David Duchovny Returns to TV on Showtime

Many fans of FOX’s "The X-Files" watched David Duchovny leave television and his popular "X"-man Fox Mulder vanish from the series until the end was near, and they hoped he would return to TV one day. Directing an episode of FOX’s "Bones" with FOX’s new G-man David Boreanaz might not have been what they had in mind, but then again a comedy series on Showtime might not have been quite what they were hoping for either.

According to ComingSoon, Duchovny will be starring a new series that he will also be executive producing. Showtime’s President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt worked with Duchovny before on "X-Files," and he had this to say about the decision to order 12 half-hour episodes of this as-of-yet unnamed series; "This series furthers the Showtime brand of high-quality, sophisticated, premium television and will be perfectly at home in the comedy space we've carved out with 'Weeds.’"

The report also quoted Duchovny on his excitement about his new Showtime comedy; "The last few years, Showtime has been making some of the most interesting and enjoyable television there is, and I can't wait to continue that tradition." He brings up a point about shows like "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Dexter," and "Weeds" have caught on to a premium cable audience that wants more fun and twisted humor from their premium cable experience than they could get from cable networks, the same way they looked to premium cable networks for shows like "Oz" and "Queer As Folk" for drama you won’t see on network or even cable network TV.

The problem with Duchovny’s enthusiasm is that he hasn’t particularly excelled at his attempts to master comedy. His monotone is much better suited to Fox Mulder and Mulder’s dry but razor sharp wit than to characters like the ones he was more painful than pleasant to watch in "Trust the Man" and the only somewhat less painful to watch "Evolution." At least the latter had its camp and fun elements, but this Showtime series sounds a lot more like "Trust the Man" in which Duchovny and his comic senses suffered badly.

The series will be about a novelist (Duchovny) who tries to raise his 13-year-old daughter (Madeleine Martin, the "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" episode "Sick") at the same time as still obsessing over his ex (Natascha McElhone, "The Truman Show," "Laurel Canyon" and the short-lived series "Revelations") while drinking, doing drugs, and tripping over relationship entanglements all along the way. If you liked "Trust the Man," this might be something for you, but if you just want Mulder back (like I do), don’t attach your hopes to this one.

The series is scheduled to premiere in August.