‘Millennium’ Sets Off Waves in Cyberspace

The long-awaited debut of “Millennium” was not even finished before critics on the Internet were having their say.

“Forty-five minutes have passed. Why do I hear snoring on the other side of the room?” read a message posted to Fox’s own site Friday night on the World Wide Web. “Where’s the blood? The violence? The plot? . . . I think we’ll stick to ‘The X-Files.’ ”

But shortly thereafter, a message group poster was comparing the new show to “The Iliad.”

“That’s kind of the way I feel about ‘Millennium,’ ” the message read before switching to a more contemporary reference. “Raw. Undiluted. Bracing. This is the Arch Deluxe, kids, and I like it.”

The digital age’s instant commentary system--Web sites and message groups on the Internet--were cracking with evaluations of Fox Network’s “Millennium” all weekend, as cybersurfers weighed in with their thoughts on the show produced by Chris Carter, who also created “The X-Files.”

Denizens of the Net weren’t the only viewers, of course. “Millennium,” which was relentlessly promoted during Fox’s World Series coverage, got off to a strong start in the ratings, attracting 24% of the available audience in the big-city markets monitored by Nielsen Media Research. The show easily won its time period, rivaling the highest rating ever recorded by “The X-Files.”

But the Internet-savvy seem to have a special fondness for “The X-Files.” They debate the merits of each episode and pay ample homage to Carter--often referred to simply as CC--alternately praising and scolding him for whatever he does with their favorite series.

Many of those fans who took to the Net to express their views on the new show basically said: “ ‘Millennium,’ you’re no ‘X-Files.’ ”

“I can’t believe that they switched ‘X-Files’ to Sunday nights just to make room for this show,” declared a poster. The ending of the first episode was a particular target. “The climax I found totally beneath CC,” went one message. “. . . . the capture of the killer was [a] too convenient and hackneyed way of ending the episode.”

One disappointed viewer complained that apart from the “filmed in Dark-o-Rama trademark of CC and the gruesome imagery,” the plot about a former FBI agent who has the ability to place himself into the mind-set of serial killers felt cliched. “If any more characters on any shows use the line, ‘It’s my gift . . . and my curse,’ I shall go postal.”

But there were also plenty who came to the defense of “Millennium.”

“We were both blown away by it,” said a poster, who had watched with his sister. “I didn’t actually believe CC would be able to pull it off. I should have never doubted him.”

“It takes a lot to scare me,” said another, “and this show might just do it.”

Amid the basic thumbs-up and down comments, there were also lengthy discussions about whether the main character is actually psychic and the role of female characters in the show. Concerning the gruesome imagery, one message argued that, “The assumption that it is possible for a book, TV show or movie to be evil is based on a popular fallacy--that evil is an objective, exterior reality with an independent existence.”

Several posters noted technical mistakes in the first show, such as the fact that it’s highly unlikely long-range surveillance pictures would be taken by a Polaroid camera and that the main character makes the common error of referring to the Bible’s “Book of Revelations,” when it should be singular.

Finally, after all this chatter in the “X-Files” newsgroup, one frustrated regular wrote, “All of you Millennium people, go find your own newsgroup!!”

You don’t have to be psychic to know that indeed will happen.