The truth is still out there and Joel McHale is going to help find it. The host of The Soup and star of Community is the first guest star signed on to appear in The X-Files opposite returning stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.
McHale will paly Tad O'Malley, the anchor of a popular conservative Internet news network who becomes an unlikely ally to Fox Mulder (Duchovny).
The X-Files returns this January for six episodes, which will be a mix of monster-of-the-week episodes and the mythology the series became known for. Chris Carter, the show's creator, is helming the franchise's return to TV. The last time viewers saw Mulder and Scully on any kind of screen was the 2008 flick The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
"I think of it as a 13-year commercial break," Carter said in a statement when the new series was announced. "The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories."
Mitch Pileggi is also set to reprise the role of Walter Skinner in the new series. At the Fox Upfronts, Anderson told us she had yet to read the script (although that's changed by now). "I'm a little bit nervous about it because I want it to be really good, but I need to find the right time…Apparently, we had a child, which was conceived in the episode I wrote and directed, so I shouldn't be too shocked, but I kind of forgot about it for a while and had to be reminded...William is like 14 now, so I'm sure he'll show up at some point," she said. "That's about all I know."
McHale will host the ESPYs this July. Community just wrapped its sixth season, its first on Yahoo Screen, but no decision has been made regarding its fate.
McHale joins the ranks of many famous faces who have appeared opposite Duchovny and Anderson on the beloved series. Guest stars from the original series' run include Jane Lynch, Bryan Cranston, Lily Tomlin, Aaron Paul, Beth Grant, Jack Black, Octavia Spencer, Lucy Lawless and Ryan Reynolds.
The X-Files returns to TV on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 on Fox. The Soup airs Fridays, 10 p.m. on E!