Roxor Blog

Back in the day Tamara watched the X-Files every week, I watched every once in a while. Now that she has the series on DVD I have come to appriciate them. Therefore, here is my list of the best 10 episodes of the X-Files.

Syzygy
Eric Forman’s slutty sister and another high school girl are born under a bad sign and terrorize a small town. Mulder almost gets laid by the hot local cop in the case of the horny beast. Hate him, wouldn’t want to date him.

Improbable
You gotta love any episode that features Burt Reynolds as god, and Anabeth Gish is smokin hot. The episode has a great rhythm and vibe.

Biogenesis
This episode starts the best 3 hours of the X-Files. If you put together the episodes that wrap up season 6 and start season 7 you will get a view of the X-Files at it’s best. Way better then the feature film.

D.P.O.
Phoebe’s brother kills Jack Black with Lightning. What more do you need to know?

Darkness Falls
This is my favorite from the first season. Mulder and Scully head up to the great Northwest to investigate the disappearance of loggers and Greenies.

X-Cops
This episode is shot like an episode of Cops, Mulder and Scully are followed around by a TV crew featuring the requisite handheld camera techniques.

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
You don’t get it do ya kid…two years from now, while driving down route 91 coming home to your wife and baby daughter, your going to be hit head on by a drunk driving a blue 87 mustang. You’ll end up looking worse than sixty feet of bad road your body slides across after flying out your windshield.

Jump The Shark
This is the Lone Gunmen Morris Fletcher episode, and it’s all good fun until Langley, Frohike, and Byers are killed.

Rain King
This is what happens when a weatherman with otherworldly metrological powers falls in love with Victoria Jackson.

Jose Chungs From Outer Space
You have got to love an X-Files that features Charles Nelson Reilly and Jesse Venture…

As much as I bitch about TV and how antiquated the medium is, there are a few good offerings these days. Sure, the majority of the shows being produced and aired are not worth sitting through ( see ABC’s My Wife and Kids, CBS’s Yes Dear, or NBC’s Joey for examples of presentations that contribute to the overall shitty quality of network TV ) there are shows that are not only worth watching, but that are as good as the best offerings from other mediums.

Without a doubt the best thing on TV currently airing is HBO’s Deadwood. It would be a closer race if HBO was currently airing The Wire, but luckily ( for the purposes of this post ) they are not aired during the same time frame.

With its strong character development, engrossing story lines, and gritty drama Deadwood wins “The best thing on TV” hands down. The slow evolution of a lawless mining camp to civilized (?) town provides the backdrop for the most interesting character development on TV in years. While many critics are content to count the number times words that you can’t say of network TV are uttered, or to comment on how violent the series is they fail to realize or accept that this is not a show for kids - and that adults can and should decide for themselves if this is the kind of show they want to watch. For those that can’t deal with it, there is always George Lopez.

While Deadwood only pulls in about half the viewers of HBO’s The Sopranos it is arguably better, although the first three seasons of The Sopranos were at least as good as Deadwood so far, but lets face it, The Sopranos has slipped a little. This does bring up the fact that 3 out of the 5 best “TV Shows” are produced by HBO - The Sopranos, Deadwood, and The Wire are superior to everything else available. HBO also produces one of the best talk shows on the dial as well - Real Time with Bill Maher, as well as one of the best comedies - Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Outside of HBO the pickings are slimmer, but available nonetheless. FOX’s Arrested Development is as funny a satire as I have seen since spinal tap, but its days may be numbered. The thing is, you have to really watch it to get it, and it is hard to do with the 12 minutes of commercials, the animated ads for the simple life the pop up during the show, and lets face it, a majority of American TV viewers want something simple with a laugh track.

FOX knows a thing or two about producing quality dramas. FX’s The Shield, Rescue Me, and Nip Tuck are all better then any of the Dramas produced by the big networks. USA’s Monk also has its moments.

Strange, but up till now I have not mentioned the Big 3 networks at all except to point out how lame their sitcoms are. I think that is the real story - that the big 3 don’t have any of the best shows. They do have a few show’s that are not horrible, but none that I would say are good. They pander to the lowest common denominator and regurgitate the same old tripe over and over. How many CSI’s or Law and Order’s do we really need? How many times can we watch an old I Love Lucy or Brady Bunch episode recreated?

As long as the FCC stays away from cable I won’t have to find out.