The “Scully Effect” And Other Things You Never Knew About The X-Files

Reviews Predicted The Show Would Tank

Photo credit: @davidduchovny / Instagram

The X-Files may have been dubbed “one of the greatest cult shows in modern television,” but many critics didn’t think that at first. After the season premiere, Entertainment Weekly labeled the show as “dead on arrival” and deemed it to be a definite flop.

Fast forward to 2014 and Entertainment Weekly ate their words and placed The X-Files as #4 on the “25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years.” 12 million people tuned into the show’s first episode, but their top episode would reach 27 million viewers. The popularity was primarily due to the show attracting viewers outside of the sci-fi genre.

Keep reading to learn about the strange inspiration behind two main characters.