It's to bad when a show like this comes along that has both great writing and a fantastic cast,but simply does not get the respect it deserves.This both happened at the time of it's airing and the lack of reruns you see of the show.In the almost 2 decade's since it's release I have only seen a rerun of the series once,and it was only for a few shows not the whole series.If you get the chance to watch the series I think you will be very impressed by the depth of characters and story lines that never failed to bring you back.The only possible reason I could have seen for the lack of support was the way the show made you take look deeply into a dark side of your being.Give it a chance you won't be disappointed ...

I always found "Millennium" to be an excellent television series (Being probably the finest example of everything that a police television show with supernatural elements should be) It was created by Chris Carter (Who is also the creator of another classic mystery television show from the nineties, "The X-Files") However, I always found "Millenium" to be much better than "The X-Files", being also much darker and solemn than that series.The first season of "Millenium" was simply outstanding, having great performances, a magnificent atmosphere and very interesting characters with a fascinating story in each episode.The second season, without being as great as it predecessor (Mostly because for the forced addition of some comedy which didn't work very well for the format of this series) was still worth-watching and had some intriguing plot points.Anyway, I consider "Millenium" to be one of the most underrated television shows ever made, having all the necessary virtues to be considered a classic from the history of television. From my point of view, none of the mystery shows from the recent years had this same level of quality.10/10

Millennium is one of my favorite shows ever since I first watched it a few years ago. I was initially drawn to it because I am an X-Files fan and remembered it being on back in the day. I had never watched it though because it seemed a lot scarier than X-Files and I was scared enough as it was by that show. But years and desensitization later I decided to give the show a try.The Pilot episode is possible one of the most memorable pilots I have ever seen. It immediately lets you know that this is nothing like The X-Files. This show is going to be much darker and scarier. Frank Black is an ex-FBI profiler, who know works for the Millennium Group doing consulting with law enforcement who need extra help with their profiles. The idea for the show as explained by Chris Carter came from three concepts. The episode "Irresitible" from The X-Files second season, the movie "Se7en", and an actual group of ex-law enforcement who actually do profiling consulting called Academy Group Inc.Season 1 was very dark and followed a SKOTW (Serial Killer of the Week) format. It was very similar to the show Criminal Minds and was an early precursor to many of the darker True Crime shows that are so popular today. The main character, Frank Black is masterfully played by Lance Henriksen and his friend and group mentor is Peter Watts played by the wonderful actor Terry O'Quinn. Season 1 takes some time to get any deeper story going but eventually we are introduced to the character Lucy Butler who will feature prominently in the series as Frank's nemesis.In season 2, Chris Carter was taken away from the show to focus on The X-Files Fight the Future movie and left the show in the care of Executive Producers Glenn Morgan and James Wong of Final Destination fame. In an attempt to spark more interest in the show and in response to complaints that season 1 was too dark for some viewers, they decided to delve deeper into the history of the MIllennium Group and began to set up a very interesting mythology based on religion and philosophy and the nature of good and evil. Season 2 produced some of the better episodes, however, ratings dropped and they were under the impression that the show was going to be canceled. Because of such they decided to end the season with an end of the world plague.Season 3. Morgan and Wong had now left the show and Chris Carter came back having little to no idea what kinds of story lines they had set up or where they were going with it. The plague was written off as a minor outbreak in a remote area of Washington and an attempt was made to switch the show back to the SKOTW format. While this did produce some great episodes in the third season, including some very creepy Lucy Butler centric episodes, unfortunately the show suffered from a sporadically changing mythology. Frank's attempts in the third season at investigating and exposing the Millennium Group is just frustrating and at times very uninteresting. The show ends on a cliffhanger type ending as Frank and his daughter drive off to who knows where leaving everything behind.An attempt was made to conclude or pay homage to the series through a cross-over episode of the X-Files entitled "Millenium" in season 7. But despite having one of the show's better writers on the case (Vince Gilligan) he had no experience with the Millennium series. The co-writer Frank Spotnitz did but apparently not enough to realize that this was a poor homage to Frank Black. It works well as an X-Files episode. But it is terrible as a Millennium episode.The hope among many fans, especially with the resurgence of The X-Files with "I Want To Believe" coming out last year, is that Millennium will get a movie tribute as well. Wouldn't it be interesting if both The X-Files and Millennium got a movie in the year 2012, each to explain and wrap up their end of the world mythologies? Even with its flaws and tragic history that led to its demise after three short seasons, this is a show worth checking out. I give the series a 10 out of 10.

**MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!**"Millennium" was one of the strongest dramas in the history of television. It went where no show had dared to go before. The acting was superb, the sets were remarkable and the writing was generally well above the norm. So what happened? The producers themselves admit that the show never knew what it wanted to become. Chris Carter's original vision led to the startling Season 1: the grisly crime scene, the etched face of Frank Black as he takes us into the mind of the killer, and the introduction of the mysterious "Millennium Group." It was an amazing first season.The ratings, however, weren't that great, especially when compared to that pop sensation "X-Files", and Fox put on the pressure. So new people were put in charge of the direction of the show, and led us into Season 2, which many consider the best season, but I consider the season that led to the demise of the show.I personally love the first half of the second season, with the emergence of Laura Means, the great depth of the Group, the strong contributions of Peter Watts, and the clearer lines between good and evil, heavenly and satanic.Again, however, the ratings were disappointing, and the second half of the second season is turned on its head. The Millennium group becomes suspect, Laura Means goes insane, major characters are killed, and in the final episode it is suggested that 80% of the worlds population are going to die of plague.Season 3 tries to bring the show back to where it began, but it was too late. The Black family chemistry is never the same, tho Jordan (Brittany Tipplady) continued to shine, Laura Means left a huge whole in the show when she left, Peter Watts is suddenly the bad guy, and the Millennium Group are now responsible for the worlds great evils. Chris Carter came back on board in Season 3, and in his own words says he didn't really know what to do with the pieces that pieces that were left.That being said, Season 3 was still a very strong season, and contains some of my personal favorite episodes, in particular "Through a Glass, Darkly". Klea Scott (Emma Hollis) filled some of the vacuum left by those that were killed off in Season 2. The writing was superb, and except for a couple of weak episodes (ie. the notorious "KISS" episode!) the season stands up very well.But again, it was the wavering of purpose and direction and leadership that finally put the hole in the waterline and sunk the show. If the producers and writers had only stayed true to the original purpose, and not buckled to the pressure being exerted by the network, the show might have seen its core audience grow and developed some longevity. There was certainly enough substance there for at least 6 or 7 seasons.So many opportunities missed. The relationship of Lance Hendriksen and Peter Watts, the growing character of Laura Means, the unfolding of the "true" purpose of the Group, and even the continuing struggle of the Black family, of Frank and Catherine, to deal with Frank's "gift". Lucy Butler, Frank's nemesis, virtually disappears in Season 3, appearing in only 1 episode.I own all 3 seasons and they hold a treasured place in my DVD collection, but its easy to get melancholy thinking about what might have been.