September 10, 1993: On television, it's a good day for science, and a good day for science fiction.
Bill Nye the Science Guy premieres on PBS. Like fellow PBS stars Fred Rogers, Julia Child, Bob Ross, Bob Vila, and especially astronomer Carl Sagan, Nye explained difficult things in a way that the average viewer could understand, without treating them like a child. Or, in Mr. Rogers' case, he was talking to small children; while Nye's show was aimed at older kids. But, like Mr. Rogers, Nye treated them as though their feelings mattered.
Recorded at PBS affiliate KCTS-Channel 9 in Seattle, and funded by the National Science Foundation, the show aired until September 3, 1999.
In a 2014 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, Nye was played by "Nice" Peter Shukoff, against song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic as Isaac Newton. Rapper Charles Stewart, a.k.a. Chali 2na, stepped in, playing astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson.
George Watsky, against Edgar Allan Poe, played by George Watsky. King saw the battle and, on Twitter, paid proper respect to the original master of horror by admitting that "he" had lost.
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The X-Files, a science fiction show created by Chris Carter, premiered on Fox that night, and, as they would have said on Monty Python's Flying Circus, it was something completely different.
It revolved around FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). The "X-Files" they investigated were marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena.
Mulder was a skilled criminal profiler, and a believer in conspiracy theories. Scully, on the other hand, was not just an FBI Special Agent, but an accredited medical doctor, trained to look at evidence and act accordingly, and was usually skeptical of Mulder's ideas. Assigned together as part of a conspiracy, they discovered they had to trust each other, even though "Trust No One" became one of the show's catchphrases.
About 2/3rds of the episodes followed the traditional "monster of the week" science-fiction format. The other third was about the overall conspiracy, involving a step-by-step alien invasion, the U.S. government's participation in it, and its cover-up of it and of its role in it. Among these officials was Mulder and Scully's boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who helped them out of guilt over his role in it.
The main antagonist was a man who goes by many names, but was usually called "The Cigarette-Smoking Man" (or "The CSM," played by William B. Davis). He was often said to be dying from lung cancer, and was even believed killed at one point, but always seemed to come back.
He took a special interest in Mulder, and there were suggestions that he, A, was the actual triggerman behind the 3 big assassinations of the 1960s, those of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy; and, B, was Mulder's biological father. The episode that suggested the assassinations, through flashbacks, also suggested that he was responsible for the fall of Mikhail Gorbachev, "fixing" the Academy Awards, and preventing the Buffalo Bills from winning the Super Bowl: "That never happens as long as I'm alive."
Twice during the show, Gillian Anderson became pregnant in real life. The 1st time, she was out of the show on maternity leave, and it was explained by Scully being kidnapped by aliens, and giving birth to a half-alien baby. The 2nd time, they just showed her pregnant, and explained that the baby boy was hers and Mulder's. He was named William, after both of their fathers (presuming that the CSM wasn't actually Mulder's father). William later developed telekinesis.
The show ran for 9 seasons. In 1998, after the conclusion of Season 5, the film The X-Files: Fight the Future was released, filmed between Seasons 4 and 5. Three conspiracy theorists that Mulder and Scully occasionally worked with were spun off into an ill-received show, named for the trio: The Lone Gunmen.
In 2008, a new film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, was released. It was a standalone film, not connected to the overall conspiracy. It revealed that Mulder and Scully had not seen each other in years, but worked together again to solve a crime. A Season 10 ran on Fox in 2016, and a Season 11 in 2018.
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September 10, 1993 was a Friday. Sam Kerr, a soccer player for the Australian women's national team, was born.
These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 6-5 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Jim Abbott and future Yankee David Cone started the game, but neither factored in the decision. The Royals led 4-1 after 7 innings. The Yankees scored 4 in the top of the 8th, but the Royals scored 2 in the bottom half, making Jeff Montgomery the winning pitcher and Steve Howe the loser.
Wade Boggs and Dion James each got 3 hits for the Yankees. Don Mattingly went 1-for-5 with an RBI. George Brett, in his last 23 days as an active player, went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 12-10 at Shea Stadium. No, that's not Jets vs. Bears. Todd Hundley and Jeff Kent hit home runs for the Mets, while Steve Buchele and Kevin Roberson hit them for the Cubs.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Marquis Grissom singled Lou Fraizer home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 6-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-9 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The A's scored 7 runs in the 8th inning. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 10-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-5. Paul Molitor went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-8 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Rox scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th, and the Bucs could only come back with 2 in the bottom half.
* A doubleheader was split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Cleveland Indians won the opener, 7-4. The Boston Red Sox won the nightcap, 5-4. Mike Greenwell singled Billy Hatcher home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-0 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Mike Moore pitched a 2-hit shutout.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3 with a walk, and had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Robin Yount, in his last 23 days as an active player, went 0-for-4.
* The Texas Rangers swept a doubleheader from the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 and 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn did not play.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with 2 walks -- and this was well before he started using steroids, let alone getting punished by pitchers for it.
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