"The X Files" Hollywood A.D. (2000)

Director:

David Duchovny

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator)
David Duchovny (written by)

TV Series:

"The X Files" (1993)

Original Air Date:

30 April 2000 (Season 7, Episode 19)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Skinner's buddy from college, Wayne Federman, trails Mulder and Scully on a case involving a pipe bombing in a church...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | FBI | FBI Agent | Alien | X Files

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tina M. Ameduri	...	Tina
Bill Dow	...	Chuck Burks
Wayne Federman	...	Himself
André Fortin	...	Zombie Dancer
Steve Kiziak	...	David Duchovny
Téa Leoni	...	Herself (as Tea Leoni)
Paul Lieber	...	Micah Hoffman
Bill Millar	...	Director
Tim Roe	...	Zombie
Garry Shandling	...	Himself
Barry K. Thomas	...	Sugar Bear
Harris Yulin	...	Cardinal O'Fallon

Runtime:

Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Scully tells Mulder that she thinks Téa Leoni has a crush on him, and Mulder wonders how she could. Téa Leoni is David Duchovny’s wife in real life.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Gillian Anderson's stunt double can be seen after Tea Leoni asks 'Scully' to show her how to run with high heels. It's also noticeable how the stunt double starts running before Anderson leaves the frame.

Quotes:

Walter Skinner: Agent Scully, if I am carrying Marilyn Monroe's purse, do you assume that I slept with JFK?

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek" (1966)

Jehovah's Witness meets Harrison Ford's "Witness"

Hollywood A.D., written and directed by David Duchovny is a mixed bag. The episode is really fun to view and you can tell the cast is having a fun time. However, the writing and story is a little uneven and the episode suffers for it.

It's interesting to see Wayne Federman compare Scully to Jodie Foster, since many fans feel that the character of Scully was inspired by Jodie Foster's character from "Silence of the Lambs". Assistant Director Skinner finally receives a nickname in the series, being called 'Skinman' by his college buddy Wayne Federman.

If you are a little young and didn't get the Micah Hoffman reference, I'll explain it to you. The character of Micah Hoffman is based on a real person back in 1980's Utah named Mark Hoffman who was a forger of historic Mormon religious documents and bomb maker. Even though the case is not an x-file, Skinner sends Mulder and Scully to investigate it while Wayne Federman tags along to observe them.

The dancing skeleton that Federman sees is silly and is really out of place. Then, later, Scully has hallucinations of Micah Hoffman on the cross instead of Jesus and on the autopsy table. It is never really explained why she had the hallucinations and how it connects to the story.

After Mulder and Scully apparently resolve the forgery and bombing case, the rest of the episode is spent with them in Los Angeles, seeing the production of the movie "loosely" based on them. The episode is quite funny and enjoyable here as Mulder and Scully meet Garry Shandling and Tea Leoni who are the actors playing them respectively. Of course, Tea Leoni is David Duchovny's real life wife. Garry Shandling bugs me for some inexplicable reason. I think I could see Billy Crystal in that role easily.

The funnest scene is when Mulder, Scully, and Skinner are each taking bubble baths separately and have a humorous conversation with each other over the phone. Also, at the end, after Mulder walks out of the movie, Scully comes to join him on the set and they talk. You get to hear Gillian Anderson's true laugh, a very rare occurrence on the X-Files. It's very cute to hear.

The idea of a movie being made based on Mulder and Scully was very interesting. However, the first 3/4 of the episode involving the case, was a bit convoluted. I wasn't sure whether I should take it serious or if it was supposed to be all funny.

Hollywood A.D. is funny in delving once more into Mulder and Scully's relationship with each other, but had the potential to be more. Anyway, where else can you learn that zombies yearn to do more than just eat people?