Director-producer Ralph Hemecker has died aged just 65 (Deadline). Ten Thirteen fans know him from his work on three episodes of Millennium, one for each season (and among the most memorable of the entire series) and one episode of The X-Files season 5 (not the most memorable):
Millennium 1X08: The Well-Worn Lock, one of the boldest and darkest episodes, dealing with child molestation
Millennium 2X06: The Curse of Frank Black, a mostly silent episode and truly an all-time classic
Millennium 3X02: Exegesis, a soft-reboot of the series but with very prescient themes
The X-Files 5X09: Schizogeny, the “killer trees” episode that wasted guest star Sarah Jane Redmond (but, to be clear, any shortcomings from the episode sure are not due to the directing or the acting!)
IMDb page. He was involved in many projects, more recently Once Upon A Time and Blue Bloods.
Somewhat recently, already 4 months ago, a recording of the Millennium-focused panel surfaced, thanks to Kurt North from the X-Cast / The Time Is Now podcasts. This is the only panel from Philefest in September 2023 that had not been recorded by X-Files News, I suppose because it was not about The X-Files. The panel had Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz and Troy Foreman (producer of the Millennium documentary). Though short, this panel is excellent, on several points Carter has humorous comments followed up by very heavy stuff, and we finally got a good reason why MM is still not on any streaming platforms. Here are the highlights:
Carter: The idea for MM came from Fox forcing him to come up with a second series! He was a big fan of “Silence of the Lambs”. He finds Fincher’s series “Mindhunter” excellent.
Spotnitz: TXF episode “Irresistible” was an early template for MM. Among all the hours of TV they did, the Pilot of MM is the best. In the Pilot, the characters, the ideas are “closest to who you [Carter] are, closest to your worldview”. Carter does believe in the evil of the world, but we all have yellow house. There were no supernatural monsters or aliens like in TXF, it was the reality of the human condition.
Originally two highly qualified executives had been hired to run MM [who?], but Carter and Spotnitz had to take over. There were 1500 people working daily on TXF, MM and the TXF movie, it was amazing they pulled it off.
Why don’t we have MM on streaming? Season 2 has a lot of good music and securing music rights is costly. Carter: Disney/Fox is “cheap”. [Finally, an answer! Hold on to those DVDs!]
Season 3 was run by Ken Horton and Chip Johannessen, they had plans for season 4, but Carter and Spotnitz don’t know them, don’t know what was Peter Watts’s fate. Fox would have done a season 4, but Carter moved MM aside to do “Harsh Realm”. Fox was chasing better ratings, but the ratings never got better than MM, it was a structural decline.
Carter: “I’ve met evil people”, “some people have a defect”, “too many of them are lawyers”, “I know the face of evil, I’ve looked it in the eye and shuddered”.
The reason Carter took a break after TXF was an on-set accident where a crew member electrocuted himself and was killed. [This was Jim Engh; 8X01: “Within” was dedicated to his memory.] He went to the funeral, he met his widow. Later, the widow was suing and Carter was named specifically. He was called in for a deposition, the lawyers were trying in every way to connect the deceased with him. He had enough, he didn’t want to put himself in a position to be accused. Eventually the case was dropped. [These are rare details on a little-known case, and a surprising amount of detail. Along with a work burnout and other legal issues with Fox, this was certainly a contributing factor for Carter’s break after 2002.]
Question about common visual elements between the MM pilot and TXF: “The Red and the Black” (people with sewed orifices in their faces): Carter: both were made concurrently, it was not conscious.
Spotnitz: Carter loved Fincher’s “Seven”. He got “Seven”‘s assistant production designer for the MM pilot. [This was Gary Wissner, credited as art director on “Seven”.]
MM revival: the obvious way forward would be if Jordan has similar gifts and becomes a serial killer profiler herself. Carter: the number of killers has decreased in recent years, one would have to branch out for new stories. “Dahmer” was great.
Sarah Jane Redmond originally approached Carter for a role in MM. She had the perfect affect for MM. Carter wrote the Lucy Butler role for her.
In the MM documentary, the interview with her took place inside a church.
Spotnitz: originally the show would not have any supernatural at all. The studio was pressuring for it. By the end of season 1 they did “Lamentation”. Lucy Butler was Spotnitz’s favourite character after Frank Black.
What do they fear now? Carter: “the Trump administration”. If they’d do the revival, a scary title would be just “Trump”.
Season 2: Glen & Jim had ideas, they took a huge load off Carter & Spotnitz. He watched the season like a fan.
Spotnitz: he was exhausted after season 1, it was brutal. Carter asked him if he wanted to leave TXF for MM. It was a hard decision.
For season 2, Jim had T-shirts printed out “99% less serial killers”. It was a different direction.
Season 3: Chip was a poetic, artistic writer. It was a different tone and focus. Carter & Spotnitz came in and contributed, but it was Chip’s vision. The show was 3 distinct visions, a triptych. Spotnitz loved the work of Kristen Cloke.
On TXF: “The Erlenmeyer Flask”: the hybrid idea was something Carter and Anne Simon hatched together. Carter follows current research on genetic engineering, “we are on the cusp of changing the human race”.
Spotnitz: on the Scully effect. MM’s casting was diverse: it was not a calculation, it was not pandering, it was resisting pressure about ‘where’s the sexual tension?’ (regarding the Emma Hollis-Frank Black relationship). It’s amazing how well MM holds up. “That’s Chris’s respect for women.”
Carter: on female producers in MM. TXF had more female than male producers, he is super proud of that. He took offense with some comments in seasons 10-11. He tried to hire a female director of photography for TXF, Sandy Sizzle, which was rare at the time; Fox’s Charlie Goldstein said ‘no way’, that women couldn’t lead a crew. [This whole bit sounds like an organized defense of their work in response to criticism Carter in particular has received, and it looks like it has touched a nerve! All of these are good points but this is somewhat misplaced: I think the criticism has centered around the writing staff, which was nearly-entirely male for TXF and admittedly more balanced in MM. Also, there are many behind the scenes things we are not aware of and now that so much time has passed Carter is opening up a bit, it’s not usual for him or in the industry to be naming people like this.]
The leads of MM, Lance and Megan, were their first choices, no auditions, they gave them the roles based on past work. Megan had a unique intelligence and humanity. Spotnitz: when they killed Catherine he was sad and disappointed, it was not his decision.
Speaking of which: an extended cut of the Millennium After the Millennium documentary is coming on April 7 on BluRay and streaming (Amazon Prime)! (I don’t know if this will be available globally on Prime, it wasn’t in the past.)
A new fan site is around: a showcase of prop replicas and costumes related to #TheXFiles#Millennium, by fellow fan and friend Demijan Omeragic! Among others, the Tulpa statuette from “Arcadia”, the Alien Bounty Hunter stiletto weapon, Krycek’s leather coat from “Patient X”, Frank Black’s iconic coat. More and more fans delve into the details of the making of the show, and two aspects are the props and costumes.
The props replicas is a world in of itself, with fans obsessively trying to get information out of screen captures and auctioned props to make their replicas as screen-accurate as possible. The costumes is another world, where fans either make replicas of their own or try to track down the exact commercial model (from 30+ years ago) that was used by the production. All good stuff, with great personal stories behind each item — I encourage you to look around!
2025 has been a tough year! Writer-producer Ted Mann died earlier this year, in September, aged 72, as reported by Variety.
He was a consulting producer in season 1 of Millennium and wrote 4 episodes: “The Judge“, “Loin Like A Hunting Flame“, “Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions” and the season finale “Paper Dove“.
His credits also include David Milch’s NYPD Blue and Deadwood and Gordon & Gansa’s Homeland. He also did a short cameo in the Morgan & Wong series Space: Above And Beyond!
“The Judge” included the first mention of Legion, before anybody thought it would become an important part of the show’s mythology.
The sequel to Carter’s landmark episode “Lamentation“, “Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions” was no less memorable, with Lucy Butler and attorney Al Pepper tempting Frank Black, and the series’ first appearance of an angel, Sammael.
In related news, the Millennium After The Millennium documentary is getting a re-relase with more footage and bonus material! Find all that here.
Another loss in the Ten Thirteen family — editor Chris Willingham passed away aged 74. He had worked on all four of Ten Thirteen’s shows, most importantly in all thee of Millennium‘s seasons (16 episodes, among them Lamentation). He also worked on The X-Files (7 episodes during season 8, including This Is Not Happening), Harsh Realm (2 episodes) and The Lone Gunmen (pilot).
He also worked on productions led by Ten Thirteen alumni (Morgan & Wong’s Space: Above and Beyond, Howard Gordon’s 24, for which he won several Emmy awards).
He is survived by his wife Lynne, also an editor, also worked on The X-Files (36 episodes over seasons 5 to 9, nominated for an Emmy for The Post-Modern Prometheus). They are pictured above with their Emmys, from an interview with them at the TCA website!
Recently, the Millennium Group Sessions Redux podcast released two interviews that were conducted for the 25th anniversary of Millennium, which was in October 2021, so these are not quite recent intervews but they are newly released nevertheless. They make for some very interesting listening, Carter being his typical tight-lipped self and Spotnitz very well articulated.
If there’s one thing I’d highlight here is that Carter not only has (had?) high hopes for a Millennium revival, but that he has given thought to where the characters are and what the setting is, which…1) I want to know all about this! But also 2) How incredibly optimistic! Given how much time has passed, given how the XF revival was received, and given Frank Black’s age. I suppose it’s still possible with Jordan as the lead character, or as a complete reboot with a recast, but it’s quite a stretch.
Below, important quotes (made easy with automatically generated episode transcripts) [and my comments]:
Chris Carter
“[MM] actually maintained what I would call a solid audience through its three years. I think the show could have gone on, and for reasons that I regret, the show did not, but we had very solid ratings that could have carried us on.”
[On the 3 seasons] “I think of it as three different shows. I think of it as the first season. I think of it as the second season, when I had to step away. And I think of it as the third season, when we had to really respond to and answer to the second season, which was a departure. So I think the show benefited from that infusion of energy, and I think that, as I say, the fourth year and beyond would have been a very interesting continuation of something that I think still held a lot of promise and energy.” [Since this interview he has opened up that it was his call to cancel MM. We will be left wondering.]
[On handing over s2 to Morgan & Wong] “I don’t remember exactly what the hand-off constituted or what constituted a hand-off, but I know they had very strong feelings about the show, the characters, the relationships, and the storytelling.”
[IWTB and the rumour at the time that Frank Black would appear in it] “It’s funny, it has a Millennium theme to it, certainly a storytelling. The second movie was inspired by something that actually took place, and I met with a doctor in Cleveland at Case Western University who had actually conducted a head transplant on a chimp, and so that was kind of the inspiration. I don’t remember if Frank Black was going to appear in the movie or not, I’m not sure now looking back, he might have appeared in the movie. That said, I always look for any opportunity to feature Lance.” [He can’t recall for something as HUGE as Frank Black’s return? This is hard to believe.]
“You try to be an audience pleaser always, but you try to make sure that you are following your own instincts. Shows can be I think directed and misdirected by audience feedback. Looking at The X-Files, while we heard our audience, we were always true to the characters and the situations and the mythology, and I think the same could be said for Millennium.” [Completely agreed on both directed and misdirected by the audience.]
[Whether Peter Watts is actually dead or not?] “I actually can’t answer that question. It’s funny that in the season finale of the last reboot of The X-Files, Mitch Pileggi’s leg was the last thing you saw. So I think those are wonderful coincidences.”
[MM on streaming or Blu-Ray?] “I hope so, and I think so. I don’t know that it’ll come out on Blu Ray, which seems to be somewhat of a dying thing, but I think that it ultimately will find its way onto some platform, probably Hulu, which is owned by Disney/Fox.” [Still waiting.]
[TXF s10-11] “there’s a trick, and the trick is being respectful of the original fans, the fan base, people who have held the torch, but at the same time wanting to attract and entertain a new audience. With The X-Files that was the trick, we were responsible and receptive to fans’ desires to see the mythology and the stories within that mythology be continued, but at the same time we had to be mindful that we had a whole new audience.” [Nice insight — but whether he followed his own advice for the XF revival is up for debate.]
[A MM revival?] “If the show came back, I have some strong ideas about the direction of the show, the relationships, the characters, the situations, the circumstances, all those things are I think are have been on my mind.” [In typical Carter fashion, he doesn’t give us more — but it’s incredible that he has given it this much thought, he really thought there was a big chance for this to happen. Is this why he can’t answer whether Peter Watts is dead or not? It’s been 25 years! I think the boat has sailed, especially 4 years later after this interview. I hope he does open up eventually and will share these ideas with us.]
“Glen Morgan told me he had a meeting with some executives at a studio, I think it may have been Warner Brothers, and one of the executives says, if he had a show to bring back, it would be Millennium. Unfortunately Warner Brothers does not own the title, and so while that is always music to my ears it’s the wrong studio. That was recently.” [That’s impressive!]
[On continuing TXF without Gillian Anderson, possibly partnering Mulder and Frank Black in an episode] “I think that would be pretty cool. Actually, it’d be great crossover.” [That would have been very cool indeed.]
[On the TXF: Albuquerque animated show project] “I can tell you that, as it stands, that series is on the shelf, and for a variety of reasons I don’t think you’ll see it anytime soon, if you see it at all.”
[On what he’d do different in a MM revival] “You look at television now and people roll out 10-episode series, and we did 22 episodes a season roughly. […] I think I would look forward to doing a shorter run of the show and being able to write all the scripts before you ever went into production. […] It would be great to have the luxury of not writing while you’re producing and trying to stay one step ahead of this monster, this all-consuming monster who requires you to do way too many jobs at once. That would be a dream come true, and it would be make Millennium a better show.” [Good idea, although he still didn’t manage to do that with the 6 and 10 episode seasons of the XF revival, when he was still writing while shooting the episodes.]
[On offering Frank Spotnitz to run MM s2] “I had no idea about that. I don’t remember doing that. Frank was actively involved in The X-Files series and The X-Files movie. I think that would have been triple duty for him, so that actually is something I don’t recall. That may have been the case, but it has slipped my memory.” [see Spotnitz’s reaction below]
Frank Spotnitz
“the show didn’t reach the popularity of The X-Files, but the impact the show had on the people who saw it was really profound”
“Millennium was was really uncompromising in its way, and, honestly, I think that’s probably what limited the size of its audience, particularly in a network television landscape […] it was both what was great about it and also what probably kept it from being more popular than it was.”
“it was very much a movie type story every week”
[On his s1 episodes ‘Weeds’ & ‘Sacrament’] Weeds: “it was really about fathers and sons and the sins of the fathers being visited upon the sons” Sacrament: “in a very different way in Sacrament I kind of explored the same idea, which was not so much the sins of the fathers, but sort of the gifts of the fathers, if you will, the gift that Frank had and how that affected Jordan. But that’s an interesting theme to me, just generations and fathers and sons.”
“it’s one of those shows that we found as we went along, and that changed dramatically each of the three seasons. So I certainly had no idea from the first episode what the show was going to become, I don’t think anybody did.” “I think that that first hour is as good or better than anything Chris ever wrote, which is saying a lot, because Chris is such an incredible writer. I remember seeing it in a in a theater in Los Angeles because Fox so proud of it that they rented out theaters for the for the premiere, and just being absolutely blown away by it as a piece of filmmaking and a piece of television.” “we certainly didn’t know where the show was going to go, that it was going to ultimately embrace some supernatural elements.” “each season, it was like a triptych, each was a different way of seeing this world”
“the studio and the network were frightened by the show […] they could see that we were limiting the size of the audience by our uncompromising approach to the storytelling.” “the reason the show evolved is because we were eager to grow and not repeat ourselves, so I think there was this restless creative spirit that kept causing the show to reinvent itself.” “from the beginning of the first season, Chris sort of let go the original creative team and so he and I ended up doing double time on X-Files and Millennium that first season. And then obviously Glen and Jim came to the rescue in the second season, and then Chip and Ken in the third season.” [I don’t recall this about the original creative team, I wonder what happened.] “the third season, we all felt really proud of the show and what it did become, and we were pushing so hard for that fourth season that we ultimately didn’t get, I think because the network believed if they put something else in there, the ratings would grow, which turned out not to be true.”
[On being offered to run s2] “I was really flattered and grateful. But honestly, I don’t think I was ready at that point, and I certainly wasn’t ready to let go The X-Files either. So it was a tough call because I really did love Millennium, but I think I made the right call.” [I also think that was the right call, especially since we got Morgan & Wong’s s2, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to both MM s2+ and to TXF s5+ if Spotnitz had switched teams then.]
[On IWTB having some Millennium elements] “there’s a lot of truth to that. I think tonally it feels very much like Millennium, and it’s barely supernatural, so it could quite easily have fit into Millennium. But that’s where Chris’s head in particular was at at that point in time when we came back to The X-Files, he was more interested in the horror, psychological terror, and the thematic richness of it.”
[On the XF ‘Millennium’ episode] “we were so upset that Millennium didn’t get an ending that we were determined to give it an ending on The X-Files. I have to be honest, we didn’t appreciate how difficult that was going to be, because they are completely different shows, and we wrestled with that episode a lot. […] it was part of The X-Files, so it had to be an X-File first. I could totally get why some Millennium fans would be frustrated by that episode because it is more an X-Files episode than a Millennium episode. It’s an X-Files episode with Frank Black in it. […] it didn’t end up being the Millennium finale that we wanted it to be, but I couldn’t figure out how else to do it.”
[On Millennium compared to today’s television landscape] “X-Files and Millennium, to my mind, were both ahead of their time in terms of their cinematic ambition. In terms of the thematic element and the ambition of Millennium, it still gives all those [current] shows a run for their money, even twenty five years later, a lot of those shows don’t necessarily reach for the same complexity of theme and aren’t necessarily always as thought-provoking as Millennium was.” [Completely agreed, and that goes for all of Carter’s shows, it’s not ‘just’ good visuals or ‘just’ good plot, it’s a whole worldview, a philosophical stance.]
[Emma and Frank] “there was no social-cultural-racial agenda, it was like we loved Clea and what we thought she’d be bringing to the part and and that’s why we cast her, and I’m especially proud of that.”
“it was obviously influenced by Seven”
[About the three different seasons] “No, I don’t think it was a hindrance to the show at all. I think the show got as big an audience as it was always ever going to get, and it was creatively really strong and interesting all three seasons. […] What nobody realized in 1999 was that network television was already in decline, Fox [hoped to] recapture the X-Files numbers, which they never did. […] We were more a victim of changing viewership habits than of any creative mistakes or change of direction we may have made in the seasons.”
[On season 4 ideas] “I thought Chip [Johanessen] was going to do the fourth season and I think Chip really did have some ideas what he wanted to do. By the third season, it was not my show in any way at all. Chris and I would come in and make our contributions, but it was really Chip who was defining the show. I was really excited by what he was doing and was looking forward to, obviously, the actual millennium being on the show.”
“I really put my heart and soul into Millennium, like like I do all of these shows, and you do it because you’re hoping you’re going to reach other people. […] When people not only watch the show but like it enough to remember it and honor it and and keep it going for years, it’s incredible, I can’t tell you how gratifying that is.”
