Latest news with #FailBetter
Perth Now
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
David Duchovny had to point out plot holes in The X-Files
David Duchovny had to call out character inconsistencies in The X-Files. The 64-year-old star found fame as FBI agent Fox Mulder in the hit sci-fi series and recalled how he often needed to correct episodic directors on plot holes. Speaking on his Fail Better podcast, David said: "It was a bit of a pet peeve of mine when I was doing X-Files - not so much the others that I've done - but, as with Bones, it's episodic, but every episode is pretty high drama. It can be life and death. "Sometimes the directors would come on and they'd know they had a great script and (since) this was on The X-Files, this could happen, you know? Like, 'Holy s***, this is a great script,' and the really wanted to kill it. Those guys were dangerous. "So often they would say, 'We've never seen Mulder like this before', and I'd say, 'Yeah, like 10 other times we've seen Mulder like this before." David recalled how he had to correct show bosses when Mulder revealed that he had a fear of fire in the season one episode Fire - as his alter ego had appeared unmoved by a blaze in the show's pilot. He explained to guest Emily Deschanel: "I remember like in the middle of the episode, I had this thought. I think I went up to (director) Chris Carter - who wrote that episode I believe - and I said, 'Didn't Mulder and Scully watch a building burn down in the pilot? I think Mulder was fairly cool with it, you know, it didn't bother him.' "It's like that kind of stuff, you know where you're going, you're kind of the curator of the character and sometimes you have to go, 'I can't actually do that.'" David recently lamented how Netflix has changed the TV landscape as he doesn't believe that modern shows can have the longevity and reach of The X-Files, which aired from 1993 to 2002 before being revived from 2016 to 2018. He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper last month: "Netflix kind of f***** the business in a way. Well, I mean, look at The X-Files, which had a foothold on the culture and then lasted. Now, there's just so much – things become incandescent for a year or two and then they just fade away."
The Hill
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Former ‘Blues Clues' host Steve Burns launches podcast for adults
Original 'Blue's Clues' host Steve Burns, who abruptly left the Nickelodeon show in 2002 only to resurface in a viral video during the pandemic, has announced plans for a podcast. In the series, the youthful-looking adult deftly broke the fourth wall as an animated puppy named Blue left a trail of clues for a preschool audience to figure out. Burns says his new podcast, 'Alive,' will similarly invite listeners to take part. 'You know how there's like a billion podcasts that you can listen to? What if we made one that listens back?' Burns, now a 51-year-old with glasses, salt-and-pepper beard stubble and a penchant for wearing baseball caps, said in a TikTok video this week. 'It would be part podcast, part conversation — kind of like this.' The podcast, from Lemonada Media, is expected to premiere in the fall. It's billed as a continuation of the dialogue Burns began with his viewers way back in 1996 but with more mature topics that include mortality, loneliness, success and masculinity. The umbrella descriptor for the show promises discussions about 'what it means to stay human in a complicated world.' If that sounds a little heavy, a wistful video Burns released in 2021 to mark the 25th anniversary of 'Blue's Clues' met with rave reviews. In the clip, the musician and actor explained how he left the show, which continued with a different host, to go to college. 'We started out with clues, and now it's, what, student loans, jobs, and families,' Burns said then. 'And some of it has been kind of hard, you know? I know you know.' His podcast will join a stable of Lemonada offerings that includes 'Fail Better with David Duchovny' and 'Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Difficult times,' ‘screaming matches,' and ‘abandonment': David Duchovny and Chris Carter rehash their drama on ‘The X-Files'
Tuesday on David Duchovny's Fail Better podcast, the actor reunited with The X-Files creator Chris Carter to rehash the good times and also the "difficult times" during their time working on the Emmy-winning sci-fi hit about FBI agents Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigating unexplained phenomenon. The program aired on Fox from 1993 to 2002, with two feature films in 1998 and 2008, and a two-season revival in 2016 and 2018. Duchovny began by saying that it's "obvious history" that his "entire career was made possible by The X-Files." The actor then delved into the troubles behind the scenes when he left after Season 7. (Mulder appeared in half of Season 8 and in the original series finale in Season 9). More from GoldDerby Emma D'Arcy takes a break from filming 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 to talk riding dragons, 'Westerosi jet lag,' and Season 2's 'momentous' moments Jason Schwartzman on the breakneck 'Mountainhead' production: 'I've never done anything like it in my life' 'Étoile' creators say cinematographer M. David Mullen was their 'film school' "Something lost in the times that we've done a reboot of the show, twice now, and even the second movie, goes back to me leaving the show," Duchovny declared. "We don't have to, like, hash it out, but I realized later that that was a difficult thing to do. You may have been as tired as I was, or as wanting to move on much as I was. I consider myself a team player, so I've always felt a bit of an abandonment, not by you, but of you, in that sense. I don't know if we're going for any resolution here or anything like that, this is not the VH1 version." Carter confirmed that by Season 7, "We were all tired. We had made a big move from Vancouver to Los Angeles. We had done well over 100 episodes. There were legal, contractual things going on that were fraught, and you and I had a parting. We became — I don't want to say mortal enemies — but it was a difficult time." The showrunner recalled that Duchovny came to him after he'd worked out "legally with Fox that he would leave the show for a time." Carter considered those years that they were "at odds" to be a "forgettable part of the show" for remembered a time when he was engaged in a "lawsuit with Fox [over compensation from reruns airing on FX] while working on the Fox lot, and actually had my security sweep my trailer for bugs. We were afraid that we were being bugged." When Carter ran into Duchovny around that time in Malibu, outside of the show, he hugged him out of "reflex," explaining, "I think it surprised both of us." The artisans also talked about their "screaming matches" in Vancouver during Season 11, which Duchovny said was a misunderstanding regarding him wanting to catch an "early flight back home," and unintentionally making Carter think he was trying to "simplify his work" in directing the episode. "After 11 seasons, I'd just had it with you," Carter joked as the men laughed. SEEEverything to know about Ryan Coogler's 'The X-Files' reboot: Gillian Anderson finally weighs in Their time together wasn't all bad. "Watching you write, watching you shepherd the other writers on The X-Files, I re-learned a love for plot and for the smart machinery that keeps somebody guessing that goes to the highs and lows," Duchovny told his former boss. "Without that, I think I'd be making nonsensical movies that don't go anywhere. It's not about language, it's about the plot, at least in our business." Said Carter, "When I did the pilot for The X-Files, I wrote a 17-page, single-spaced outline, so the story was very important. I didn't just wing it. When we started up the show, we hired writers, James Wong and Glen Morgan came on, and they had been working on Stephen J. Cannell shows, and they brought with them a bulletin board, and we put up 3x5 cards, and that became the way we plotted the episodes." When Duchovny complimented Carter's "perfect" handwriting on those index cards, Carter added, "That was a Glen Morgan thing. He actually had beautiful penmanship, and so that became competitive — who could make the most beautiful cards? We've worked like that ever since, and I think Vince Gilligan still works that way on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul." Duchovny calls the board method "smart," recalling, "We would work on some scripts and we would just take this card, and this scene could maybe go over here, or this scene goes over here, maybe it comes back, maybe it doesn't, and that all makes sense." Fox/Liaison The actor thanked the creator for allowing him to write and direct episodes of The X-Files back in the day, claiming, "I can't repay that thanks. It's really opened me up into another part of who I am." While TV stars of today are "gifted" a producer credit, Duchovny "never wanted to be" because he wanted to "earn it." Duchovny directed three episodes of the series: "The Unnatural" in Season 6, "Hollywood A.D." in Season 7, and "William" in Season 9. "The great thing about The X-Files was that you were surrounded by people who wanted it to be good from the beginning, and that's not, in my experience, always the case. Some people just show up for work." When they shot in Vancouver from Seasons 1 through 5, the positivity was the reason Carter "got up every day to do the job." News was also made on the Fail Better podcast, as Carter announced he'd just been given the "go-ahead" to do a director's cut of the second movie, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, from 2008. "I can't tell you how excited I am about this," he said. "Now I have the chance to make the scary movie that I always intended to make. It's really bringing to life something that, for me, was on the page and never got to the screen." Duchovny is a four-time Emmy nominee for The X-Files (1997, 1998), The Larry Sanders Show (1997), and Life With Bonnie (2003). Carter received eight Emmy nominations overall for producing, writing, and directing The X-Files. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Jacob Elordi reveals personal reason for joining 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North': 'It was something important to me' Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez on how the 'Agatha All Along' cast 'became a coven' when recording 'The Ballad of the Witches' Road' Jason Schwartzman on the breakneck 'Mountainhead' production: 'I've never done anything like it in my life' Click here to read the full article.
Perth Now
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
David Duchovny gets married
David Duchovny has got married. The 'X Files' actor and his partner Monique Pendleberry - who he has been in a relationship with for almost six years - were spotted in Malibu on Tuesday (20.05.25) wearing rings on their wedding fingers, and insiders have now confirmed to Us Weekly that the pair have tied the knot. The 64-year-old star - who has West, 26, and Kyd, 22, with ex-wife Tea Leoni - began dating Monique, 31, in 2017 but they have made very few public appearances together over the years. The 'Californication' star previously told how his 2014 divorce from Tea, 59, made him "more empathetic and humble". He told The Times about the emotional fallout he was hit by following the split: 'That darkness does deepen you. It makes you more empathetic and humble.' David also opened up about how people are constantly trying to work out if his role as womaniser Hank Moody in 'Californication' was linked to him checking into rehab for sex addiction in 2008. He said when asked if the role was a case of art imitating life: 'People never tire of trying to figure that out. 'But to me, that's not what acting is about. I don't look for things that are mirroring my life in any way.' The 'Fail Better' podcaster has also confessed to feeling "inadequate" as a father because he was always working so much. He told People magazine last year: 'Maybe I was a good parent, because my kids are great people, and they probably want to think of me as a good parent, too. 'They don't want to think of me as a failure. I'm sure I've done bad things, I'm sure I've made mistakes, but we all have. So, I try and give myself more of a break. However, he noted it was 'also cool to model a person who's engaged with their life for a kid.' He added: 'It might not be the best thing to just devote your entire existence to your kid either, so it could go either way. 'I don't have access to the other road that could have been traveled. I just have the one that I did travel, so certainly not a perfect parent, but I love my kids. I love my kids so, so much.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
David Duchovny's Longtime Malibu Home Lists for $12.5 Million
David Duchovny acquired a landlocked 1950s abode in the gated Point Dume enclave of Malibu almost a decade ago and then proceeded to build a brand-new modern home in its stead. There, amid the site that he's referred to as his 'magical place,' the veteran film and TV actor also kitted out an existing train caboose where he went on to pen his 2021 novel Truly Like Lightning and record episodes of his Fail Better podcast. The X-Files and Californication star has now chosen to part ways with his beloved digs and has the spot up for sale, asking $12.5 million—around $7.8 million more than he paid back in mid-2016. Based in New York at the time, Duchovny first rented the property from The X-Files writer/producer Chris Carter as a Los Angeles pied-à-terre before buying the property and making it his primary residence, according to The Wall Street Journal. More from Robb Report Inside a Brand-New $44 Million Beverly Hills Mansion With a Two-Ton Marble Bathtub Apple TV's 'The Studio' Filmed at These 3 Scene-Stealing John Lautner Houses in L.A. A Rolls-Royce Co-Founder's Family Commissioned This $5.3 Million London Home RELATED: Kanye West's Former Malibu Home Sells for More Than $30 Million After Less Than a Week Nestled beyond a gated driveway on just over an acre of land, the wood-sided structure has three bedrooms and five baths in roughly 3,580 square feet of open-plan living space with polished cement floors, high ceilings dotted with clerestory windows and skylights, and smart-home systems. Large pivoting glass doors provide seamless indoor/outdoor environs. Standing out is the spacious great room, which holds a living room, a dining area, and a kitchen outfitted with custom cabinetry, stone countertops, and top-tier Miele and Fisher & Paykel appliances. The primary suite flaunts a walk-in closet, plus a luxe bath sporting a clawfoot soaking tub and a steam shower. Two more en-suite bedrooms each have white oak floors and built-in closets, while an office overlooks picturesque grounds hosting a lap pool and a sunken fire pit. RELATED: The Epic Pool at This $25 Million Malibu Home Will Make Your Favorite 5-Star Jealous Topping off the listing, which is held by Chris Cortazzo of Compass, is a detached building that currently serves as a gym, as well as the aforementioned caboose-turned-guesthouse, which has its own living and sleeping area, kitchen, built-in dining nook, bath, and rooftop deck. The property also transfers with a deeded access key to a secluded beach. Per WSJ, the 64-year-old New York native and two-time Golden Globe-winning actor has decided to sell because his children are grown. Duchovny, who recently launched his Secrets Declassified docuseries on the History Channel, reportedly still owns an apartment in New York and a house in Costa of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
