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This question is following similar question about Stargate:

In what order should I watch the various Stargate TV Series?

After looking at pages about Millennium and The Lone Gunmen on X-Files wikia, I noticed references to certain episodes of X-Files series themselves; is there any established order of watching the series, or should I just watch the spin-off series at any point before watching episodes of the original series that are said to conclude spin-offs?

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17

You don't really need to watch either Millennium or The Lone Gunmen to understand the events in the main X-Files series. Millennium isn't really a proper spin-off; it was just created by many of the same people. The only place where it intersects with the X-Files is in the season seven episode of the X-Files called "Millennium". This episode wraps up the entire Millennium story, so you can watch all of that series and all of the X-Files up to season seven in any order before watching that episode.

The Lone Gunmen is a proper spin-off, since the characters Langley, Frohike, and Byers appeared in the X-Files for years before they got their own show. They appeared in all nine seasons of the X-Files, but they didn't get their own show until the eighth season. To watch their appearances in order, watch the first eight seasons of the X-Files up to episode 11 (The Gift, original air date February 4, 2001), which was their last appearance before they got their own show. Then watch the first six episodes of The Lone Gunmen (which premiered March 4 through March 30, 2001), switch back to the X-Files for a few episodes up through episode 15, watch episode seven of TLG, episode 16 of the X-Files, then finish up TLG before you get to the season eight finale of the X-Files.

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  • 5
    Or... just do yourself a favor and skip The Lone Gunmen show altogether. – Omegacron Oct 24 '14 at 20:01
  • But Millennium is soooooo good. But super, super dark compared with X-Files. – Chris B. Behrens Aug 13 '17 at 5:09
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X-Files 1
X-Files 2
X-Files 3
X-Files 4/Millennium 1
X-Files 5/Millennium 2
X-Files Movie (AKA "Fight the Future")
X-Files 6/Millennium 3
X-Files 7
X-Files 8
The Lone Gunmen
X-Files 9
X-Files: I Want to Believe
X-Files 10

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  • 2
    Can you explain why you think this order is the best? – Valorum Oct 24 '14 at 19:50
  • This appears to be the order in which they were filmed, including the simultaneous run of Millennium and TXF. What I'd like to know is why no one has asked when to watch Harsh Realm? – sanpaco Dec 1 '15 at 23:50
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I created a pretty detailed but still Spoiler-Free Guide about how to watch the X-Files Franchise!

The X-Guide

The Air-Date has nothing to do with the Chronology. It's perfectly safe to watch The Lone Gunmen between Season 8 and Season 9. More Information can be found in my X-Guide. Check it Out!

Enjoy!

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  • Welcome to Stack Exchange, and nice job creating this document! Could you copy at least the most important information from that link into your answer here? We tend to discourage link-only answers, since if the link goes dead the answer becomes essentially useless. – Rand al'Thor♦ Mar 21 '16 at 19:43
  • The link has gone dead and this answer is essentially useless. – Ryan Speets Oct 1 '17 at 15:40
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A good site for the X-Files "mythos" episodes (the overarching story line) is Wikipedia. Keep in mind, many of the standalone episodes not related to the overarching story line were also stand out episodes. As for the Lone Gunmen spin-off series; most of the 13 episodes were just re-hashed episodes of the X-Files from the Lone Gunmen's point of view.

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  • While this link may be useful, it's a good idea to mention what it says here as well. That way if the link ever goes kaput your answer would still be an answer. – Gallifreyan Aug 13 '17 at 8:06

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