Humbug (The X-Files) - Broadcast and Reception

Broadcast and Reception

"Humbug" was first broadcast in the United States on March 31, 1995, on the Fox network. In its original broadcast it was watched by 9.8 million households, according to the Nielsen ratings system. It received a 10.3 rating/18 share among viewers meaning that 10.3 percent of all households in the US, and 18 percent of all people watching television at the time, viewed the episode. The episode was nominated for an Edgar Award for 'Best Episode in a Television Series' and a Cinema Audio Society Award for 'Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Series'.

In a 2010 review of the episode, The A.V. Club's Toff VanDerWerff gave it a "Grade A" rating. He noted the difference between the style of the episode and previous stories of the series, saying that at first, it "feel like it might be a very special Murder, She Wrote or something," and that later, "we're clearly in some other show entirely, the only links in the continuity chain being Mulder and Scully themselves." Including Morgan's other scripts for the show, VanDerWerff called his writing "deeply, deeply funny", but said that "Humbug" "may be weakest script". He particularly praised the ending of the episode, saying "there are few other TV writers that would come up with something as haunting and as perfectly understanding of the human condition as the final reveal of who the killer is." Also writing for The A.V. Club in 2010, Zack Handlen called it "a terrific episode ... well-written and odd".

Ted Cox of the Daily Herald called "Humbug" "the pivotal episode of The X-Files." Robert Goodwin said of the episode "Talk about offbeat. It's very theatrical and grandiose. The trick was being careful that it didn't become like a bad Vincent Price movie, but it worked out well." Reviewers for website IGN named "Humbug" the tenth best standalone X-Files episode of the entire series. Topless Robot named it the sixth funniest episode of the series.