The difference in setup between the series is more then the ten years that separate the pilots. It's style and genre. " Miami Vice," despite the clothes, style and music is a cop show. "The X-Files," is also a cop show with the paranormal thrown into scare you. They both focus on investigation and resolution of the heroe's quest within the commercial hour framework.
Take a look again at the transition above. In the "X-Files" we know something is not right by the light, but is this really just a murder?
In "Miami Vice," in the first four minutes, the transitory scenes establish that something bad is about to happen. At four and a half minutes we see Tubbs with a gun, a shoot out ensues. The protagonist escapes cut, to the title music. Commercial break, then we are back to find the second protagonist, Sonny Crockett talking to a character ( Jimmy Smits ) who is about to die. Not too many series kill off a character until the second season.
But " Miami Vice, cut the cake, literally. In this second scene of the pilot we are given dialog to establish character. The first scene with Tubbs, was the teaser to draw in the audience. We don't want our audience to them to switch channels, to surf away through two hundred choices we want them to stay seated.
To write this requires, practice. In the "X- Files" example the transitions are shorter. In the tradition of most dramatic series. The transition above covers scene one.
At Scene two we are treated to a shot of FBI headquarters, we see one of the protagonists Dana Scully, walk up the stairs into an office. There is background material is established visually, the smoking man and a person who appears in later episodes.
Transitions allow you to set up the premise of the pilot and any future episodes. You can establish things no one notices. While they may appear as background, static props, they will be used once the series is picked up.
In scene two of the " X-Files," Chris Carter uses the traditional method of having characters fill in each others background. This occurs for many reasons. One it's easy, secondly, it answers questions the audience has about the protagonist. In scene two one protagonist establishes another character.
THIRD MAN: Are you familiar with an agent named Fox Mulder?
