(

,:.

,!:

fodcy's Sconner
'sobrino the Teenoge Witch'
cosis o spell over her school

tonight ot 8:30 p.m. Melisso Joon Hort slors in the ABC

sitcom.

Poge 50-51

October 4, 1996

Declassified informatioo, by the book

M,AII ZOLLER SEI]Z On Popular Culture
Like thO original "Star TTek," Fox huge enough birthed
T"y''s

But the most interesting offshoot of "XFiles" mania is the recent deluge of fetishistifive and cally detaiied reference books counting. Some are authorized by Twentieih

Century Fox and Chris Carter; others are

not. The books combine episode guides, cast

"The X-Files" has become a phenomenon

it.

to

transcend the show thai

:

and crew lists, encyclopedic background detail and trivia. English magazine writer
Jane Ooidman has even managed to spin off a hardcover book series, "The X-Files Books

By creating an altemate universe rich in fanciful detail, the program's 38-year-oid cre-

ator, Chris Carter, has presented endless opportunities for audience participation not to mention shameless merchandising, There ue "X-Files" T-shirbs, comic books,

of the Unexplained" (HarperPrism Books,

$29.95), which offers semi-plausible scientific

explanations for the various ETs, slime beasts, spooks and wraiths that populate the
show

trading cards,'websites, chat

groups, newsletters, fanzines, novelizations, original short stories and novels, posters and commemorative videocassettes. The inevitable feature fiim is in the works.

The most satisffing reference work is

"The X-Files Declassified" (Citadel

Pleose

Press,

lurn to Poge 46

They're ba-a-a-c-k. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny star in 'The X-Files,' which starts its fourth season tonight.

Declassified informatioh, by the

Continued lrom Page
45

-Files'book
changed now.
"Whenever I think about this issue, I keep going back to this press conference Ronald Reagan gave right before the whole Iran-Contra scandal came out," Lovece says. "Reagan was pooh-poohing the whole idea. He made it all sound like some Weekly World News story. But it tumed out the, allegabions were true! firere really was a secret war going on. $re heard about

$l?.95), a 264-page paperback guide to the show by entertainment writer Frank Lovece. It's the ideal work for regular viewers ofthe show who eqioy it

primarily

as

entertainment, not

prophecy. Working through the show's three seasons episode by ePiso$e, Iovece summarizes the plot, tells who wrofe and directed each installment,

'But I thtutk in the end the show aecurately reflects the way a groWg number of people feel abaut Amertca. ... Thete are alat of things going on that we do need to Lrnow about, things that arc Rept ftom us be$ause ofsome ulterior motive on the part otpeople ln governrnent.'.
rl

tacK on alist ofcharacters with

speakingparts. The entries are extensively cross-referenced. If, for instance, an unnamed charaeter in an early episode shows uP later in the sbason with a name, a job and dialogue, Lovece indicates it in a footnote.
Loveee, alean 38-Year-old with expressive eyebrows and a head ofwitry black hair, is a fan of the show, but he didn't used to be. The 38-year-old son of Italian restaurabeurs from Morganlown, W.Va., has written several entertainment-related nonfl ction books, including "The Official Fan's Guide to'Ta,ti.' " Though he was a casual viewer of "The X-Files," he didn't watch every episode and had only.a passing interest in the show's
'

Fronki,Lovece
X-Files Decldssified' outhor

caietuly planted fringe details

leastuntil Citadel hess assigned him

to do a book. - Then he spent several months watchhg every episode on cassette,

at

'

remote control in hand. He'd write

ofdialogue that f0reshadowed future developments or

doyvn lines

refened to past ones. He'd freeCeftame certainimages to make note of interesting items in the frame. It would usiraly take nim three to four hours to 'watch each one-hour show, he saYs. Then he'd solicit suggestions or interpretations from fans he knew, or gonn the Internet to find obscure dotuments or trivia from chat gxoups anfl websites. Lovece soon became a or, as they are known, an X-Phile. ,fan

along the lines of an "i eneyclopedia," says Lovece, who works :r ftrll-time for an online entertainment service in lower Manhattan. "I still ininr tnat titte would have been more ii commercial. But this title is cuter." ,ii He was determined to dig as deeP into the show's production as he could, The resutts are informative and amusing. He found out, for instance, that the show's female lead, Gillian Anderson, made anunreleased i domestic drama called "Home Fires Burning," costaning Raymond J. Barry, who has a reeurring role as Sen. Richard Matheson on "The X'Flles." i He also found out that a child actorwho appeared in an episode about a faith healer had appeued pilot ' earlier in an unsold, unseen produced by two of "The i creators.
, ,

'X-files'

that has never appeared anywhere befort," brags lovece. "I got stufrthat the average fan with a computer simply couldn't flnd unless they were willing to
search for months, which is what I

did."

In the opinion ofa self-created expert, why, exactly, is the show so populu? On heuing the question, Lovece smiles a smile that's... well, conspiratorial. "The fact that it is so well done, well written and beautifully shot has
very

little

bo do

with it," he says. "The

chord it bouches is a very contemporary one that nobody in television had put thdr flnger on in a significant waY, namely:We don'ttrust authority. We don't trust the government."
Lovece has longnurtured a suspicion of authority, ever since he
was a teenager watching the Watergate

X'Files"

fl

, -"Theoriginalconceptionwas

piece ofobscure trivia, but it also answers the question ofhow you get roles in television," says Lovece, "You, take a part in a pilot nobody ever s and somewhere down the road the people who created that pilot rememberyou and sqy,'HeY, You that hd from the pilot would be I for this role.' "I know I've got material in here

"Thatlastbitisaninteresting

hearinss on television. For a child who had bein raised to hold the president in avre, it was a disillusioning sight. "When I was growing uP, we were taucht that the President was truitworthy, sarie, sober, responsible and moral. I mean, the only person'who knew Superman's seuet identity was the presidenb. That's how much the oftlce was trusted. You'd actually see JFK's silhouette giving SuPerman missions in the comic books. That's

(Lieutenant CoL Oliver North's secretary) Fawn Hall stuffrng documents downher clothes to prevent not the KGB seeing them, but the FBI our own national police force. Demonstrably, we have been lied to over and over again. And I think the show plays ofr that faet brilliantly." When we hear stories like that, lovece suggests, our optimism about ddmocracy is shattered, and our' imaginations work overtime, assuming a vaguely vengeful worst-case scenario mentality. If one secret war could be carried out during the 1980s; why not [ve, or 10, or 20? Ifthe United States government could cover up radiation tests on American citizens in the '50s, who'sto say they couldn't cover up the existence of aliens, vampircs, androids or Bigfoot? "There is hyperbole for dramatic effect, obviously. But I think in the end the show accurately reflects the way a growing number of people feel about America. T'here are things going on that we don't lmow about and that we don't really need to Xnow about, like

the names ofour secret agents in foreign countries, for instance. But thete are alot ofthings going on that we doneed to know.about, things that
are kept from us beeause ofsome ulterior motive on the part of people in government. "In that respeet,'The X-Files' isn't a pessimistic show. It's a pragmatic show."