The X-Files (1993-2002)
In a pre-internet world, conspiracy theories hid in the margins of our society. Sure, flat-Earthers, Kennedy assassination buffs and Area 51 enthusiasts could be found in the tin hat communities and crazy uncles of the nation. But California surfer dude Chris Carter found a way to catalog these and filter them through the lens of a post-Watergate view of government as a place of shady dealings (along with a dollop of sex appeal). Using two outcast FBI agents as its heroes, the show explored a bureaucracy that was intentionally set up to frustrate anyone who sought the truth. Even the show’s villain (the wonderfully '90s conceit of “The Cigarette Smoking Man”) believed he was hiding the truth for the protection of the American people. While the show’s aliens and monsters may seem a touch silly in hindsight, its view of government carries all the way through a show like “House of Cards.”
