The X-Files Plots Another Darin Morgan Classic — 2018 FIRST LOOK
Michael AusielloA born couch potato, Michael Ausiello’s earliest memories are rectangular in shape, and, in fact, when he gets bored with one recollection, he reaches for the remote control and switches to another. Papa Smurf, J.R. Ewing, Flame Beaufort (if you have to ask, be ashamed… very ashamed).… These are the personalities that shaped his young mind into what it is today: a steel trap, slightly rusty, but overflowing with knowledge of the tube — some of it practical; some… eh, not so much. From the beginning, Mike dreamed of making a living in the business by which he lived and died. But how? Dammit, how?! He tried acting, turning in a performance as Sandy in a Robert Gordon Elementary School production of Annie that was so convincing, he got fleas. He tried playing an instrument, rocking out on the clarinet as a member of the University of Southern California’s iconic Trojan Marching Band. But neither of those hats fit him quite as well as that of editor. Upon graduating from USC, Mike gave up working as the TV critic/columnist for USC’s Daily Trojan newspaper and began riding the elevator to success. First he labored alongside John Tesh and Mary Hart (well, they were in the same building, at least) as a media relations coordinator for Entertainment Tonight. Next, he so thoroughly schmoozed impressed the editors of Soap Opera Update that they had no choice but to give him a freelancing gig. He then was added to the staff of Update’s sister publication, Soaps In Depth. At In Depth, Mike interviewed all of daytime television’s greats, from Susan Lucci to Cynthia Watros to Vanessa Marcil. But soon, he was hungry for more. (Actually, since between high school and college he lost enough weight to equal any Gilmore Girl, he might have just been hungry period.) So in 1999, when he was invited to come aboard at TV Guide, he leapt at the opportunity, looking back only long enough to make sure he hadn’t left any Diet Raspberry Snapple in his wake. Keri and Cheri, Mariska and Piggy…. In no time, Mike was on a first-name basis with their publicists’ secretaries. Quickly realizing that they had a diva in the making star on the rise, Mike’s new bosses added to his responsibilities almost hourly: Before long, not only was he handling TVGuide.com’s news every day, editing the site’s Insiders and churning out one Ask Ausiello after another, but he was filing a weekly column for the magazine and writing the occasional feature and cover story. In July 2008, after eight years at TV Guide, Michael jumped to Entertainment Weekly, where he penned a weekly column in the magazine as well as an award-winning blog on EW.com (both titled The Ausiello Files). His signature Ask Ausiello column continued to be a must-read for TV fans and spoilerwhores alike, and his bi-weekly scoop series, Ausiello TV, was an instant smash according to him. When he’s not working his moles to scoop his competition and bring his ever-growing fan base — more than 1 million Twitter followers included — the latest news as Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TVLine.com, Michael can be found thinking deep thoughts, coveting other journalists’ swag and hanging out with his four-legged friends at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in Upstate New York.2018 First Look
Bold prediction: One of the 10 new X-Files episodes coming our way in 2018 will be completely, utterly bananas.
The franchise’s most out-there auteur, Darin Morgan, is poised to follow up 2015’s inspired “Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster” with another undoubtedly surreal installment, this one featuring a guest turn by Veep‘s Brian Huskey. Little is known about the outing, although David Duchovny recently hinted to TVLine that Morgan’s disdain for his alter ego remains very much in tact.
“What I personally love in [Darin’s episodes] is that he hates Mulder,” the actor says with a laugh. “He’s always trying to make Mulder an imbecile and the butt of every joke.”
And as much as he relishes the chance to play the quasi-victim, Duchovny admits it represents something of an acting challenge. “It’s very difficult to figure out how to play Mulder in those episodes because he’s such an ass, and I feel pressure to find that place where I can service how funny it is and still keep Mulder Mulder. It’s a bit of a pressure cooker for me because I love Darin and I want his episodes to have integrity. I don’t want it to just be this goofy thing like, ‘Oh, we’re not The X-Files this week. We’re winking. It’s not really Mulder.’ I want it to be more than that.”
Series creator Chris Carter recently described Morgan’s latest as “original, smart, funny… everything you expect” from the left-of-center writer-director. He also teased that the episode features “a big link to previous X-Files episodes.”