TVSquad

As Roger Daltry once sang, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Tim Minear has signed a new seven figure deal that will keep him at 20th Century Fox TV for another two years. His job will continue to involve working on existing shows while developing new drama projects. He's now been at 20th for over a decade, counting among his credits The X-Files, Strange World, Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside, and Drive. Currently he is working as a consulting producer on Joss Whedon's upcoming Dollhouse.

The summer movie season. A time of year filled with action, adventure, sequels, big Hollywood stars, big Hollywood explosions, big Hollywood egos and, apparently, TV-related films. In recent times I don't think there have been so many television-related films on the big screen at one time as there will be this summer. We've already seen the release of Speed Racer, the Sex in the City movie comes out next week, and the Steve Carell-starring remake of Get Smart premieres in June.

The last TV-related project to appear this summer will be the long-awaited return of The X-Files to the big screen. Premiering July 25th, the movie, subtitled I Want to Believe, will be directed by series creator Chris Carter and reunite FBI Agents Mulder and Scully in another adventure featuring mysteries not of this world. And, that's all we, the viewing public, know about the film since the plot is being kept hush-hush. Even the official movie trailer, which you will see after the jump, doesn't really tell the fans much about what the film will be about. Heck, it barely features the two main characters of the series.

For some, like Entertainment Weekly's Michael Slezak, knowing very little about the movie's plot is okay as it keeps the anticipation level high for the fans. For others, the lack of information is confusing and angering them at the same time. After you review the trailer let us know if you fall into Michael's camp or the camp of the confused.

So Isabelle posted a story recently about the new X-Files sequel that is supposed to hit theaters this July 25. The movie has been pretty much under wraps, except for a snippet of film here and some behind the scenes photos there. And the cast and crew certainly aren't saying anything about the movie's plot. The only hint we've received is that this movie has more to do with a standalone mystery than the alien mythology storyline from the show (and the first film).

But now I'm slightly confused, as this press release for a new X-Files DVD set says that the set gives a hint as to what we can expect in the movie.

It's that festive time of year when children put tinsel on the television antennas and hang mistletoe over their favorite DVDs. Where celebrities check into rehab to spend the holidays with all their celebrity friends. And where the rest of America is invited to corporate non-specific, non-religious, non-alcoholic generic winter holiday luncheons where they can mingle with their co-workers and say things like "Remember when this company used to have real Christmas parties?"

But while political correctness may have ruined most holiday functions, nothing can ruin Festivus! That magical season in which TV Squadders hope and pray for televisions dreams come true. And I know just what I want...

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow. It's a complete series extravaganza!

• The Andy Williams Show - Best Of
• The Bob Hope Show - The Ultimate Collection
• The Captain and Tennille - TV Specials
• The Colbert Report - Best Of
• The Cosby Show - Season 5 and 6
• Doctor Who - Series 3, Story #123 and 124
• Flight of the Conchords - Season 1
• Full House - Complete Series and Season 8
• Gilligan's Island - Complete Series
• House of Venus - Season 1
• King of Queens - Complete Series
• Martin - Season 3
• McLeod's Daughters - Season 4
• The Munsters - Scary Little Christmas
• The Pink Panther Show - A Pink Christmas
• Project Runway - Season 3
• Seinfeld - Complete Series and Season 9
• Sesame Street - Old School Vol. 2
• The Tonight Show - Heeere's Johnny: The Definitive DVD Collection
• Wildfire - Season 2
• Wings - Season 5
• Wonder Woman - Complete Collection
• The X-Files - Complete Collection Edition

Here is the total number of full episodes I have watched of the X-Files: one. It's not because I thought that the writing was poor or the acting was worse than what's normally seen at a 5th grade play. No, it was because the episode I saw freaked me out so much that my initial thought was 'If they're all like this I'd rather watch paint dry'.

You can probably guess what episode I'm talking about. If not, let me refresh your memory. The episode was entitled 'Home' and it aired during the fourth season of the series. It started out fairly benign: Scully and Mulder are brought in to investigate the discovery of a newborn corpse with numerous birth defects that was buried in a shallow grave. As the episode went on, though, it got increasingly disturbing as we found out that the newborn was the result of generations of inbreeding from a family who wanted to reamain "pure".

So let's say you had an extra $900 lying around and you really loved science fiction shows. What DVDs would you buy?

Amazon is making your decision a little bit easier for you. They have a special bundle for sale, nine different FOX/MGM shows at 49% off. OK, it's still a little pricey at $900 (you could probably put that money toward your rent), but look at what you get: the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer Collector's Set, The Angel Collector's Set, The X-Files Ultimate Collection, all ten Stargate: SG-1 seasons and all three Stargate Atlantis seasons, all four seasons of The Pretender (plus the movies), all three seasons of Roswell, both seasons of Dark Angel, and Firefly: The Complete Series. Holy crap!

Aw, this is sad news: longtime Match Game panelist Charles Nelson Reilly has died at the age of 76.

Of course, he was known for a lot more than that. He won a Tony Award in 1962 for his work on Broadway in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Reilly was also an acclaimed director, directing such plays as The Belle of Amherst and The Gin Game. He also directed several episodes of the TV show Evening Shade. He was a regular on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and appeared on many other shows, including Hollywood Squares, Love Boat, Nanny and the Professor, Lidsville, Here's Lucy, Love, American Style, Amazing Stories, Family Matters, The Drew Carey Show, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The X-Files.

He died of pneumonia in Los Angeles on Friday.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Check out Oprah Winfrey doing some improv with the gang from Thank God You're Here.
• What do Zach Braff, Rob Lowe, Paul Rudd, Claire Danes, and Amy Adams have in common?
• Whitney Matheson has a quick interview with SNL/30 Rock star Jason Sudeikis.
• For some reason, Erik Estrada got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday.
• X-Files star Gillian Anderson doesn't like television.
• TV Guide.com's Ken Fox catches Avril Lavigne on Letterman and calls her a fraud.