| "Hollywood A.D." | |
|---|---|
| The X-Files episode | |
 Mulder and Scully, aghast, watch the finished film, The Lazarus Bowl. Many critics commented on the "self-referential" tone of the episode, facilitated by use of the movie. | |
| Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 19 |
| Directed by | David Duchovny |
| Written by | David Duchovny |
| Production code | 7ABX18 |
| Original air date | April 30, 2000 |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Hollywood A.D." is the nineteenth episode of the seventh season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on April 30, 2000. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Hollywood A.D." earned a Nielsen household rating of 7.7, being watched by 12.88 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode was met with largely positive reviews, with many critics approving of the episode's humorous nature.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, Wayne Federman, an entrepreneurial Hollywood producer and college friend of Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) picks up the idea for a film based on the X-Files, however Mulder and Scully find that the level of realism in their fictional portrayal is somewhat questionable. Meanwhile, during the filming of the movie, Mulder and Scully research the mysterious "Lazarus Bowl", an artifact that supposedly has the exact words that Jesus Christ spoke to raise Lazarus from the dead recorded on its surface.
"Hollywood A.D." was written and directed by series star David Duchovny, his second writing and directing credit after the sixth season episode "The Unnatural." The episode—written with a "self-referential" tone—features myriad guest stars, including, most notably, Garry Shandling and Téa Leoni, who portray Mulder and Scully, respectively, in the episode's fictional movie. Leoni herself was also Duchovny's then-wife. The episode itself contains several in-jokes and references deliberately placed by Duchovny.