Random X-Files Storylines That Never Aired (16 items)

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  (#1) The "Unsolved Mysteries" Crossover

  Before the success of the season 7 crossover episode COPS, X-Files head writer Vince Gilligan (wait, the Breaking Bad guy? Yes, that guy.) toyed with the idea of an episode of X-Files produced as an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. The episode would have featured 
  Unsolved Mysteries host Robert Stack and re-enactments with unknown actors who looked like Mulder and Scully. After a few tries at getting the story right, Gilligan gave up on the idea and instead wrote the episode "Bad Blood" featuring young, pre-fame Luke Wilson. 
  
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  (#2) The Secret Origin of "Final Destination"

  Somewhere in the multiverse there exists an alternate reality in which the horror franchise "Final Destination" never happened, but was instead a single episode of The X-Files entitled "Flight 180." In 1994, screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick created a spec script for X-Files entitled "Flight 180." He wrote it for his agent, to show around as a sample, and because X-Files was his favorite show. Years later, Reddick reworked the episode, which was about a man (Scully's brother) who can foresee his own death, into what has become a bustling series of blockbuster thrillers. Never give up, kids.
  
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  (#3) A Tribute to "Night of the Living Dead"

  Imagine if Stephen King wrote a modern update of the classic Night of the Living Dead starring Mulder and Scully, and it was directed by zombie creator George A Romero. It could have been legendary, but the idea fell just short of becoming reality. Romero, King, and X-Files executive producers were on board for the episode, talks were underway, the wheels were in motion - but eventually it all fell apart, as Hollywood dream teams usually do.
  
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  (#4) Abraham Lincoln Haunts the White House

  More than a decade before it was cool to have Abraham Lincoln fight supernatural villains, X-Files writers Glen Morgan and James Wong had the idea to include him as an apparition haunting the White House, which Mulder and Scully investigated on the down low. The writing team lost momentum and interest in the idea after a series of rewrites were ordered on a different episode, and instead squeezed out the episode "Never Again," which featured the voice acting talents of Jodie Foster. 
  
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  (#5) Ancient Aliens Nearly Crashed the X-Files Party

  The "Ancient Aliens" theory is worth big bucks these days, with the History Channel devoting an entire series to it. Back in the mid '90s, however, it was considered cuckoo crazy. That didn't stop cameraman DW Panone from submitting a script about it, entitled "The Song of the Sun." The idea had some legs; it was passed around by producers and writers of the show. In fact, the only reason it was turned down was budgetary concerns. It goes to show that there are no rewards for being ahead of your time.
  
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  (#6) The Victor Eugene Tooms Origin Story No One Read

  Actor Doug Hutchinson, who portrayed recurring X-Files villain Victor Eugene Tooms, wrote an origins story script for his character. In an interview for a 1996 issue of the X-Files Magazine, Hutchinson explained his story: "He is an incarnation of a ravenous, liver-eating Central American Indian God in an experiment to find out how he could remain so young and immortal; he was infused with a drug that backfired and he ended up escaping the asylum. So now he’s eating livers like M&Ms – he’s on a rampage!" 

  Unfortunately, due to legal reasons, no one at Fox could even read the script, so the idea was shelved. 
  
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  (#7) XFilesX / Self Defense

  • Musical Album

  While David Duchovny was taking a few weeks off from The X-Files to film Playing God, the writers thought it would be funny to sidestep his absence by making an episode devoted to Scully. Since the air date for the episode in question was in December, why not an X-Files version of A Christmas Carol? Ever the skeptic, Scully played the part of Scrooge. The idea was abandoned completely after a few rocky rewrites.
  
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  (#8) Mulder Entombed

  Some unmade X-Files episode ideas didn't move beyond a premise or location. Take, for example, the concept James Wong pitched about Mulder or Scully being trapped inside a tomb. Fox execs refused it outright, without reason or consideration. That's showbiz, folks.
  
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  (#9) Mulder Gets Abducted

  David Duchovny dreamed of writing and directing an episode in which Mulder is abducted, and seen trapped in an alien spaceship. The episode would explain Duchovny's absence from the show after he left. Unfortunately, he was on rocky ground with series creator Chris Carter after leaving, and Carter flatly told Duchovny he wasn't interested in such an episode because it didn't feature Dogget, the character who replaced Mulder. Ouch.
  
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  (#10) Pacific School of Religion

  The original idea behind the classic episode "Kitsunegari" was conceived by longtime writer Tim Minear, who envisioned a cryptic storyline about an atheist in prison who begins hearing the voice of God, commanding him to commit murder. The pitch was accepted, but due to time constraints the original idea was folded in with an existing character named Robert Modell in the episode "Pusher."
  
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  (#11) The Tilt-A-Whirl Hostage

  This pitch never evolved past a basic idea from writer Vince Gilligan. For years, he tried to sell the other writers and producers on the concept of an episode in which a man holds a hostage on a Tilt-A-Whirl. It was a funny gag in theory, but ultimately it was decided there wasn't much of a mystery to build around it. Vince would later re-use some ideas from his pitches for the episode "Drive," featuring future Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.
  
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  (#12) "Little Green Men" (From Moscow with Love)

  Chris Carter wanted the season 2 opener to follow Mulder as he discovers a mysterious radar signal, which he travels to Moscow to investigate. Carter's vision never came to fruition; among other things, going to Moscow would have been too expensive. So, with Carter's blessing, the concept was reworked by writers Morgan and Wong, who, among other things, changed the setting to Puerto Rico. 
  
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  (#13) The Bad Water That Should've Been a Gold Mine

  Imagine Mulder and Scully chasing a monster through a labyrinthine underground gold mine. Sounds like a million dollar idea, right? That's what writer David Amann thought. But series executive producer Frank Spotnitz thought a gold mine was a bit trite, so the location was changed to a hurricane-flooded, monster-infested building, and the episode became "Agua Mala."
  
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  (#14) A Supernatural Zack Morris Time Out

  Well, OK, maybe not. Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell was never slated to appear on X-Files, but a season 7 episode of the show nearly had a similar premise to Zack's famous Time Outs. Writer Chip Johannessen envisioned a story about a prison inmate with the ability to stop time. The idea proved problematic, as the story bore too much resemblance to the episode "Beyond The Sea." After much workshopping and tweaking, the idea became the episode "Orison." Better luck next time, Zach.
  
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  (#15) Two Episodes That Went to the Dogs

  The only thing cooler than an episode of X-Files where Mulder and Scully face down a feral, supernatural dog would be TWO EPISODES where Mulder and Scully face down a feral, supernatural dog. At least that's what Jeffery Bell thought when he pitched two separate stories: one about dogs in a kennel with psychic links to the Ids of children, and one about a terrifying, vengeful canine who follows a family across the country. The ideas were condensed into the now-classic episode "Alpha."
  
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  (#16) The Aborted Supernatural Abortion

  Abortion is a touchy subject, and corporations don't like touchy subjects, because perception of taking a political stand might impact the bottom line. This is probably why Fox vetoed the idea to do a story based on abortion, sight unseen. It was a pitch from veteran writer James Wong, but the suits at Fox weren't even interested in the story.
  

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