The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes [Paperback]

Phil Farrand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1997

The truth is, the nits are out there....

What's weird about Samantha T. Mulder's birthday?

(She has two of them: January 22 and November 21.)

What's amazing about Mulder's cell phone?

(It operates inside a metal boxcar, buried in a canyon, out in the deserts of New Mexico: anywhere!)

Scully and Mulder, you have reason to be paranoid.  Armed with keen detective sense, attention to detail, and a VCR, author Phil Farrand has done some forensic work of his ownííand dissected every technical foul-up, plot oversight, and alien intrusion on the X-Files(r).  Paranormal he's not, but he'd like to know why T.A. Berube has a six-digit zip code or how the VCRs at the 2400 Court motel in Braddock Heights, Maryland, can play a tape after it's been ejected.  Nitpicking?  You bet.  So join his conspiracy to have hours of mental stimulation and fun with:

Equipment flubs

Changed premises

Plot oversights

Fun facts

Trivia questions

Reviews of every show for all four seasons

And more

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For those fans who think they know everything about The X-Files, The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes may hold some surprises. From equipment flubs and plot oversights to changed premises and fun facts, author Phil Farrand covers the first four seasons with full reviews of every episode. Why is it that the character T.A. Berube has a six-digit zip code? How could Samantha Mulder, agent Mulder's missing sister, have two birthdays? And how about the VCR in the "Wetwired" episode that continues to play a videotape after the video has been ejected. Compiled with the Nitpicker's Prime Directive in mind, "All nits picked shall derive from sources the creaters consider canonical," as well as the Secondary Directive, "all nitpickers shall perform their duties with lightheartedness and good cheer." The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes is a thorough, dense read for the dedicated X-Files fan looking for a little fun and a lot of facts.

From the Inside Flap

The truth is, the nits are out there....

What's weird about Samantha T. Mulder's birthday?

(She has two of them: January 22 and November 21.)

What's amazing about Mulder's cell phone?

(It operates inside a metal boxcar, buried in a canyon, out in the deserts of New Mexico: anywhere!)

Scully and Mulder, you have reason to be paranoid.  Armed with keen detective sense, attention to detail, and a VCR, author Phil Farrand has done some forensic work of his ownííand dissected every technical foul-up, plot oversight, and alien intrusion on the X-Files(r).  Paranormal he's not, but he'd like to know why T.A. Berube has a six-digit zip code or how the VCRs at the 2400 Court motel in Braddock Heights, Maryland, can play a tape after it's been ejected.  Nitpicking?  You bet.  So join his conspiracy to have hours of mental stimulation and fun with:

Equipment flubs

Changed premises

Plot oversights

Fun facts

Trivia questions

Reviews of every show for all four seasons

And more

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dell (November 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440508088
• ISBN-13: 978-0440508083
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,476,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot of fun, January 4, 2002

By 

Just Bill (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes (Paperback)

Even though I sporadically watched The X Files over the years, I was never a hard core X-Phile.

That is, until I bought all four seasons on DVD and began to watch them episode by episode. (Hey, I'm a completist -- or "obsessive," as some would say!)

I also bought this book by Phil Farrand as a sort of guidebook to help me pay even closer attention to the series as I made my way through each season.

I agree with previous reviewers in that some of these nits are extremely picky, indeed. But some are downright hilarious.

All of them, however, lead me to believe Mr. Farrand has way too much time on his hands.

For the record, the Nitpickers Guide for X-Philes takes a very, very, VERY close look at each episode of The X Files for the first four seasons, pointing out continuity, character, geography or technology problems found therein. They could be as nitpicky as dates not lining up with "reality" -- all the way to noticing how props shift from one hand to the other when the camera angle changes, or windows being on a certain wall in one episode and on another wall in a subsequent episode, etc.

I found this book to be a lot of fun to read after watching an episode. More often than not, it caused me to re-watch the episode to see for myself the "nits" discovered by the author.

If you like The X Files, you'll enjoy this book. If you're not a die-hard X-Phile, this book won't mean much to you.

I hope Mr. Farrand writes a second volume covering the next four seasons!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great American Novel, April 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes (Paperback)

This is one of the best book I've read in a long time! Phil Farrand gives you summaries of the plot, great moments and lines, as well as all the detailed, nitpicky stuff. I can't tell you how many times I found myself nodding and saying "I noticed that too!" or "That's my favorite line too!" while reading this book. It doesn't take away from your viewing pleasure and is a lot of fun to read. And, being a true nitpicker, I found that Phil didn't mention Senator Matheson calling Mulder "Fox" in "Little Green Men" even though he said it at least twice! Reading this honed my nitpicking skills as well, a result being that I have found several nits in recent episodes, which is always fun. What a great book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great but occasionally annoying, July 9, 2000

By 

D. Rizzo (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes (Paperback)

This book really has it all for the nitpicker who loves minutiae, seasons 1 through 4. My only issue with with this book is, occasionally, the author's "annoyingness." To him, his book represents an chance not only for him to point out details and errors in the episodes of The X-Files, but also to evaluate them -- and share his perception (and often unfunny jokes) with his captive audience. This personal editorializing doesn't interest me, but I'm willing to bear it to learn of the fascinating inconsistencies, oddities of equipment and setting, and illogical leaps or related faux pas that the series commits -- and that I'd almost never notice without the pointing of his ever vigilant finger.