Everything old-ish is new again in Hollywood. So why not bring back Mulder, Scully and the rest of the “X” team even though few of us rallied to see the 2008 box office dud “The X-Files: I Want to Believe”?

“The X-Files” creator Chris Carter knows the culture’s appetite for familiar brands is darn near insatiable. That means Fox’s paranormal smash will return for a modest six-episode run in 2016.

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Why bring “The X-Files” back? We’re already seeing a crush of recognizable brands on screens big (“Jurassic World”) and small (upcoming “Coach” episodes, the 2014 “24” limited series). It was perhaps inevitable that we’d reunite with the FBI agents played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson for more otherworldly cases.

The original show ran for nine seasons, but that was before the explosion of social media. Has there ever been a show that’s a better fit for Twitter? And Carter created “The X-Files” in an age when networks expected a 22-plus string of episodes per season. That understandably took its toll on the show’s creators. Now, 13-episode runs are the new normal, while select programs make do with just eight (like “True Detective”). Carter must have been itching to play in that imaginative sandbox.

Pop_XFiles_info-thumbSo what do we know for sure about the new show? (Don’t call it a reboot, please).

  • Carter will oversee the scripts for the limited series along with several scribes who previously wrote for the original program.
  • Some old friends beyond the main stars will be returning to the fold. Duchovny shared with David Letterman earlier this year that both Mitch Pileggi, who played Walter Skinner, and The Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) are set to return.
  • Stand-up comic Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Dinesh on HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” will appear at some point in the new season. Nanjiani brings serious fan bona fides to the gig. He’s the host of the podcast “The X-Files Files.”
  • The new episodes are being shot at least partially in Vancouver.
  • Among the other actors slated to appear include “The Americans” co-star Annet Mahendru and “The Soup’s” comic cutup Joel McHale.
  • The series will touch on a possible alien abductee.
  • Both Anderson and Duchovny were open to returning to their iconic roles despite otherwise busy schedules. Duchovny can currently be seen in NBC’s “Aquarius” while Anderson is getting her hands bloodied on NBC’s “Hannibal.”
  • Don’t be surprised if the new episodes get political. Carter says he’s inspired by current events, from the U.S. government spying on its citizens to the alleged decaying of personal rights in the post 9/11 world. And McHale’s character is a conservative talk show host who enlists Mulder and Scully for a mysterious mission.
  • The new series will begin after Fox’s broadcast of the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 24.

 

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