In Sept. 1993, a bizarre little hour-long drama called The X-Files debuted on the fledgling FOX network. The mission of the program was to delve into unexplainable phenomena and government conspiracies, and the first episode ran with the disclaimer that it was "inspired by actual events."

At the time, no one - least of all series creator Chris Carter or stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson - could have foreseen that the most unexplainable phenomenon of all would be the series' record-breaking success and longevity. The phenomenon will finally draw to a close with a two-hour series finale set to air on May 19.

The X-Files was the brainchild of Carter, a California surfer-turned-writer and director, and focuses on Fox Mulder, an FBI agent searching for the sister he believes was abducted by aliens, and his skeptical partner, Dr. Dana Scully. After convincing the network to pick up his idea, Carter again went to battle to hire two unknowns to play the lead roles. The prominent nose of David Duchovny (Mulder) might have been familiar from a recurring role as a transvestite on Twin Peaks, but Carter had a particularly hard time getting backing for the diminutive Gillian Anderson (Scully), whose acting credits consisted of two off-Broadway plays and a guest appearance on a short-lived TV show.

Network executives had pictured a Pamela Anderson-type for the role, not a 5'2" redhead. Both actors proved Carter right, going on to make Mulder and Scully their own and winning a bunch of gold statuettes along the way. A large measure of The X-Files' success is certainly due to Duchovny and Anderson.

At first, The X-Files struggled to obtain a following, but the show overcame its certain-death Friday night timeslot and low-budget beginning (the first five seasons were filmed at night in rain-soaked Vancouver). Its popularity bloomed among hackers and conspiracy theorists, and not long after the world had The X-Files, it also had "x-philes," the name fans assigned to themselves.

The fan base widened to include the international community. Internet mailing lists, chat rooms, and Web sites devoted to The X-Files and its cast multiplied. A Google search for "x-files" returns 749,000 hits.

Highlights of an X-Files web tour include Gossamer, an X-Files fan fiction archive housing thousands of fan-submitted stories, the Order of the Blessed Saint Scully the Enigmatic, Flaming Cucumber's The X-Files Mulder/Scully Relationshipper's Multimedia Archive and an entire Web site devoted to Anderson's footwear. Thousands of X-Files related items are open for bidding on the auction Website Ebay.com.

The award-winning The X-Files earned a reputation as a hotbed of alien abductions, government cover-ups and dark humor. Since its inception, the show has alternated between "monster of the week" episodes and others tying together strands of the show's "mythology." Mulder and Scully have investigated spaceships, sea monsters, liver-eating mutants, redneck vampires and human-sized flukeworms. Jodie Foster provided the voice of a talking tattoo in season four's darkly erotic "Never Again."

Scully has been abducted, had cancer, been miraculously cured and had her ovaries stolen so the shadow government could create alien-human hybrid babies in a laboratory. Both Anderson and Duchovny have had time behind the camera; Anderson's funky, music video-esque "all things" marked the only time a woman has directed an episode.

Top writers and directors like Rob Bowman and Vince Gilliland have contributed immeasurably to the show's quality, as have supporting characters like Mitch Pileggi's Assistant Director Skinner and computer geeks The Lone Gunmen (Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund and Bruce Harwood).

This said, The X-Files is not flawless. Audiences have shrunk dramatically in the two seasons since Duchovny jumped ship after a very public salary dispute.

Anderson has persevered through the improbable (and improbably frustrating) storyline of Scully's pregnancy; the kid is nearly a year old, but the powers that be still haven't bothered to reveal his paternity.

Anderson's remarkable acting talent has been wasted; the formerly tough, inspiring Agent Scully is now seen performing autopsies on housecats and sobbing over the fate of her creepy, possibly-alien offspring and Mulder's "death." Mulder has "died" so many times that the last time a character hinted at his demise, I wanted to throw my X-Files action figures at the TV.

The additions of Annabeth Gish as Agent Monica Reyes and Robert Patrick as Agent John Doggett have done little to revive the show, and most episodes now consist of listless stories and rehashing of old plots. A recent episode, "Improbable," featured Burt Reynolds as God, which pretty much sums up the state of what used to be one of television's hardest-hitting dramas.

Carter has promised resolution of the show's mythology in the series finale, but my trusty Magic 8 Ball says chances are slim. It has become abundantly clear that viewers were kept in the dark for nine years - Alien colonization? Government involvement? Super soldiers? - not as some clever plot device, but because Carter and the other writers were equally confused.

Yes, The X-Files is a shadow of its former self, and yes, watching new episodes usually leaves me feeling like I've eaten a bad burrito.