“The truth is out there” and viewers still want to find it.
The return of Fox’s “The X-Files” brought in impressive ratings for the rebooted cult classic on Sunday night.
The series, which was scheduled right after Fox’s broadcast of the NFC Championship game on Sunday night, brought in a viewership of 16.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.
That includes an impressive 7.8 million viewers with those in the prized advertising demographic of 18 to 49 years old.
Fox announced in March that the popular sci-fi drama that ran for nine seasons through the 1990s until 2002 would return for a six-episode event series.
The interest in the return of Mulder and Scully after a 14 year break was seen in the TV numbers and on the Internet. Social media lit up on Sunday night as fans of the series were excited to see their two favorite FBI agents take on the paranormal once more.
“The X-Files is using the original opening credits!!” tweeted BuzzFeed News entertainment editor Jarett Wieselman on Sunday night. “Legit chills here.”
The reviews of the first episode were mixed with critics, but some like Vanity Fair’s Joanna Robinson told viewers to be patient seeing that the series, which continues on Monday night, gets better.
“‘X-Files’ fans have waited a long, long time to see Fox Mulder and Dana Scully team up again to investigate paranormal activity. But ‘My Struggle,’ the premiere — was far from the show’s best work,” Robinson wrote. “But after some critical outcry, Fox released two additional episodes for review and the good news is, X-Files fans, it gets much better.”
