From: fidodido@pacificnet.net (Cliff Chen) Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files Subject: Newbie FAQ: Please Read Before Asking Questions Date: 1 Mar 1996 11:39:09 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service, Inc. Lines: 269 Message-ID: <4h6nkt$ebc@news2.cais.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pm1-4.pacificnet.net X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 alt.tv.x-files 20 Questions To Be Read Before Posting Revised 2/26/96 Compiled by Cliff Chen NOTE: Lines preceded by a '+' indicates that this information has been added/updated since the previous posting. This is a weekly post designed to prevent anyone from asking any "stupid" questions. This is not to be confused with Pat Gonzales's X-Files FAQ, which is a very complete FAQ for the show itself. Please try to keep flaming to a minimum and if you must flame someone for a troll post (i.e. - "X-Files sucks! Get a life!"), then do it through e-mail. In addition, for a full week after an episode has aired, be SURE to mark all posts containing spoiler information CLEARLY. (BTW, typing a ^ and an L will NOT work, you need an editor which will allow you to create an actual CTRL-L.) Fans of the show based in the United Kingdom and Australia might want to check out uk.media.tv.sf.x-files and aus.tv.x-files respectively, which should contain no spoiler information from episodes being shown in the US. Q: What episodes are scheduled to be broadcast? +A: For 3/1: "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (Rebroadcast)" + 3/8: "Teso Dos Bichos" Q: Are the X-Files based on true stories? A: No. But elements of the stories have been taken from true-life accounts. The notice preceding the pilot episode was there for effect. A statement from the FBI declared that there are no real life X-Files. Q: Who is the mysterious man who Mulder gets information from? A: In season 1, "Deep Throat," (abbreviated DT) is apparently a powerful figure in the government, for more info, see the Deep Throat FAQ. He is played by actor Jerry Hardin. In season 2, the new informant, played by Steven Williams, is known as "Mr. X." Mulder's method of requesting contact usually involves shining a light out of his apartment window in some unique way. We've seen a blue light for DT and a masking tape 'X' for Mr. X. Q: Will Mulder and Scully ever become romantically or sexually involved? A: The show's creator and executive producer, Chris Carter has stated that he has no plans for this to happen and anticipates none in the future. Q: Why do I keep seeing clocks that read 11:21? A: 11/21 is Chris Carter's wife's birthday. It is slipped in as a running tribute to her. Additionally, 10/13 (as in Ten Thirteen Productions) is Chris' birthday. Q: Is there any sort of X-Files merchandise? A: The list seems to be constantly growing. The following products are guaranteed as official products: Baseball caps (3 different designs) 3 coffee mugs (4 if you count the larger size of one) Posters: one is the two half-faces and logo, the other is Mulder and Scully before a blue-lit doorway. A poster of the painting "Mulder's Nightmare" by Sue Coe which was in the 9/29 Entertainment Weekly is now available through their store, see the magazine for details (Item #CTP001) T-Shirts: Many designs, including one long-sleeved. Wool & Leather Jacket Windbreaker Comic series: Issues #1-11, Collected #1-2, Annual #1, Collected Edition (#1-6), Digest #1 Novels: _The X-Files: Goblins_ by Charles L. Grant ISBN 0-06-105414-3 _The X-Files: Whirlwind_ by Charles L. Grant ISBN 0-06-105415-1 _The X-Files: Ground Zero_ by Kevin J. Anderson (Hardcover) ISBN 0-06-105223-X The audiobook of _Ground Zero. _The Truth Is Out There_, a guide to the show by Brian Lowry, ISBN 0-06-105330-9 _The Unofficial X-Files Companion_, a discussion of the show by N.E. Genge, ISBN 0-517-88601-4 _The X-Files Book of the Unexplained: Volume I_ by Jane Goldman, a comprehensive look at the first season. UK hardcover only, + ISBN 0-684-81633-4 (US version soon) A series of paperbacks based on the episodes aimed at a younger audience-10 and older: _The X-Files: X Marks the Spot" by Les Martin ISBN 0-06-440613-x _The X-Files: Darkness Falls" by Les Martin ISBN 0-06-440614-8 _The X-files: Tiger Tiger_ by Les Martin - ISBN 0-06-44062-1 Audiobook of _Ground Zero_, read by Gillian Anderson, ISBN 0-69451-620-1 Gallery Photos Japanese Videotapes of the first several episodes, subbed in Japanese. UK Videotapes - NOTE: These will be in PAL format which is NOT compatible with U.S. VCRs. Series 1 & 2 trading cards by Topps 1996 calendar by Landmark Calendars - ISBN 0-78-191190-7 Phone Cards: $10 worth of calling Mousepads Official magazine The following products are either bootleg or discontinued: Polo Shirt Sweatshirt Keychain Letterman Jacket Some of the apparel and photos can be ordered through Delphi's online service (which has just reopened for business) or have also been found in Suncoast Video and Sam Goody/Musicland stores. Alternatively, you may e-mail starland@aol.com your name and snail mail address to receive a catalog of what they carry. Future Products include: Large-sized trading cards from Topps. An official UK fan magazine Soundtrack featuring Mark Snow's music (Delayed until '96) Soundtrack featuring music inspired by the show (March 26) An X-Files pinball game from Sega. An X-Files movie (1997) US videos and laserdiscs (March 1996) _Ruins_, the next X-Files novel (April) Cloisonne Pins (March 1996) The "I Want to Believe" poster in the X-Files office is a studio prop but I believe that Starland has created a mock-up which they sell. Q: If Star Trek fans are Trekkies, then what are X-Files fans? A: Chris Carter originally called us "File-o-philes." However, dissatisfied with that name, the members of this newsgroup decided on "X-Philes," a name which seems to have become universally accepted. Q: I wrote/have an idea for an episode, what should I do with it? A: One of two things. 1) Post it to alt.tv.x-files.creative (if your site carries it) and/or upload it to the ftp.cs.nmt.edu FTP site. It is preferable that you do not post fan-fiction to this newsgroup, but if you must, then please CLEARLY label it as FAN-FICTION in the subject header. 2) Nothing, Chris Carter & co. are not interested and do not accept scripts from writers without agents. Q: I found this great GIF/JPG of the actors/show, how should I post it? A: Don't. Binary files have NO place on alt.tv.x-files. Instead, post it to alt.binaries.pictures or alt.binaries.pictures.misc and drop alt.tv.x-files a note that you put it there. Q: What else has David Duchovny/Gillian Anderson appeared in? A: See the X-Files FAQ for DD and GA, it's fairly complete so odds are that if you saw them in something which isn't new, it's old news. One thing which isn't mentioned in the FAQ is Duchovny's AT&T commercial spot. And no, that is NOT Gillian in the Saturn commercials (if you must know, the woman's name is Katie Brown -- she's NOT an actress). Q: What is the marital status of David Duchovny/Gillian Anderson? +A: David Duchovny is still single, and has recently broken up with Perrey + Reeves. (She made a guest appearance in episode 2.7, "3") Gillian Anderson was married during the filming of the first season and gave birth to a baby girl, Piper on Sept. 25, 1994. So, she missed a single episode, "3", while on leave. You will also not see any shots of her below the chest in the first 6 episodes of season 2. And there will be some natural growth after the pregnancy. The pregnancy itself was not written into the show, i.e. - NO alien babies, at least, from Scully. Q: Where can I send fan mail to the actors/production staff? A: Send the mail (addressed to the appropriate person) to: _The X-Files_ c/o Fox Broadcasting Company P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213 Q: Where can I send Gillian/David/Chris Carter/FOX e-mail? A: Delphi has set up an e-mail address specifically for comments on the show. The address is: the_xfiles@delphi.com The VP of Programming Research at Fox has an e-mail account: foxnet@delphi.com Please include the title of the show(s) you are discussing in the subject header. Please note, one of the posters to this newsgroup is coincidentally named Chris Carter, but he is not the man who created this show. Gillian and David have claimed computer illiteracy and as such, they have no e-mail addresses. Q: Where do the episode titles come from? A: They are given by the writers and appear in the Episode Guide as they do on the scripts and in some local television listings. Check your local paper to see if they list them. They do NOT appear in TV Guide. In addition, the titles are shown just previous to the satellite feed of the show. But regular viewers will not see the titles anywhere in the episode. Q: Where can I get the Episode Guide/X-Files FAQ/GA FAQ/DD FAQ? A: The Episode Guide and FAQ are posted at the start of each month to the newsgroup. Alternatively, you can download a copy via FTP from the (*) indicated sites. Q: Where are the FTP sites for X-Files material? A: (*) ftp.cs.nmt.edu in /xfiles (Most complete, including fanfiction) (*) ftp.rutgers.edu in /pub/x-files (Mirror of ftp.cs.nmt.edu) gossamer.eng.ohio-state.edu in /pub/archives/x-files (Creative archive) Q: I heard there is an X-Files mailing list? How do I subscribe? A: In the USA: Send e-mail containing the words "subscribe X-FILES" to: majordomo@chaos.taylored.com Note: A digest version of the list is also available by typing "subscribe X-FILES-DIGEST" instead. In the UK: Discussions here will be for episodes currently being shown in the UK. Subscription is done the same as for above, but the address to use is: listproc@uel.ac.uk In Germany: Send mail with "subscribe xf-de" in the body to: listserv@stargate.pfalz.de Q: Is there a WWW home page for the show? A: Yes, there are VERY many, with more being added each month. Here is a list of those which are exceptional, or provide something unique: http://www.TheX-Files.com/ (The Official FOX X-Files page) http://www.rutgers.edu/x-files.html (Very reliable) http://duggy.extern.ucsd.edu/linny-cgi/HTML_serv?index.html (Starter) http://www.ssc.com/~roland/x-files/x-files.html ("BFI" home page) http://www.uml.edu/~ccashman/x-files/x-files.html (Best of a.t.x) http://www.infinet.com/~rkidder/x-files/top.html (Magazine articles) http://www.wam.umd.edu/~kris (Contains some hard-to-find stuff) + http://www.webcom.com/~munchkyn/x-files.html (Sarah Stegall's reviews) http://web20.mindlink.net/a4369/ (Contains unique interviews & pics) http://dxhra1.desy.de/~cborys/tv/xf.html (Vancouver information) http://www.cs.nmt.edu/xfiles/ (Mirror of the FTP site) http://www.neosoft.com/sbanks/xfiles/xfiles.html (Video clips) http://www.netaxs.com/~hager/x-files.html (Quicktime video clips) http://eewww.eng.ohio-state.edu/~juodvalk/x-files (Fanfiction) http://www.egr.uh.edu/~escco/DDEB.html (DDEB Home Page) http://www.webcom.com/~walterh (Duchovniks' home page) http://www.phoenix.net/~kinase/GATB/gatb.html (GATB home page) http://www.tpoint.net/~rmayhall/main.html (Mitch Pileggi page) http://www.gatech.edu/lcc/idt/Students/Penberthy/X-Files/ (cont'd) UnofficialChannels.html (Walter Skinner page) http://rschp2.anu.edu.au:8080/XFiles.html (Australia) http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~simc/xfiles.html (Australia) http://gpu2.srv.ualberta.ca/~vichan/www/x-files.html (Canada) http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~kleinhen/bin/lwgate (German mail list) http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~stdcu/x-files/x-files.html (Ireland) http://www.cs.unibo.it/~cobianch/index.html (Italy) http://www.stack.urc.tue.nl/~danny/x-files.html (Netherlands) http://bundy.hibo.no/~Larsen/x-files/x-files.html (in Norwegian) http://www.iscs.nus.sg/~chengmin/xfiles/xf.html (Singapore) http://www.zynet.co.uk/simon/x-files/ (United Kingdom) http://metro.turnpike.net/~ptang/index.html (uk.media.sf.tv.x-files) http://www.io.org/~jshum (Lots of links) Q: What is IRC and when is the X-Files channel open? A: IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat and is sort of a party line for computer users. The channel is named #xf, and militant bots are NOT welcome. The chats usually take place before/during/after episodes are shown in the US. For more experienced netrunners, there is also a MUS at: 134.174.51.13 port 7777 Q: Is there any sort of official fan club? A: Yes. There are two. The first is older and more established, however is only SOMETIMES considered official by Fox. You can get more info by sending a SASE to: The X-Files Fan Club In Canada: P.O. Box 3138 c/o S. Bartle Nashua, NH 03061-3138 4404 Perry Street Vancouver, B.C. CANADA V5N 3X5 The new official fan club is getting ready to open its doors to membership, but will not be getting under way until mid-June. If you wish to contact them early, you may do so via US Mail at: The Official X-Files Fan Club 411 North Central Ave Suite 300 Glendale, CA 91203