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

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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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