X-Files
Australian Information Kiosk
March 1999




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This page contains "Australian specific" news for the month of March 1999:


Added Tuesday, March 30, 1999
X-Files Ratings
Today's Sydney Morning Herald had the weekly TV ratings for New South Wales. The X-Files came in at number 57 for last week's episode "Terms of Endearment". I did a little research and found the NSW ratings for all of March, which make interesting reading.

Date Episode Rating
March 3 Dreamland 66
March 10 Dreamland II 56
March 17 How The Ghosts Stole Christmas 38
March 24 Terms of Endearment 57

If anyone knows the ratings for other states, I'd appreciate it if they could drop me an e-mail.

Blockbuster: X-Files Videos
Check your local Blockbuster store where they're selling the Wave 1 and Wave 2 videos for $16.95 with the added bonus of a free copy of the "Secrets Of The X-Files" video. While on the subject, a big thank-you to my local Blockbuster store for letting me have an X-Files Movie video poster to add to my collection of cinema posters : - ) Just ask at your local store - you'd be surprised at what they'll let you have.



Added Monday, March 29, 1999
100 Greatest Moments in Television
The new issue of Who Weekly, out today, has a cover story detailing the 100 Greatest Moments in Television. Surprise, surprise -- The X-Files comes in at number 47 with the episode "Deep Throat", which was selected because:
It didn't take creator Chris Carter long to dive into the mytholgical murk. The first post-"Pilot" episode, "Deep Throat" takes FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to a hush-hush military base to meet an informer. More importantly, "It's the first X-Files where you learn the government is definitely involved with aliens," testifies executive producer Frank Spotnitz. The rest, as they say, is history.
In a side-bar story, The X-Files' opening credits also ranks as one of the best ever.
Mark Snow's moody music seems like the evil inverse of The Andy Griffith Show's whistling, as spooky visuals inform us that Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) aren't your everyday FBI agents.
David Duchovny's other show "Twin Peaks" is number 57. There was a similar story in the US People magazine a while back, but this list had a lot of Australian content. The X-Files did quite well for a "cult" show that isn't rating particularly well!

Also, in the video round-up, The X-Files movie is number 8 in the top 10 videos after 5 weeks. Just found out, it's down to no. 15 on the Top 20 list released today on sofcom after six weeks in release. That means it should be available to buy second hand soon ...

Collectormania
In the latest issue of Collectormania, a rather shabby mag that covers such things as pez, action figures, coins, pins, TV memorabilia etc, there is an advert trying to sell an autographed David Duchovny picture for $75 and a few other XF items.

Gillian Photo
It's a bit old now, but in the Woman's Day that came out two weeks ago (dated March 22 - they come out with the date a week in advance), there was a nice photo of Gillian Anderson from the Screen Actors Guild Awards.




Added Sunday, March 28, 1999
Sunday Telegraph - Sunday Magazine
As mentioned yesterday, today's Sunday magazine contains a long Gillian Anderson story and some nice photos. The story is the same one that appeared in Queensland's Courier-Mail on March 6. The article was originally published in the UK in The Guardian on February 20. You can read the transcript on my Australian Media page.



Added Saturday, March 27, 1999
"Dear Bill"
Each day there's a brief comedic film review on my local radio station titled "Dear Bill" (a Bill Collins send-up) -- yesterday's (favourable) review was of "The Mighty" which was surprising seeing it isn't released officially until June. Unless the release date has changed again?

Gillian Anderson
Today's Daily Telegraph (NSW) contains an advert for tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph. Their Sunday magazine has Gillian Anderson on the cover.




Added Thursday, March 25, 1999
Bits 'n' Pieces



Added Tuesday, March 23, 1999
Entertainment Tonight
Today's Entertainment Tonight episode included a Gillian Anderson clip -- teen punk period reading poetry! The episode screens again later tonight on 9/WIN so set those VCR's. My informant didn't tell me it went for all of three seconds : - ) ... but it was interesting all the same.

Magazine Round-up
Last year, before I got on the internet and before the Aussie dollar crashed, I used to buy a lot of magazines for their X-Files content. Most of the overseas mags are now just way too expensive, so I just wander through newsagencies and ignore their "no reading" notices.

Anyway, this week's magazine crop includes the following X-Files news:
Who Weekly has a review of the "One Son" video and only gives it a B. US mag Widescreen Review ($16.50, I don't think so) has the "X-Files Movie" on their cover and a half page DVD technical review inside. UK magazine Dreamwatch ($11.75) also has an XF cover and a six page story, mainly on Cancer Man and Spender inside.

*Spoiler Alert* Episode Guide Update
I've added "Two Fathers" and "One Son" to my episode guide. The episodes don't screen on Australian TV until April 28, 1999, so don't look unless you've seen the "One Son" video.

Australian Articles Update
I've added the story from the Sunday Telegraph on March 14, 1999 titled "Is The truth Out There At Last?" to my Australian Media page. Thanks to Medellia's Realm and Katrina who did all the typing.




Added Sunday, March 21, 1999
"Disturbing Behavior"
"Distubing Behavior" was released in Australia on Thursday and is reviewed in today's Sun-Herald. It gets just 4 our of 10 from Rob Lowing but she says there is a good movie in there trying to get out. It's very dark and atmospheric which is the key to The X-Files connection. It's directed by X-Files director David Nutter, responsible for some of the best ever XF episodes such as the brilliant "Ice" and "Beyond The Sea" plus others like "Tooms", "Little Green Men", "Irresistible", "Nisei" and "2Shy"; and my favourite, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose".

Skeptical Inquirer
In today's Sun-Herald, there's a small piece on the latest issue of US magazine Skeptical Inquirer which has David Duchovny on the cover and a story on his "jinxed career". You can read the piece on my Australian Media page.

Celebrity Power 100
Forbes Magazine has just released it's 1st annual Power 100 ranking of celebrities. Chris Carter, XF creator, is listed at 34 on the Power Ranking and 19 on the Money Ranking, earning a neat $52 million for the past year! You can check the list on the Forbes website.

X-Files Action Figures
Chris Carter might have "power" but it didn't help with the proposed series II X-Files action figures. I've discovered that the real reason there won't be a series II is that Carter rejected every one of the prototype models (which included The Lone Gunmen). Rather than make changes, Todd McFarlane dug his heels in and just decided to eat the $50,000 it cost him to make the prototypes. See previous item on March 17 below.

"Return To Me"
According to last week's issue of The Hollywood Reporter, David Duchovny's next film (previously just rumoured) has now been confirmed. It's called "Return To Me" and is a "romance" co-starring Minnie Driver and directed by Bonnie Hunt.




Added Saturday, March 20, 1999
Starlog Reporter
The new issue of the Australian sci-fi magazine, Starlog Reporter (issue # 3 for March-May 1999) is now out. It's fairly light on X-Files content this issue but it does contain a three page story/interview on XF director/producer Rob Bowman plus two pages of merchandising.

X-Files Movie competitions postscript
Amazing. I always thought those phone-in competitions were a scam but I actually won a runner-up prize (Movie CD) in the Blockbuster X-Files Movie competition! : - )

"One Son" Video competition
There is a competition on the ninemsn sidewalk site where you can win a copy of the "One Son" video. Just click here to go to the competition entry page. Good luck : - )




Added Friday, March 19, 1999
gillian anderson in playing by heart"Playing By Heart"
Gillian Anderson's "Playing By Heart" movie will be released on May 13, 1999. This is one week earlier than the previously announced release date.

the mighty poster"The Mighty"
As mentioned on March 17 below, Gillian Anderson's other upcoming movie, "The Mighty" (originally due for release on March 11, 1999) has been postponed. But the bad news is that it's been put back again - the fourth release date that I'm aware of! According to the Village website, it will now come out on June 3, 1999. That's the same date as the new "Star Wars - The Phantom Menace" is released so what hope does it have?

"One Son"
Today is the official release date for "One Son" although it's been available, in certain areas, for two days now. Fox have changed the price from the usual $19.95 to $24.95.   : - (

Episode Guide Update
I've added "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas" to my episode guide.




Added Thursday, March 18, 1999
One Son
As seems to be the case lately, the much anticipiated "One Son" video, officially due out tomorrow, was released early. It was available in some areas yesterday and in most places today. Interestingly, it wasn't released as File 13, but as an "X-Files feature video". It includes a card that along with eight others, makes up an X-Files puzzle. The second card will come with "The X-Files Movie" video in September. Does that mean there won't be any other XF videos before then?

Books
In their latest catalogue, Angus and Robertson is offering the "Duchovny Files" at the amazing price of $1.95. You can't get much better value than that, and even though it's three years old it's still a good read. My local Angus and Robertson store has some other great bargains -- "X-Files Confidential" and "The Truth Is Out There" -- for just $2.00 each. Check your nearest store if you're interested. They didn't have "Resist Or Serve" though. My local Big W and K Mart stores still don't have it either. Does anyone know if it's available at a discount price anywhere?




Added Wednesday, March 17, 1999
Happy St Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday to Annette.

Boy, do I feel "out of the loop" ; - )
Haven't been online for 72 hours ... having withdrawal symptoms : - )
Anyway, time for a quick update before tonight's ep.

Tonight's Episode
OK, the countdown is on to 8:30pm. Tonight's episode, BTW, is called "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas". The original title was "The Ghosts That Stole Christmas" which is the name of the book shown in the episode.

David Duchovny and Barenaked Ladies
With a band-name like that, Fox Mulder would be interested. Tonight's episode of that dreadful E! show, which screens just before X-Files, includes a small clip of DD singing with the Canadian band!

"The Mighty" / Entertainment Tonight
Today's episode of Entertainment Tonight included a story on Sharon Stone. At the end of the item, the presenter said Sharon's new movie is "The Mighty" and co-stars Gillian Anderson and Kieran Culkin (there was a montage of the three of them), which we all know ... but the bombshell was that the movie now doesn't open until May : - ( I was suspicious three days ago, following a quick check of the Hoyts site where the movie disappeared from their upcoming features page. The ET episode is screened again late tonight on 9/WIN.

X-Files Action Figures
scully and mulder - the action figuresMcFarlane Toys (owned by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, BTW) won't be releasing a second series of X-Files action figures, after all. Apparently they didn't make enough money on the first series to warrant another. The first series is still available, at heavily discounted prices, in your nearest K Mart store.



Added Sunday, March 14, 1999
Sunday Newspapers
Today's Sunday Telegraph TV Guide liftout has M&S on the cover and a two page spread inside, giving all the the Full Disclosure goss on the upcoming "One Son" video release. The Sun-Herald TV Now liftout has an interview with Ed Asner, about a third of which covers this week's "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas" episode. There's also a photo of episode stars Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin.

Episode Guide Update
I've added "Dreamland II" to my episode guide.




Added Saturday, March 13, 1999
X posed
The transcript of the Daily Telegraph story on March 11 (mentioned below) has been added to my Australian Media collection.

X-Files Ratings
Read an article on my Australian Media: Newspapers page that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, discussing the poor ratings for "The X-Files" -- it ranked just 66th last week -- and further confirming the release date of the "One Son" video as March 19.

X-Files Link in Finnish Triple Murder
Read the story on my Australian Media: Newspapers page

New South Wales politics ... again
There was another story in yesterday's Daily Telegraph on that Liberal Party Bob Carr - X-Files send-up ad.


Added Thursday, March 11, 1999
OK, I know I said there'd be no updates today but I decided to add the following information while I had a chance ... Have to run and blow out those candles : )

File 13: "One Son"/Daily Telegraph story
Today's Daily Telegraph had a nice X-Files article (and a big photo) about Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz deciding to reveal the answers to the show's mythology. The good news is that the article confirms the "One Son" video release as March 19! That's tomorrow week, folks! I'll type up the article as soon as I can and post it on my Australian Media page.

New South Wales politics
Following on from the Bob Carr "X-Files" ad mentioned twice below, the Liberal Party has decided to make an "X-Files" ad of their own, theirs being a send-up of Bob Carr's ad. There is a lengthy story in today's Daily Telegraph which I'll type up and post over the next few days hopefully. The spoof was also mentioned on tonight's 10/Capital and 9/WIN (and presumably 7/Prime) News.

The X-Files Movie Ratings
Today's Daily Telegraph listed The X-Files Movie (in it's third week of release) at number four on it's top ten list, up from number five last week.

Courier-Mail (Brisbane) article, Part II
I've confirmed that last Saturday's article in the Courier-Mail was the one written by William Leith. (A local newsagency had a copy.) You can find a transcript on my Australian Media page.



smiley faceAdded real-early Thursday, March 11, 1999
No updates today ... I'm off celebrating my birthday.




Added late Wednesday, March 10, 1999 (post X-Files)
File 13: "One Son"
Don't believe what you read in the 'papers. It's a conspiracy!! The latest release date for "One Son" is March 19. Thanks Medellia.

Catatonia
Tonight's E! included a story on Welsh band Catatonia and there was a snippet of the video clip for their song "Mulder and Scully". If you watch E! next week (just before X-Files starts) there might be a preview of "The Mighty" in their weekly movie roundup.




Added Wednesday, March 10, 1999 (pre X-Files)
Snow Files
Fans of the brilliant music on The X-Files can look forward to a compilation album of Mark Snow's music from the show which is due for release in the USA in May. Hopefully it will be available in Australia around the same time. The album will be called "Snow Files".

William B Davis Chat
There is a Sci-Fi Channel chat with William B Davis, better known as Cancer Man or Cigarette Smoking Man or just plain Old Smokey which will take place on Thursday, March 11 at 9pm USA Eastern Time/6pm USA Pacific Time /2am UK Time. That should be around noon on Friday, March 12, eastern Australian time, if my calculations are correct. Not sure how daylight savings affects that. OK, try 1pm ...

Anyway, here's how the Sci-Fi Channel is promoting this event:

Through six seasons, The X-Files has cultivated a web of fear and paranoia. No character better symbolizes the dark conspiracies that vex Mulder and Scully better than their nicotine-addicted adversary, William B. Davis' "Cigarette-Smoking Man." Here is your opportunity to get acquainted with the man behind the smoke as he shares anecdotes and observations culled from years of acting, directing and teaching.

To chat, visit http://www.scifi.com/chat/chatnow.html and join #auditorium on the appointed date and time. Requires a java-capable browser. IRC users can connect their chat clients to events.scifi.com, port 6667.

Screen Actors Guild Awards
This could constitute as a spoiler I suppose so if you don't want to know the results of the SAG awards which don't screen locally until 21 March on Foxtel, avert your eyes.

The X-Files didn't win any awards unfortunately. The prizes went to the following: Dreamland II
Don't forget, Wednesday is X-Files day. Who would forget?

Playing God
I finally got around to watching the David Duchovny movie "Playing God" last night (it's been available for almost three weeks now) and I've got to say it wasn't anywhere near as bad as all the negative reviews I've read would have you believe. The *biggest* problem is trying to see someone other than Mulder when you look at DD. I'm afraid he's typecast! I'll add a page linked to my David Duchovny page if I ever find the time.

Episode Guide Update
More bad news. Due to some family problems, the time available to update my web pages is severley limited at the moment, therefore my episode guide updates have come to a screeching halt again. I'll get back to them as soon as time premits.




Added Tuesday, March 9, 1999
Sundry Updates
I've updated the following pages:
Australian Media: Magazines
Australian Media: Newspapers - March 1999
and added a couple of old stories to:
Australian Media: Newspapers - February 1999
Australian Media: Newspapers - October 1998



Added Monday, March 8, 1999
Woman's Day
In last week's Woman's Day, (dated March 8, 1999), Gillian Anderson receives two mentions. First there's a story titled "Tots of Tinseltown" which includes Gillian and her daughter Piper; second there's a story titled "Public Women, Private Thoughts" where four public women (Gillian Anderson, Calista Flockhart, Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon) give their private thoughts on six subjects: Men, Herself, Love, Politics, Women, sex and power and Children. To read the full story check out my Australian Media: Magazines page. Thanks to my mum for this information.

Reading Material
I don't mean to offend anyone but I did find this rather bizarre ... Yesterday I was walking down the main street of my town and there was a homeless guy sitting on the footpath ... what was bizarre was his choice of reading material. He was totally engrossed in a very battered copy of "X Marks The Spot", the first X-Files teen novel!




Added Sunday, March 7, 1999
Bob Carr, Part II
In it's State election coverage today, The Sun-Herald had the following story about that "spooky ad" mentioned on March 5 below:
Off The Track
Bob Carr reckons his first television ad about train security looks like something out of the X-Files. "As Fox Mulder would say 'The truth is out there'," he joked with reporters.
But when asked if Scully would be joining him on the campaign trail he looked blankly and said "good question". A conspiracy theory is growing that Carr hasn't actually seen the TV show.
For out-of-state and overseas readers, Carl Scully is a New South Wales minister in the Carr government. Useless piece of trivia: I've actually met Carl Scully : )

David Duchovny in Australia, Part II
As expected, it was just a rumour. While he may not have physically been here, David Duchovny did appear via satellite in an interview that was part of a Foxtel Pay-TV satellite launch. In keeping with the duplicity The X-Files is famous for, the interview, purported to be "live" was actually taped! OK, for once we could have believed what was written in the newspapers. It's come to my attention that The Daily Telegraph ran a story last Wednesday (March 3) which explained everything!

Episode Guide Update
I've added the much-maligned "El Mundo Gira" to my episode guide.

The Sunday Telegraph
Today's Sunday Telegraph TV Guide has an X-Files article, but it's just the same old Chris Carter information about the end of The X-Files re-hashed. The article also says the "One Son" video will be released in ... April. Aaaaaaaaah!!!! (No-one can hear you scream in cyberspace.)

Courier-Mail (Brisbane) article
Yesterday's Courier-Mail in Brisbane had a full-page article on Gillian Anderson titled "Beam Me Up, Scotty" in their Weekend liftout. According to Mark on aus.tv.x-files it was a "pretty deep article, mainly about her relationship/sex life/disturbed childhood ... she seems to get pretty cut when the interviewer mentions 'inappropriate sexual advances'."

From that description it sounds very much like the lengthy William Leith interview that appeared in The Guardian in the UK on February 20. Can anyone confirm?

The Mighty
According to both Hoyts and Greater Union, "The Mighty", which features Gillian Anderson, has been delayed one week and will now be released nationally on March 18.

Celebrity Death Match
According to the Sun-Herald TV Now magazine, this week's (Thursday, March 11) episode of Celebrity Death Match on Ten/Capital includes a David Duchovny vs Gillian Anderson fight. Can anyone confirm? I've never heard of this before. I've since seen the ad and there's no mention of it either, so I assume it was just a mistake!




Added Saturday, March 6, 1999
cover of resist or serve, the xf season 5 guideResist Or Serve
The price for The Official Guide To The X-Files Vol 4, covering season 5 of our favourite show is $27.95. How Harper Collins can justify a price hike from the $19.95 charged for previous volumes is beyond me. Your best bet is searching for the book at a discount chain store or book store if you're lucky enough to have one in your area.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards
I'm not a Foxtel subscriber, hence the lack of Foxtel news on this site. The Pay-TV company in this area is Austar which has a couple of Fox channels but not Fox8 (The X-Files home on Pay-TV). Anyway, getting to the point, those who do have Foxtel can watch a replay of the Screen Actors Guild Awards (which are actually presented tomorrow in the USA) on Sunday 21 March, 1999 at 8:30pm.

X-Files nominations are: Both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will also be presenting an award on the night.

Part of this information was shamelessly stolen from Medellia's Realm while some info came from the GAWS newsletter of March 1. There's also a SAG web site if you want all the details.

Competition Update
Just so you don't miss out, here's what's still available:

Episode Guide Update
"Detour" and "Bad Blood" have been added.




Added Friday, March 5, 1999
David Duchovny in Australia
Maybe the Lift ads were a sign of things to come. The latest rumours are that David Duchovny is in Australia. Mmm? Check out Medellia's Realm for more info on this and lots of other topics.

Blockbuster Awards
Check out the March issue of the Blockbuster Members' Magazine (Issue 29) for an entry form for the 5th annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. You can vote for Gillian Anderson in the "Sci-fi Female" category for her role in "The X-Files" movie. Gillian's up against Liv Tyler for "Armageddon" and Tea Leoni (Mrs David Duchovny) for "Deep Impact". If there's any justice ... BTW, David Duchovny didn't get nominated. Entries close on March 15 so get busy. You can also enter at the Blockbuster web site.

Video Ezy Magazine
The March issue of Ezy Entertainment magazine "The X-Files" movie is listed at number two on their top twenty chart behind "Snake Eyes". How that chart is compiled I don't know. The video also appears in their Did You Miss? column

Bob Carr does Mulder
New South Wales Premier Bob Carr thinks he's Special Agent Fox Mulder. With the state election at the end of the month, the Labour Party launched an ad mid-week where Bob Carr is walking along a dark railway platform talking about his government's fight against crime, with spooky music playing over the top and lots of artsy smoke around his feet.

Channel Ten/Capital ran a story on their 5 o'clock news yesterday where they referred to "The X-Files" by name , played a snippet of Mark Snow's theme music and kept showing a clip of Bob Carr saying over and over "The Truth Is Out There". The ad in question actually ran during Wednesday's "Dreamland" episode but I certainly didn't get the X-Files connection, although I've got to admit I wasn't paying much attention to the ads.

Ratings
No mention of the ratings for last week's episode, "Triangle", just that it wasn't in the top ten. Does anyone know where to find a full list of Australian ratings each week? The X-Files Movie, in it's second week of release moved from number ten to five.

Episode Guide Update
Yeah, I've always got an excuse : )

I had to do some work on my bowling site last night then my computer decided to have a heart attack. After doing a disk scan and defrag it was time to get some sleep!

"Dreamland" has been added to the season six guide.




Added Wednesday, March 3, 1999
"Dreamland"
Just a few more hours 'til "Dreamland".

Resist Or Serve
The official guide book for the fifth season of The X-Files, "Resist Or Serve", was released on Monday. It should be available at all good book stores. If not, hassle them and get them to order it in. The bookstores in my area have never heard of it, wouldn't you know. Thanks to Medellia for the info.

File 13: "One Son"
OK, I misread the article in The Sunday Telegraph the other day. The File 13 video will be called "One Son" and not "Full Disclosure". Now, which date to believe? I'm sticking with Medellia and expect to see it on sale in stores on March 17! : )

Episode Guide Update
No updates today unfortunately, as I've had important family committments to tend to.

I also had trouble with my ISP over the last day or so. Therefore the information below, although written Monday/Tuesday, didn't get posted until today.

The Mighty
Bad news for Gillian Anderson fans in this neck of the woods (Central West New South Wales). The local cinema Australia 4 Cinema (Orange) has just told me that they're having lots of trouble getting a copy of The Mighty, therefore, although it's released nationally on March 11, it won't be available locally for at least two weeks after that .. ie, late March/early April.




Added Tuesday, March 2, 1999
Episode Guide Update
OK, I cheated a bit. Today's episodes have been "almost" done for a while but I did revamp them, add a few bits and pieces and upload them ; )

"Fallen Angel"   "Travelers"   




Added Monday, March 1, 1999
Episode Guide Update
As stated yesterday, I'm determined to get my episode guide finished ASAP. I've been busy ... the episodes listed below are now available for your perusal and comment. If you disagree (or agree for that matter) with my ratings or comments please let me know by sending me an e-mail. I'm always interested in what others think. That's the thing - everyone is entitled to their opinion. These are my ratings and I don't agree with majority opinion. For instance, I like "El Mundo Gira" and "Syzygy"!!!

"Pilot"    "Deep Throat"   "Squeeze"   "Conduit"   "The Jersey Devil"   "Folie A Deux"    and    "The End".    More to come ...

Happy birthday, Medellia



If you know of any other Australian-related X-Files news you can let me know by sending me an e-mail. It will be much appreciated and I'll give you credit for the info. Thanks a bunch!

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