wonder if "a dying person might be able to look through the cracks […] into the next world", which he developed into a story about a "haunted bowling alley" because "it just seemed right". Harold Spuller was inspired by the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy. Coincidentally, Spuller's friend in this episode, Chuck Forsch, is portrayed by actor Sydney Lassick, who had previously appeared in the movie as one of McMurphy's fellow patients. Steven M. Porter was friends with co-executive producer Frank Spotnitz, and due to this connection he was allowed to audition for a guest role on the show. Following his audition, Porter felt that he had "either made a great impression or a complete fool of myself". Porter used his experience in a play called Asylum to develop the various "gestures and tics" that Spuller has. The production crew asked a number of bowling alleys if they would let the show film in their space, but many were reluctant, as it would require them to close down for three days and thereby lose revenue. Eventually, the Thunderbird Bowling Centre gave the show permission to film in their building, under the stipulation that the show leave the bowling surfaces as they were. This forced the production staff to either wear bowling shoes or wear makeshift "paper booties" on their feet so as to not scratch the wooden lanes. In between camera set ups, Duchovny and director Charleston bowled together; Duchovny later joked that after the episode, he "realized how old" he was because he felt sore from all the bowling; he joked, "When you get sore from bowling, it's time to start thinking about your life and where it's going." Reception "Elegy" premiered on the Fox network on May 4, 1997. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 10.6, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 10.6 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. "Elegy" was seen by 17.1 million viewers on first broadcast. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode four stars out of five and called it "terrific". They applauded Shiban's script, noting that it focused on "greater attention to the relationship between Mulder and Scully", rather than the X-File