Small Potatoes (20 Apr. 1997)
"The X Files" Small Potatoes (original title)

Five unrelated women in a small town give birth to babies with small tails. The prime suspect is a man who can shape shift into whomever he wants.

Director:

Cliff Bole

Writers:

Chris Carter (creator), Vince Gilligan

Stars:

David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi

Cast

Episode credited cast:
David Duchovny	...	Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson	...	Dana Scully
Mitch Pileggi	...	Walter Skinner
Darin Morgan	...	Eddie Van Blundht
Christine Cavanaugh	...	Amanda Nelligan
Lee de Broux	...	Eddie Van Blundht Sr.
Robert Rozen	...	Dr. Alton Pugh
Paul McGillion	...	Fred Neiman / Angry Husband
Jennifer Sterling	...	Angry Wife
David Cameron	...	The Deputy
Forbes Angus	...	Security Guard
Peter Kelamis	...	Husband #2
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Health Department Doctor
Carrie Cain-Sparks	...	Duty Nurse (as Carrie Cain Sparks)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Braidwood	...	Melvin Frohike (voice)

Storyline

Scully and Mulder travel to a small town when there are reports that five babies were recently born with vestigial tails. Four of the five women were artificially inseminated at the same clinic but the fifth claims to have had sex with Luke Skywalker. Scully thinks it's all nonsense but their focus soon falls on Eddie Van Blundht, a janitor at the fertility clinic. His father had been a circus performer but Eddie seems to have another power: to take the appearance of anyone around him. Things get interesting when he decides to pretend he's Mulder.

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Plot Keywords:

food in title | artificial insemination | human with a tail | paternity test | childbirth | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 2, North Shore Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television, Ten Thirteen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Vince Gilligan said that originally he wanted wings to be the "deformity" that the babies were born with, because he was afraid that tails wouldn't be very cute. Tails proved much easier to create digitally, though, so the wings were changed to tails in the script.

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Goofs

When Mulder and Scully are walking from their car to the Van Blundht's house, Scully takes out an umbrella and both act as though it is raining, but it is clearly not.

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Quotes

[looking at a destroyed doorbell button]
Mulder: Frustrated Jehovah's Witness?

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Connections

References Star Wars (1977)

User Reviews

I was born a loser, but you're one by choice.

If you want to see the best-acted episode of the x-files look no further than Small Potatoes. David Duchovny shows his true comedic ability throughout this episode. Duchovny plays Eddie Van Blundht playing Mulder so perfectly. Every one of his scenes as Eddie as Mulder are hilarious. Vince Gilligan, who penned this marvelous episode, reveals in the audio commentary that Duchovny ad-libbed many of the lines and mannerisms himself. He truly has a gift for comedy. Props also go to Gillian Anderson for playing a perfect straight(wo)man in this episode. Her playing it straight make the jokes all the funnier. Vince Gilligan also revealed in the commentary that a lot of the dialogue off screen was added through loop lines weeks later to spice up the dialogue. Which was also done quite effectively. The gag of Eddie being annoyed about the omission of the 'H' in his last name is quite funny, especially when the 'H' falls off his name on his house. Darin Morgan, who plays Van Blundht, was perfect for the part in his first "real" acting gig. Kudos again to Vince Gilligan in his first "humorous" episode. For me, this episode ranks second only to 'Bad Blood', also by Vince Gilligan. So, watch Small Potatoes, and treat yourself. I would if I were you.