During the nine-year original run of the American science fiction television program The X-Files, a number of stories were proposed but, for a variety of reasons, never fully produced. Below is a list of unmade episodes which were submitted by recognized professional writers, but were not filmed or aired.
Abandoned episode scripts have been discovered from eight of the series' eleven seasons, while several others have been documented that were intended for unspecified seasons. The reasons for the episodes' stagnation include the Fox network rejecting ideas, budget-related problems and stories evolving into later-made episodes. In addition, several episode ideas were developed but were completely scrapped after the show's producers did not show any interest.
The plots of the unmade episodes vary, with many of the proposed entries involving a theme of ghosts. In many cases, according to executive producer Frank Spotnitz, elements of unmade episodes were adapted, or were moved from one episode—or in one case, franchise—to another.[1] For example, a fifth season episode involving an atheist hearing the voice of God was developed into "Kitsunegari", and the proposed story "Flight 180", written by Jeffrey Reddick was re-written and released as the popular 2000 horror film Final Destination.