Premiering on the Fox network in 1993, The X-Files followed two FBI special agents — Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dr. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) — as they pursed the supernatural, the bizarre, and the alien. Over nine years, The X-Files generated important television in what might be the most various horror and science fiction narratives inspired by a single source text.
Theresa Geller presents a social and cultural analysis of the series, focusing on the genres the program employed, as it engaged U.S. history, politics, and questions of its identity.
Responding to its cinematic visual style, haunting score, complex and nuanced writing, witty dialog, and the exceptional acting of Duchovny and Anderson, fans embraced The X-Files, making it one of the most beloved cult television series.
With the return of The X-Files for a six-episode 10th season on Fox in 2016, Geller’s volume offers a timely assessment of the show’s cultural relevance and social significance. Fox has announced The X-Files will be back for an 11th season, but not before 2017-18.
Wayne State University Press publishes The X-Files as a title in its TV Milestones Series.
Theresa Geller, who recently was a Mellon research fellow at Yale University, is affiliated with the Beatrice Bain Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, this spring. She is a widely respected scholar on film theory, cultural studies, queer theory, film history, and feminist studies. Her scholarship on the TV series, American Horror Story, is due out this spring in Velvet Light Trap (co-authored with Dianna Banker ).
