbug", but I don't think it's of as high a standard as his other episodes. I think both "Jose Chung" episodes in TXF and MM are pretty much on a par, but I also think they're both superior to "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me". Of all Darin Morgan's scripts, I would probably rank them like this:

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"

"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"

"Jose Chung's Doomsday Defence"

"War of the Coprophages"

"Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me"

"The M Word"

"Humbug"

Would be curious to hear yours.

At some points it seems clever but, at others, it just came across as cheesy... the episode often drags, prompting me to even fast forward at one point.

Not that I'd want to try and change your opinion, but just to offer a kind of counterpoint to that, I think the episode is a fantastic work of satire and self-parody, turning aspects of the series on its head and gently poking fun at them. It's also a clever examination of the subjective levels of reality at work, with layer upon layer of irony that really works on so many levels. It's not just the overt comedy of the dialogue, but the way in which it takes established elements of the series and highlights the absurdity behind them.

On a side note, while viewing Darin Morgan's filmography, I was amused and amazed to find out that Darin Morgan played Eddie Van Blundht on the X-files episode "Small Potatoes". I am guessing that most people here knew that, but I had no idea. In fact, I didn't know he ever did any acting at all. That is not how I pictured him.

Indeed, he actually appeared as an actor on TXF before writing for it. He played the flukeman in "The Host", as you may or may not be aware.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

you know i just found out that Darin Morgan won a Emmy for writing the Clyde Bruckman episode in 1996.

Thats cool

[Guest ZeusFaber]

As did Peter Boyle for his performance.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

No, that's fair enough. Everyone has different personal preferences and opinions.

I would just say that you should bare in mind that it is supposed to look like that. The spaceship and the alien costumes are meant to look fake because they are fake, with humans inside the masks. "Lord Kinbote", with its stop-motion animation, is again meant to look that way, a throwback to old effects styles to highlight the absurdity of the moment.

It's often been said, this is definitely not the teaser to introduce a new potential fan to the show, because it would give them the mistaken impression that this is how the show's visuals usually look!

I like "Humbug", but I don't think it's of as high a standard as his other episodes. I think both "Jose Chung" episodes in TXF and MM are pretty much on a par, but I also think they're both superior to "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me". Of all Darin Morgan's scripts, I would probably rank them like this:

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"

"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"

"Jose Chung's Doomsday Defence"

"War of the Coprophages"

"Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me"

"The M Word"

"Humbug"

Would be curious to hear yours.

Not that I'd want to try and change your opinion, but just to offer a kind of counterpoint to that, I think the episode is a fantastic work of satire and self-parody, turning aspects of the series on its head and gently poking fun at them. It's also a clever examination of the subjective levels of reality at work, with layer upon layer of irony that really works on so many levels. It's not just the overt comedy of the dialogue, but the way in which it takes established elements of the series and highlights the absurdity behind them.

Indeed, he actually appeared as an actor on TXF before writing for it. He played the flukeman in "The Host", as you may or may not be aware.

Actually, I didn't know for many years that he played flukeman, but didn't he wear some makeup for that role? Actually, I was about to say that there was probably some reason or explanation for the effects at the beginning of "Chung". I'm still not sure I get it, but I will buy your explanation as being as good as any. Given that the X-files was well known for its high quality effects (for a TV show), I suspected that there was a reason for it. I do, however, remember tuning in to the episode and sitting there thinking "what the heck is this". It didn't leave a good first impression, but it has come to grow on me to some extent. As for my list of Darin Morgan favs, it goes something like this:

1. Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense

2. Clyde Bruckman's Final Response

3. Somehow Satan Got Behind Me

4. Jose Chungs From Outer Space

5. War of the Coprophages

6. Blood

7. Humbug

By the way, I do give Jose Chungs FOS credit for having some clever satire, I just don't view it as being on the same level as Jose Chungs DD. For some reason it just didn't work for me and flow the way DD did.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

As did Peter Boyle for his performance.

Yes, and both richly deserved.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Well, I decided to give Jose Chung's From Outer Space another chance tonight, fearing that I might not have given it a fair shake last night, and I was right. For some reason, I just wasn't in the right mood for the episode last night and wasn't focused enough. Fast forwarding didn't help matters, as I missed a bigger chunk of the episode than I thought. For example, in sitting down and watching it with a more open mind tonight, I realized how much of the show I must have missed, having never seen any of Alen Zinyk's role, which was a bit bigger than I remembered. I don't think that tonight's viewing would change my previous rank of Darin Morgan's episodes, but it does give me a greater degree of respect for how good it actually was, and I would be willing to upgrade my ranking of it to an 8.0. Watching it complete and focusing more on the dialogue made a big difference and gave me a greater appreciation of what the episode was aiming for.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Should i dare ask, which is better?

Jose Chungs From Outer Space or Jose Chungs Doomsday Defense?

for me i like Dooms Day Defense better

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Hmm, I don't think a clear comparison is all that possible, given that both episodes succeed in their goals for their unique characters, but if I had to select one I might go with "Jose Chung's From Outer Space", purely because it's exploration of subjective realities and truth adds that extra level of depth on top of all the brilliant humour and satire.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Actually, I was about to say that there was probably some reason or explanation for the effects at the beginning of "Chung". I'm still not sure I get it, but I will buy your explanation as being as good as any. Given that the X-files was well known for its high quality effects (for a TV show), I suspected that there was a reason for it.

Just to elaborate on this further, the effects used for "Lord Kinbote" are deliberately hokey as an homage to the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen and his old films of the 1940s and 50s. The effects team actually had to work extra hard to make it look less convincing, to try and replicate the stop-motion animation effect. The idea is to make it all the more surreal and bizarre, because the entire episode is designed to question everyone's version of events due to all the implanted memory and hypnosis going on. In the same way that the Men in Black deliberately act strangely in a "deliberately absurd deception", so too do the effects in the teaser (and elsewhere).

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Should i dare ask, which is better?

Jose Chungs From Outer Space or Jose Chungs Doomsday Defense?

for me i like Dooms Day Defense better

Yeah, both are great, but I still have to go with Doomsday Defense. From Outer Space is brilliant, but Doomsday Defense is even brillianter because it gots great quotes like "I don't got no books" (Geibelhouse). Also, Rocket Mcgrane shows us a side of Lance and his acting abilities that most people have never seen before. I think DD has more good solid laughs in it, and is packed from beginning to end with clever scenes and dialogue. I think it just boils down to preference though, as FOS has plenty of cleverness as well. It still cracks me up when I think of the Jesse Ventura scenes. For example, when Mulder bursts in and asks where Scully is. He replies, "Oh, she went to get ice". Mulder, not amused in the least, reiterates "Where Is She", this time in a more strenuous tone. Just then Scully calmly strolls in with a bucket of ice. I think, like DD, FOS is an episode I will grow to appreciate more and more as I watch it a few more times and start to catch little things I missed.