4х20 Small Potatoes, Мелкий картофель Опции

[Виктория]

Сценарий: Винс Джиллиган
Режиссер: Клифф Боул
Первый показ в США: 20 апреля 1997

Название: "мелкий картофель" - что-то пустяковое, неважнецкая вещь. Так описал сам себя Эдди Ван Бландт.
Этот эпизод позволил узнать много новой "справочной" информации о Малдере: когда Эдди Ван Бландт "Малдер" заглядывает в его водительские права, мы видим адрес: Александрия, Хегел Плейс, 2630, 42 (дом номер 2630 на Нью-Йоркском проспекте в Ванкувере - место, где и снимается "квартира Малдера").
Вопрос "Где кровать Малдера?" был одним из любимых в Интернете. Эдди Ван Бландт совершил разведку боем в квартиру Малдера, и было научно доказано, что кровати у него нет.

Когда Джиллиган писал сценарий, в роли Эдди он представлял свого друга Дэрина Моргана. Морган вспоминает: "Он сказал мне, что этот персонаж был написан с мыслью обо мне, поэтому, играя его, я просто должен быть самим собой. Поэтому я сказал: "И кого я играю? Привлекательного парня, который ищет настоящую любовь?" "Нет" - ответил Винс. "Ты играешь толстого, страшного неудачника, который оплодотворяет женщин, практически насилуя их, потому что ты родился с хвостом". "Хорошо", сказал я, "присылай мне сценарий". Несколько минут спустя Винс перезвонил и сказал: "Герой как бы неудачник... Но я не хочу, чтобы ты думал, что ты неудачник".

Джиллиан после выхода эпизода была удивлена, что эта сцена "почти-поцелуя" вызвала бурную реакцию и мурашки у людей и говорила: "Обстоятельства были такими отталкивающими. Он направлялся к ней с таким странным лицом, и у нее было такое выражение лица, как бы говорящее 'Что происходит?' Тем не менее, страсти здесь не было! Так что это меня отталкивало. Если Малдер и Скалли и поцелуются когда-нибудь, то это будет совсем другая ситуация. Это будет удивительная страсть. После всех этих лет сцена должна быть сильной".

Джиллиан волновалась, когда снимали эту сцену. Джиллиган говорит, что "Она не хотела, чтобы выглядело так, как будто всё, что нужно, чтобы Скалли поцеловала Малдера, это пара бокалов вина. И я тоже этого не хотел. Но я сказал ей, что у этих героев такая история, такая большая привязанность друг к другу, что это всегда было под поверхностью, эта сцена была больше о том, как оба они отпускают немного тормоза, а не только Скалли. Это был не полный незнакомец, это был Малдер. Фраза Малдера в конце серии, что он не Эдди, значит, что он понял, что ему надо больше показывать свои эмоции, что он должен быть немного как Эдди. В конце серии Эдди говорит Малдеру "Тебе нужно научиться жить сегодняшним днем". И Малдер принял эту фразу близко к сердцу".

Еще Винс сказал, что "Если бы Малдер и Скалли были реальными людьми, мы бы, конечно, хотели, чтобы они были вместе. Но так как это сериал, то оттого, что они не вместе, он становится только интереснее, да и писать сценарии легче".

Поначалу Джиллиган хотел, чтобы у младенцев были не хвосты, а крылья... но крылья было сложнее сделать в техническом плане.

Материалы взяты с http://greentree.spybb.ru/viewtopic.php?id=202 и http://cleigh6.tripod.com/CTP/CTP-smallpotatoes.html и моих архивов

[Виктория]

-- "I was proud that I found a little way to insert the Gunmen into the episode," Gilligan said, referring to the message from the Gunmen on Mulder's answering machine. "Marty Mulder," for whom the woman with the sexy voice left a message, was a reference to the Season 2 episode "3" when Mulder used Marty as an alias.

-- David Duchovny's scene in Mulder's apartment in front the mirror, channeling DeNiro from Taxi Driver was "all Duchovny," Gilligan said. "That was a perfect example where David took a couple of lines of dialogue from the script and came up with that whole bit ... all that stuff. And he was just great."

-- "When Scully looked out the peephole of her door and saw the fish-eye view of 'Mulder' standing there, that was a shot I didn't think we needed," Gilligan explained. "I wanted to keep the surprise till Scully opened the door, but Cliff Bole, the director, wanted to do it, and it just showed why he's a great director. It was a great shot and now I can't imagine the episode without it."

-- The song playing during 'Mulder' and Scully's talk was Al Green's Funny How Time Slips Away. "Al Green is one of my favorites, and I wanted that song," Gilligan said. "The only thing I wish was that it was a little bit louder in the scene."

-- In the Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn) by Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper was also heard in this episode.

-- "This was one of the few times we used source music in the early seasons," said Gilligan, "source music being music that is not part of the score, but rather a song that already exists. We used a lot more in later seasons."

-- The Cumberland Reformatory, where Eddie was being held at the end of the episode, was named for Cumberland County, Virginia, where Vince grew up.

-- Eddie's close-ups in the final scene had to be reshot because the word "Superstar" on his hat was too small to read.

-- I was pleasantly surprised while listening to Vince Gilligan's commentary about this episode that one of my burning questions about The X-Files was answered! In the final scene between Eddie and Mulder, Eddie told Mulder to "treat yourself," a phrase that was used numerous times during the course of the show. I always found this phrase quite odd and wondered if it was a Canadian thing. Well, Vince provided the answer! "Treat yourself" was a favorite catchphrase of David Nutter who directed many of the show's early episodes including "Ice" and "Beyond the Sea," and it was used as a tribute to him. Thanks, Vince!

-- "Many people thought the character mopping the hallway behind Mulder and Scully as they left the Reformatory was supposed to be Eddie," Gilligan explained, "but it was actually just one of the inmates who stole one of his Superstar hats; Eddie told Mulder that people kept stealing his hats and his therapist would bring him a new one."

-- Actress Christine Cavanaugh is best known for her voice work (Babe in particular, but also Darkwing Duck, The Powerpuff Girls, the voice of Chuckie Finster of Rugrats fame, and the title character of Dexter's Laboratory), but she has also appeared in front of the camera a few times in TV series such as Cheers, Empty Nest, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, and ER and in films like Jerry Maguire.

-- Lee de Broux (Eddie Sr.) was a well-respected TV and film actor appearing in numerous bad guy roles in the 70s and 80s. He has the distinction of appearing as a guest actor in both the first and final episodes of the series Quantum Leap.

-- Once & Future Retreads: In addition to Darin Morgan, Robert Rozen (Dr. Alton Pugh) was a Doctor in "Soft Light." David Cameron (The Deputy) was a Young Scientist in "Space." Forbes Angus (Security Guard) was the Tissue Bank Technician in "Shadows," the Government Scientist in "Soft Light," the Doctor who removed Scully's chip in "The Blessing Way," and the Funeral Director in "Bad Blood." Peter Kelamis (Husband #2) was O'Dell in "Lazarus," Lieutenant Foyle in "Fresh Bones," and Assistant D.A. Costa in "Mind's Eye." P. Lynn Johnson (Health Department Doctor) was Dr. Sheila Braun in "Born Again" and Deborah Brown in "Die Hand Die Verletzt." Carrie Cain-Sparks (Duty Nurse) was the Maid in "Our Town" and the Train Station Clerk in "Nisei." Constance Barns (O.R. Nurse) was a Nurse in "Sanguinarium."

-- Although Vince Gilligan told him the part of Eddie Van Blundht was written with him in mind, Darin Morgan thinks there was another reason that Gilligan offered him the part. "He knew, without asking, that I would show my buttcrack on national television," Morgan said. But did the role of Eddie inspire Darin to think about acting again? Nope. "I hated every minute of it," he said. "On the set, I realized that whatever talent I once had as an actor had long since exited offstage. My acting career was over."

-- Even though he was less than pleased with his performance, returning to the show as a guest star did have its rewards. "I get along real well with David Duchovny and we had some laughs," he said. "When Eddie became Mulder and he was trying to pick up on Scully, there were certain mannerisms David was doing to imitate me. He did a really bad imitation of me laughing. My parents got a big kick out of that."

-- But Morgan's mom and dad weren't the only ones watching. After playing Eddie in this episode, Darin was offered the role of cartoon character Dilbert in a live-action sitcom based on the comic strip. He was also offered a writing job on the film Casper 2, but of course, Morgan turned them both down. He did go on to write for and direct a few episodes of Millennium and was working with Frank Spotnitz on his short-lived series The Night Stalker

-- "I thought this was one of those episodes that showed the wonderful elasticity, I called it the stretchability, of the show," said Chris Carter. "It showed that we could go in some kind of wild direction -- a show about a baby with a tail -- and figure out how to turn it into a touching episode basically about Mulder and Scully and their regard for one another."

-- "Small Potatoes" was David Duchovny's Emmy submission tape for that season.

-- "Small Potates" was named by TV Guide as one of the 100 Greatest Television Episodes of All Time (it came in at #72). The only other X-Files episode on the list was one that Darin Morgan wrote, "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," which was #10 on the list.