[kevin]

Originally Posted by RedShirtWalking

Star Trek had been phenomenally popular before the X-Files had ever been created. In particular, TNG was enormously popular when the X-Files premiered in 1993 during TNG's LAST season---and THEN TNG went right into making its first feature film.

TNG was a world-wide hit when it ended it's run and X-Files was just getting off the ground.

Sorry, I was referencing 1990s Trek (not the overall franchise).

No doubting the popularity of TNG but even DS9/Voyager/Enterprise failed to quite hit TNG's level of popularity with wider crowds. Neither did Babylon 5 (the other show mentioned).

Going back to the first mention of the X-Files I'm just of the opinion that X-Files was never in Trek's shadow because they were about different things, not becaise Trek was so popular itself. But they did reach a huge level of popularity.

However it is undeniable that when it hit it's peak in the 1990s it hit as was as much a global phenomenon as Trek - but it burned out quicker. That said, burnout happened to Trek as well in the last few years, so it happens to everything eventually.