Hollywood A.D.

"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 appearance(s)
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner Garry Shandling as Himself Téa Leoni as Herself Wayne Federman as Wayne Federman Harris Yulin as Cardinal O'Fallon Tony Amendola as Cigarette Smoking Pontiff (uncredited) Paul Lieber as Micah Hoffman Bill Dow as Chuck Burks Tim Roe as Zombie Barry K. Thomas as Sugar Bear Tina M. Ameduri as Tina the Craft Service Woman Bill Millar as Director Minnie Driver as Audience member David Alan Grier as Audience member
Episode chronology
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List of The X-Files episodes

"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 words Jesus Christ spoke when he raised Lazarus from the dead.

"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. The episode itself contains several in-jokes and references deliberately placed by Duchovny.