Please come back, Frank Black

In 1996, Chris Carter, creator of the X-Files, debuted a second darker series called Millennium. The show wove criminal profiling and eschatology together to create (in this writer’s humble opinion) one of the most intriguing shows in television history. Millennium not only entertained but peeled back both the visible and hidden layers of humanity in all of us. Though a ratings hit in it’s time slot, for various reasons the series starring Lance Henriksen as investigator Frank Black was cancelled after three years. But like many quality shows that met untimely ends, there’s a growing campaign to bring it back. One such effort is aptly titled Back to Frank Black, which has produced a book by the same name and maintains contact with the fans, producers and actors of the show. I had a chance to speak with Troy Foreman and James McLean of the group about the show and their efforts.

Brophisticate: For those who might’ve missed Millennium when it originally aired, why in your opinion should they make an effort now to go seek out and view the series?

Back to Frank Black: I always compare Millennium to the surf rock band The Pixies – not only are they both lead by a Frank Black, but both were a highly regarded and influential product in their field. You’ll find few rock musicians who weren’t touched by the Pixies; equally you’ll find few crime dramas since the turn of the century who don’t lend some of their success to the dark, unrelenting honesty that Millennium wrought both as a concept or in the implementation of the concept. Watch Millennium and you’ll see aspects from many shows that followed. Furthermore, Millennium is not just about crime, it’s about the nature of evil, sometimes within man, sometimes in something darker, something mythological. Finally, the lead character was unique – Frank Black was a criminal profiler that didn’t carry the usual cop trappings. He wasn’t a womanizer, he wasn’t a drunk, or propping up a bar as so many law enforcement types are on television. He was a family man, a sensitive but firm character. He would fight for what he believed in – and that wasn’t a damsel or ‘the law’, it was quite simply for his family and for the victims. It was a very unique portrayal that carries as much power today as 17 years ago.

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Actors Terry O’Quinn and Lance Henriksen

To bring back the show would be a dream but seems like a long shot. What do you think would have to occur for Fox to consider it seriously?

We’ve known from day one that bringing Millennium back was going to be an uphill battle. Over the past several years, we’ve had contact with all the major cast and crew and some executives from FOX. There is interest from the network in doing something possibly in the near future and we already know all the cast and crew want to come back. What it’s going to take to get a Millennium project off the ground is Chris Carter making a phone call and saying that he wants to do something. He has told us on several occasions that he has an idea of what he would like to do for a film. With both Chris Carter and Lance having some big projects coming up which will raise their public profiles, I think that too will help our efforts to make something happen.

A Tome for the New Millenium

Back to Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium, is the book by keepers of the flame, Troy Foreman and James McLean.

Tell us, please, about the book you’ve produced.

Back to Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium is a book that has had contributors from across the spectrum of Millennium. It has critical essays by journalists, teachers and fans, it has interviews from the campaign itself with all the key actors and crew as well as contributions from some who were involved in the show itself, including Chris Carter, Lance Henriksen, Frank Spotnitz and the child star at the time, now an adult, Brittany Tipplady. It’s illustrated throughout and all profits go to Lance Henriksen’s chosen charity, Children of the Night, a charity whose goal is to help kids out of child prostitution in the US. It’s available in hardback, softback and as of last month, Kindle. It’s work we’re very proud to be a part of. We feel that the book reflects the complexity and depth the show offered its viewers.

Personally for you guys, how has putting the book together affected your lives?

I think it meant a lot for me in a campaign sense. We’ve been working on Back to Frank Black since 2008. That’s a lot of man hours, the book is the culmination of that hard work, so while it’s not affected my life in anyway, it has in a sense perhaps given my work for Back to Frank Black a tangible result, even though the campaign moves on. We can look through that and say “yeah, this is testament to a journey” and no matter how that journey ends, the end will never take away that achievement. We’re proud of that book, humbled that a campaign that had such a simple beginning has drawn so much interest. On top of that, its equally humbling that such talent that was willing to spend their man hours in contributing to the book, from the fellow fan, to academics, journalists, artists and even the people who were the creative minds behind the show itself. That book says a lot. They say a measure of a man can be attested by his enemies, I think it’s on the quality of the people he works with – and that book is a measure of that I’m sure.

What has the response been to the book so far, including from Chris Carter?

The response to the book has been tremendous, more than we could have hoped for. We sent a copy of the book to anyone from the cast and crew who took part in the project and they all love the book. Klea Scott, Frank Spotnitz, Thomas J. Wright, Michael R. Perry and Chris Carter have all told us how impressed they are.

The show’s creator, Chris Carter.

Time heals all wounds

Let’s talk about some of the specific occurrences in the series. During the second season, Glen Morgan and James Wong (X-Files, Final Destiny) took the reigns and many noted a major shift in direction, some pleased, some not. What’s your take on their vision and are you aware if it became a point of bad blood among the writing team and producers of the show?

I think as with anything, it depends on preference and what you look for in a product as to whether it succeeds or fails. Season two of Millennium is a very different beast from season one, I think that’s the singular quantifiable fact you can come to. Whether its better or worse, is really personal preference, I certainly, personally, believe you’ll find strength in both. In some respects, I think those who argue season two was a mistake, might want to consider that regardless of the choices, politics and issues at the time, the end result may have strengthened the show’s legacy – it’s an aspect that fans study and argue about, and that’s actually a good thing.

As for bad blood, I think when seventeen years have passed, the question of who thought what, who did what and who preferred what starts to blur. Back to Frank Black I think has helped a lot of the cast and crew find bonds and connections that were lost and I like to believe if there was any bad blood, then such a dedicated fan campaign to enjoy all aspects of the show will have helped dissipated it. We’ve both had very positive and strong support from Glen and James [and all the] cast and crew of all seasons and not one has done anything less than offer their full support in the campaign and the notion of its return. I think that says more about those involved than the rumors of displeasure two decades past!

Sarah-Jane Redmond

The occasional character of Lucy Butler (played by Sarah-Jane Redmond) I found to be one of the most disturbing individuals ever put on television (and I still get shivers when I hear “Love is Blue”). Appropriately you have a chapter on her, in spite of her relatively infrequent amount of appearances throughout the series. Can you tell us about what you discovered about her that viewers may not have gotten from just watching the show?

Good question. As a character, probably not a lot- Millennium tends to work as an understated show, letting you come to your own conclusions. That being said, I think Sarah’s conversations on Lucy do reinforce the conclusions you’ve probably already drawn. What I think does come out in the book is more about Sarah as an actress taking on Lucy than Lucy herself. If you think about it, that’s quite a challenge, as you’ll be hard pressed to find such a vivid and feminine portrayal of evil than Lucy Butler. Sarah’s dedication and love of the character, particularly its ability to give her real substance to play on in a scene – she notes that first scene in the police station she does with Lance in Lamentation for the power the character gave her to play against Lance who she notes as an actor has serious presence. I think the one thing you do learn about Sarah from talking to her, like most actors playing wicked character, she’s furthest from – and she’ll do whatever it takes to help us in the campaign, she’s a very giving lady as well as a very smart and accomplished actress.

Hangin’ with Frank

Because of your work, you guys have gotten to meet some of the people involved with the show. Tell us what it’s like to hang with Frank Black and company.

One of the highlights of working on this campaign is the fact that we’ve been able to communicate on a regular basis with many of the cast and crew from Millennium. We’ve had the opportunity to meet several people in person that were involved with the show and also have become friends with many of them. I can recall the first time I ever met Lance Henriksen was at a convention in Chicago. I had spoken to him before and he suggested I come out and we would grab a beer. I get there and go to the registration desk and there is the man himself sitting there talking with staff from the convention. He knew who I was, walked up and introduced himself. We chatted for a minute and then he said I have time to hang out, let’s go grab a beer. Such a great guy and someone who has some of the best stories. With our book being out right now, he has allowed us to sell books at his table at a couple of conventions. He is one of the most real and down to earth actors I have ever met. It’s been a blessing to be involved with this campaign and to be able to talk with many of the people from the show.

Lance Henriksen and Klea Scott

Now you guys do podcasts that revolve around the show and your efforts. Talk about that and what some of the highlights have been.

I think one of our proudest moments is the fact that we got both Glen Morgan and James Wong to come on our show and talk about Millennium. They declined to take part in the Season 2 DVD documentary, but we got them on our show to talk about their time on Millennium.

Another great moment was between Lance and Klea Scott. Neither of them had spoken to each other since the series went off the air, so we set it up that during our call with Lance, we called Klea live and she had no idea Lance was on the call as well. When she answered, Lance immediately said hello and she just burst into laughter. She was so happy to be able to talk to Lance again. A great moment for the fans. We have been able to put many of them in contact with each other and we are very proud of that.

Did Chris Carter give any hints as to how the story would pick back up, if the show was brought back to life?

Chris Carter has told us on several occasions that he does have a plan if a Millennium film ever gets a green light, but said he was going to keep it to himself. One little nugget that he did mention was the possibility of Agent Doggett from the X-files being involved in a Millennium film.