TMC
04-21-2022, 08:41 PM
https://www.looper.com/840179/game-changing-crossovers-that-almost-happened/
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/game-changing-crossovers-that-almost-happened/x-filespicket-fences-1650579450.webp
What's most fascinating about the story behind the proposed "X-Files" crossover with prime time drama "Picket Fences" is not that it didn't happen, but that it essentially did. Planned by the creators of their respective series — Chris Carter and David E. Kelley — the story would have focused on some paranormal goings-on involving a cult performing genetic experiments on cattle in the town of Rome, Wisconsin, the setting of "Picket Fences." As you might imagine, this brings Mulder and Scully in to investigate, presumably bringing them into the world of the other series' characters, including Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt), the honorable Henry Bone (Ray Walston) and legal eagle Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel).
Despite both being Fox-produced shows, the two series aired on competing networks, so the crossover was halted. But both creators had already developed their scripts and were unwilling to abandon them. Each rewrote their stories, removing references to the other's series. The "X-Files" episode "Red Museum," as aired, still sees Mulder and Scully investigating a cult that is experimenting on cows in a rural town. Meanwhile, over on "Picket Fences," the episode "Away In a Manger" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0674667/) finds two FBI agents who aren't Mulder and Scully looking into a coincidentally similar occurrence on a local farm, with cows being subjected to genetic experiments.
Though the two creators haven't officially commented on the nixed crossover, insiders in Hollywood have referenced it (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/agent-carter-showrunners-grilled-by-759932/) as a creative way to cross over shows that might not be approved by studio higher-ups.
https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/game-changing-crossovers-that-almost-happened/x-filespicket-fences-1650579450.webp
What's most fascinating about the story behind the proposed "X-Files" crossover with prime time drama "Picket Fences" is not that it didn't happen, but that it essentially did. Planned by the creators of their respective series — Chris Carter and David E. Kelley — the story would have focused on some paranormal goings-on involving a cult performing genetic experiments on cattle in the town of Rome, Wisconsin, the setting of "Picket Fences." As you might imagine, this brings Mulder and Scully in to investigate, presumably bringing them into the world of the other series' characters, including Sheriff Jimmy Brock (Tom Skerritt), the honorable Henry Bone (Ray Walston) and legal eagle Douglas Wambaugh (Fyvush Finkel).
Despite both being Fox-produced shows, the two series aired on competing networks, so the crossover was halted. But both creators had already developed their scripts and were unwilling to abandon them. Each rewrote their stories, removing references to the other's series. The "X-Files" episode "Red Museum," as aired, still sees Mulder and Scully investigating a cult that is experimenting on cows in a rural town. Meanwhile, over on "Picket Fences," the episode "Away In a Manger" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0674667/) finds two FBI agents who aren't Mulder and Scully looking into a coincidentally similar occurrence on a local farm, with cows being subjected to genetic experiments.
Though the two creators haven't officially commented on the nixed crossover, insiders in Hollywood have referenced it (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/agent-carter-showrunners-grilled-by-759932/) as a creative way to cross over shows that might not be approved by studio higher-ups.