Millennium (season 1)
Encyclopedia
The first season of the serial
crime-thriller television series Millennium
commenced airing in the United States
on October 25, 1996, concluding on May 16, 1997, and consisting of twenty-two episodes. It tells the story of retired FBI Agent Frank Black
(Lance Henriksen
). Black has moved to Seattle, Washington
with his family and has begun working with a mysterious organization known only as the Millennium Group
. He investigates cases with members of the Group and the Seattle Police Department
, contributing his remarkable capability of relating to the monsters responsible for horrific crimes. He finds that his daughter has inherited the same "gift" that he has, while the cases become increasingly more personal.
Critics received season one well. Although the show got the highest number of viewers for a pilot episode for the Fox Network at the time, it steadily dropped in the ratings, which led to it losing the Sunday slot to its sister show
, The X-Files
. The main cast of the show were Henriksen as Frank Black and Megan Gallagher
as Catherine Black.
came from an episode of The X-Files
Chris Carter
had written about a serial killer
. The episode got Carter thinking about the "monsters" who lurked in the shadows. Later, he started to flesh out a character which would become Frank Black
, but he was busy working with other projects at the time. In the mid-90s, after the success of The X-Files, the Fox Network asked Carter if he could create another show for them.
Originally, the show was planned to include a new "murder mystery" each week, at the same time having a comprehensive storyline. So Carter created the idea of the new millennium
, which could give the show its own "feel". He felt he "could capitalise" and at the same time have a new murder mystery every week with a "millennial" twist to it. He also wanted to explore "evil", not the "scientific approach" which was the psychological explanation of "evil". Carter wanted to explore evil through an "unscientific approach", an exploration where "the Bible
" played an important role. While clearly stating that the show was not supposed to be heavily grounded in religious text, he felt in many ways that the Bible explained "things on various levels" and "not just in the modern scientific way."
had envisioned Lance Henriksen
portraying the character of Frank Black
, long before he was ever contacted. Although Carter's colleagues responded positively to the selection, the Fox Network wanted someone younger to take the lead part. Fox asked William Hurt
to play the lead role, but after finding out that Hurt had no interest in acting on television
, Henriksen got the part.
When Henriksen first got the script, he mistook it for a film because of its "powerful" story. He was not fond of the idea of participating in a television project. Henriksen contacted Carter about the character; his first question was "How are you going to make this hero a hero? I mean, it is so dark, how are you going to handle this?" Carter replied saying that Frank was a hero because he was able to "stand-up" against all of this. Henriksen was also worried about the dark "feel" of the show, saying that all shows needs some glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. According to Carter "The yellow house" was the light, which Henriksen later agreed upon.
Studio executive Ken Horton was very pleased with Megan Gallagher
's acting experiences. After winning the audition, she was given a "secret script". Reacting positively towards the script, she later met up with Carter and David Nutter
.
for his work on the pilot episode
. Lance Henriksen
was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for his portrayal of Frank Black
but lost to E.R.
performer, Anthony Edwards
. Co-star Brittany Tiplady
was later nominated for a Young Artist Award
but failed to win. The show itself was nominated for a People's Choice Award in the category "Favorite Television New Dramatic Series" but did not win. Robert McLachlan
was nominated and won a Canadian Society of Cinematographers in 1997.
The first season was received well by critics. Keith Uhlich of Salon magazine called the season and series "Carter's greatest series", and that, "television work always improves in retrospect; his seemingly haphazard, on-the-fly narratives become more coherent when taken out of the hellish, commercial break-happy context wherein they spawned". Paul Katz of Entertainment Weekly
said, "Despite the unapologetic bleakness" of the show, it was Lance Henriksen
performance that was the "real killer". Mark Rahner from The Seattle Times
said the "X-Files
follow-up was uncompromisingly grim, fascinating, cinematically crafted", and that the show was "years ahead" of such "forensic mysteries" as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
. USA Today
writer Matt Roush said "With nightmare visions of bleeding walls, charred bodies, decapitations and a grisly live burial", the show took a new "grim view" on "drama".
Although the season première received good ratings, the series gradually lost viewers as they were reportedly "turned off by the morose and unnerving story lines."
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
crime-thriller television series Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
commenced airing in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 25, 1996, concluding on May 16, 1997, and consisting of twenty-two episodes. It tells the story of retired FBI Agent Frank Black
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
(Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
). Black has moved to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
with his family and has begun working with a mysterious organization known only as the Millennium Group
Millennium Group
The Millennium Group is a fictional secret society and "criminal investigative consulting firm" featured in the television series Millennium...
. He investigates cases with members of the Group and the Seattle Police Department
Seattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
, contributing his remarkable capability of relating to the monsters responsible for horrific crimes. He finds that his daughter has inherited the same "gift" that he has, while the cases become increasingly more personal.
Critics received season one well. Although the show got the highest number of viewers for a pilot episode for the Fox Network at the time, it steadily dropped in the ratings, which led to it losing the Sunday slot to its sister show
Sister show
Sister shows are two or more television shows which exist in the same fictional universe and which may have crossovers. They differ to a degree from spin-offs in that shows may air simultaneously, rather than being derived from, and replacing, another. The popularity of most shows is limited to a...
, The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. The main cast of the show were Henriksen as Frank Black and Megan Gallagher
Megan Gallagher
Megan Gallagher is an American actress.Gallagher was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Aileen Gallagher, was a model.Gallagher has largely worked in television and theatre...
as Catherine Black.
Development
The original idea behind MillenniumMillennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
came from an episode of The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
Chris Carter
Chris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
had written about a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. The episode got Carter thinking about the "monsters" who lurked in the shadows. Later, he started to flesh out a character which would become Frank Black
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
, but he was busy working with other projects at the time. In the mid-90s, after the success of The X-Files, the Fox Network asked Carter if he could create another show for them.
Originally, the show was planned to include a new "murder mystery" each week, at the same time having a comprehensive storyline. So Carter created the idea of the new millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, which could give the show its own "feel". He felt he "could capitalise" and at the same time have a new murder mystery every week with a "millennial" twist to it. He also wanted to explore "evil", not the "scientific approach" which was the psychological explanation of "evil". Carter wanted to explore evil through an "unscientific approach", an exploration where "the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
" played an important role. While clearly stating that the show was not supposed to be heavily grounded in religious text, he felt in many ways that the Bible explained "things on various levels" and "not just in the modern scientific way."
Casting and characters
Chris CarterChris Carter (screenwriter)
Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...
had envisioned Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
portraying the character of Frank Black
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
, long before he was ever contacted. Although Carter's colleagues responded positively to the selection, the Fox Network wanted someone younger to take the lead part. Fox asked William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
to play the lead role, but after finding out that Hurt had no interest in acting on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, Henriksen got the part.
When Henriksen first got the script, he mistook it for a film because of its "powerful" story. He was not fond of the idea of participating in a television project. Henriksen contacted Carter about the character; his first question was "How are you going to make this hero a hero? I mean, it is so dark, how are you going to handle this?" Carter replied saying that Frank was a hero because he was able to "stand-up" against all of this. Henriksen was also worried about the dark "feel" of the show, saying that all shows needs some glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. According to Carter "The yellow house" was the light, which Henriksen later agreed upon.
Studio executive Ken Horton was very pleased with Megan Gallagher
Megan Gallagher
Megan Gallagher is an American actress.Gallagher was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Aileen Gallagher, was a model.Gallagher has largely worked in television and theatre...
's acting experiences. After winning the audition, she was given a "secret script". Reacting positively towards the script, she later met up with Carter and David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
.
Critical reception
Peter Wunstorf was nominated for an American Society of Cinematographers awardAmerican Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
for his work on the pilot episode
Millennium (pilot episode)
The pilot episode for the crime-thriller television series Millennium which aired between 1996-1999. The episode first aired in the United States and Canada on October 25, 1996 on the Fox Network, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom...
. Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for his portrayal of Frank Black
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
but lost to E.R.
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
performer, Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
. Co-star Brittany Tiplady
Brittany Tiplady
Brittany Alexandra Tiplady is a Canadian child actress best known for her role as Jordan Black in the television series Millennium . She won a 1998 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Actress"...
was later nominated for a Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
but failed to win. The show itself was nominated for a People's Choice Award in the category "Favorite Television New Dramatic Series" but did not win. Robert McLachlan
Robert McLachlan
Robert McLachlan is a professional road bicycle racer from Australia. The 1992 Olympian now rides for the Drapac Porsche Development Program and a two-time series champion of the UCI Oceania Tour....
was nominated and won a Canadian Society of Cinematographers in 1997.
The first season was received well by critics. Keith Uhlich of Salon magazine called the season and series "Carter's greatest series", and that, "television work always improves in retrospect; his seemingly haphazard, on-the-fly narratives become more coherent when taken out of the hellish, commercial break-happy context wherein they spawned". Paul Katz of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said, "Despite the unapologetic bleakness" of the show, it was Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
performance that was the "real killer". Mark Rahner from The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
said the "X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
follow-up was uncompromisingly grim, fascinating, cinematically crafted", and that the show was "years ahead" of such "forensic mysteries" as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
writer Matt Roush said "With nightmare visions of bleeding walls, charred bodies, decapitations and a grisly live burial", the show took a new "grim view" on "drama".
Although the season première received good ratings, the series gradually lost viewers as they were reportedly "turned off by the morose and unnerving story lines."
Starring
- Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
as Frank BlackFrank Black (Millennium)Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's... - Megan GallagherMegan GallagherMegan Gallagher is an American actress.Gallagher was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Aileen Gallagher, was a model.Gallagher has largely worked in television and theatre...
as Catherine Black
Recurring
- Terry O'QuinnTerry O'QuinnTerry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
as Peter Watts - Brittany TipladyBrittany TipladyBrittany Alexandra Tiplady is a Canadian child actress best known for her role as Jordan Black in the television series Millennium . She won a 1998 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Actress"...
as Jordan Black - Stephen J. Lang as Det. Bob Giebelhouse
- and Bill SmitrovichBill Smitrovich-Personal life:Bill Smitrovich was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Anna and Stanley William Zmitrowicz, a tool and die maker. Bill is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport and holds an MFA from Smith College . He is married to Shaw Purnell from Pittsburgh, PA...
as Lt. Robert Bletcher
Episodes
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