X-Files’ Kim Manners Dies
Posted by: Loren Coleman on January 26th, 2009
Kim Manners may be remembered globally as *the* director of “The X-Files” but, in my mind, he will always have the distinction of being the director who steered the first uttering in history of the word “Cryptozoology” on a science-fiction television program.
Manners directed “Quagmire,” which first aired May 3, 1996, on Season 3, Episode 22 of “The X-Files.”
The plot concerned a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances reported near a lake in a small town in Georgia. That freshwater body of water was named Heuvelman’s (sic) Lake and agents Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate. With the local legend of a killer Lake Monster (“Big Blue”) being told among the locals, the agents soon found evidence of a cryptid, disappearing frogs, vanishing people, and a giant crocodilian. The episode has a riveting debate between the agents, as they are standing on rocks in the water, in which the term “cryptozoology” is used. The ending has a definitely pro-cryptozoology teaser.
This episode marks the final appearance of Scully’s dog, Queequeg. Other names in the episode include Millikan County; Georgia; Striker’s Cove; Blue Ridge Mountains; County Road 33; Ted’s Bait & Tackle; Rigdon; Lariat Rental Cars; U.S. Forestry Service; plesiosaur; bull shark; peg-leg; hook; Rana sphenocephalus; Ecology Sciences Lab; Patricia Rae; Moby Dick; Ahab; Starbuck; and Harpoonist.
Manners directed the script written by Kim Newton & Darin Morgan (uncredited).
Other “X-Files” episodes of interest to cryptozoo-minded fans directed by Manners include “Humbug,” “War of the Coprophages,” and “Field Trip.”
Now Manners, sadly, has died.
It is with extraordinarily heavy heart that I report the death last night, Jan. 25, of my friend Kim Manners. I first met Kim when he directed me in an episode of The X-Files, for which he was a major figure in the appeal of that show, its look, style, and movement. I thought, in that few days, that I had found one of the great directors I’d ever worked with, and a mensch of the first order. Little did I know.
Several years later, I ended up with a recurring role on Supernatural, where Kim was both an executive producer and a principal director. I have never had such fun working with a director, and Kim became a dear friend….He was an AMAZING director, who knew everything I can imagine a director might need or want to know about directing television. And he was one of the very best people, one of the very best friends, a person might ever want to have….
Rest in peace, chum. by Jim Beaver
Kim Manner was born in 1950 and passed away on January 25, 2009.
His output as a director and producer was extensive, as evidenced by the listing from the Internet Movie Database, including being involved with “Supernatural,” “The X-Files,” “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.,” “Mission Impossible,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and “Charlie’s Angels.” He appeared as himself in the documentaries, The X Files: The Making of “The Truth” (2004) and The Cigarette Smoking Man Revealed (1999).
‘Quagmire’ is definitely one of my favorite X-Files episodes; the sequence when Mulder & Scully get stranded on the lake’s island and Scully tells Mulder that he behaves like a reckless Ahab in search of his white whale plucked a deep chord in me.
What a sad news. Rest in Peace
Quagmire is actually one of my favorite episodes. On the surface it’s kind of a goofy story but I really appreciate the dialogue exchange between Mulder and Scully in this episode. It’s one of those episodes that really define them and their relationship to each other.
Manners, in my mind, will be remembered as a pioneer in the genres of Sci Fi and Paranormal and helped served as one of the catalyst for the popular marriage of these two different but related fields. He will be missed.
Manners directed some of my favorite episodes of “The X-Files.” Not only did I love “Quagmire,” but I also thought “Humbug” was a great deal of fun, and “War of the Copraphages” made me snort coffee out of my nose laughing the first time I saw it.
Now, while I still laugh when re-watching it, I know when not to take a sip of tasty beverage.
His directing style and sense of humor will definitely be missed.