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The show came along at the perfect time, Popular series like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings ceased production at a period when there was still a great deal of interest in the paranormal. And when the show did premiere and progress along, it generated a serious movement of curiosity and belief in the presence of beings outside of our world.

Also, with the Internet being extremely primitive compared to what we peruse today, the show wouldn't have been exposed to the overall vile nature of the online community nowadays. I could see a discussion thread about the episode "Deep Throat" being pasted with comments such as "OMG GAY" and "in before the lock" as opposed to an in depth discussion about the type of experimental air craft at Ellen's Air Force Base, or the use of (supposedly) recovered tech from the Roswell crash in the designs.

Finally, thanks to programs like Photoshop, a 12 year old could make a convincing UFO photograph, further diminishing the appeal and mystique that other similar documents produced during that time (and incidentally, for the show) would have.

I don't know. I think the appeal of the paranormal is stronger today than ever; just look at the appeal of shows like Ghost Hunters and Monsterquest and all the rest.

What I will say is that the huge abundance of these shows might have made the fictional X-Files seem less appealing just because it isn't "real". Also, look at how many shows out there have tried to emulate Mulder and Scully's platonic yet surreptiously romantic work relationship with it's "will they or won't they" theme.

And the Fox series Fringe would not even exist today if Chris Carter's
The X-Files hadn't first paved the way for shows about the paranormal.

I also disagree, I think the show could have done well today. Mulder and Scully's dynamic alone drew in a lot of viewers. As Tv Star Collector said, XF paved the way for paranormal shows today. The X-Files is a classic because it's timeless.