Not sure I follow, X-files was not that new of a concept.
It was a crime detective show with supernatural subject matter...there actually had been a few shows like that, i remember that kowalcheck? show from the 70s.
Just a well written show that was well done.
Kolchak was a direct influence, Carter always said it was the show that inspired him to make a tv show along those lines, of a regular detective with supernatural cases. But afaik, it did not have that many episodes, and was way back in the early 70s. I've never seen an ep of the show, so can't judge how close it was, apart from that basic concept.
I do not know of any other tv show that featured the supernatural being investigated by regular cops. Every sci-fi fantsy show I can think of had a sci-fi/fantasy protagonist investigating, like Doc Who.
I think the main problem with an X-Files reboot is that they would be hard pressed to come up with good new ideas at such a rate to begin to compare to the old show in quality. They did 9 seasons that were bursting with ideas, but only just managed to keep the show fresh for it's complete run. Even then a lot of fans will say it had run it's course way before it came to an end, some even citing the fourth season as it's high water mark. I disagree, but I do think it may have gotten as stale as that last movie, and repetitive, if they had kept going with the concept.
They did still have some good ideas in the last few seasons, but the alien conspiracy eps were not as good in that final season at all compared to previous showings, and they were usually a highlight of the show imo. The motw eps still had some good mileage though, you'll always get a writer coming up with a good concept now and again that the show hadn't done before, but, in comparison to the earlier seasons, the hit rate was nowhere as high.
Using that exact same type of set-up again, it would be difficult to come up with new monsters and scenarios that were different than the old one, and maintain that kind of high strike rate. I mean, look at Supernatural, in it's first season especially, but even in later seasons too, it had a lot of eps that were very derivative of the X-Files conceptually.
the danger is in re-treading old ground, I just don't see how you could make it anywhere as good, the show really did feel original and helped bring in a fresh cinematic dynamic to tv. Twin Peaks kickstarted that cinematic aesthetic, but unlike the X-Files for the most part, it did not manage to maintain it's quality. TP was always meant to be a mini-series though, so perhaps it's unfair to compare them in terms of the concept running stale.
But, all those later supernatural/fantasy tv shows came spinning off the X-Files style and success, Buffy, Angel, Dark Skies, the new Doctor Who, Supernatural, Dark Angel, Lost, hell , you could even say that the cable shows like Sopranos, Oz, Dexter , etc etc, all owed a debt to the X-Files, as no shows(apart from Twin Peaks) had carried that dynamic quality of feeling like watching a movie every week. But, unlike the short lived TP, the X-Files showed you could put a lot of work into an ongoing tv show and reap massive rewards, people appreciated the fact it did not feel like any other show they were watching on tv. It did feel like a film, no drop in quality.
Anothert reason it felt so original was that it brought all the underground Fortean Times type conspiracy theories and strange phenomena debate into the mainstream for the first time in a big way. Carter actually put a lot of incidents that were reported as being real, into the show's eps.
this also spun into the movies, you started to see all these alien invasion, abduction, mind control movies popping up all over the place, where before all you had in that vein were a couple of flicks over a long period of time, like Close Encounters, Fire in the sky and Communion.
If Chris Carter holds the rights, there is no way will he want to besmirch the rep of his prize baby with an inferior remake.