Pilot (The X-Files)

"Pilot"
The X-Files episode
FBI Special Agent Dana Scully meets fellow agent Fox Mulder, who has a special interest in unexplained and possibly paranormal phenomena.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Robert Mandel
Written by	Chris Carter
Production code	1X79
Original air date	September 10, 1993 (1993-09-10)
Running time	48 minutes
Guest appearances
Charles Cioffi as Scott Blevins Cliff DeYoung as Dr. Jay Nemman Sarah Koskoff as Theresa Nemman Leon Russom as Detective Miles Zachary Ansley as Billy Miles William B. Davis as The Smoking Man
Episode chronology
← Previous — Next → "Deep Throat"
The X-Files season 1
List of episodes

"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode aired on September 10, 1993, on the Fox network in the United States and Canada. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Robert Mandel. As the pilot, it would set up the mythology storyline for the series. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 7.9 and was viewed by 7.4 million households and 12.0 million viewers. The episode itself was generally well received by fans and critics alike, which led to a growing cult following for the series before it hit the mainstream.

The pilot introduced the two main characters, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who were portrayed by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson respectively. The episode also featured William B. Davis, Charles Cioffi and Zachary Ansley as the recurring characters of the Smoking Man, Scott Blevins and Billy Miles. The episode follows FBI agents Mulder and Scully on their first X-File case together, investigating a string of deaths which Mulder believes to be experiments by an extraterrestrial intelligence.

Inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the series was conceived by Carter in an attempt to "scare people's pants off". When creating the characters of Mulder and Scully, Carter decided to play against established stereotypes, making the male character a believer and the female a skeptic, as the latter role had traditionally been a male one on television. Principal photography for "Pilot" took place over fourteen days during March 1993; using a budget of US$2 million, the scenes were filmed in and around the Vancouver area. Vancouver would remain the area for production for the next five years, although production would move to Los Angeles from the beginning of the sixth season at the behest of Duchovny.