Feb-08-2001
Chicago Sun Times
‘X-Files’ fate is up to Fox
Phil Rosenthal
An end is out there this season on “The X-Files.”
Just maybe not The End.
“The finale for this season will be the finale for the eight years of the show,” executive producer Frank Spotnitz said on the eerie, dimly lit set that earlier this season was the site of Fox Mulder’s tortuous alien exam. “The ninth season, if there is one, will be a whole new ballgame.”
First, of course, Spotnitz and creator/executive producer Chris Carter have to see if Fox–the network, not the abducted special agent–will play ball with them.
Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman said she “can’t imagine” going ahead without Carter’s involvement, though TV execs are not known for their imagination.
Carter, meanwhile, has sent strong signals he wants to see how the network treats his “X-Files” spinoff, “Lone Gunmen,” which is set to fill in for “X” at 8 p.m. Sundays for a month beginning March 4 before moving to Fridays.
If “Gunmen” gets gunned down before viewers can figure out what it’s about, the way Fox handled his “Harsh Realm,” don’t be stunned if Carter axes “X.” If “Gunmen” is given a fair chance to succeed, the way Fox handled his “Millennium,” he might find the inspiration he says he needs to make Season Nine a go.
Don’t look to Gillian Anderson for guidance. She didn’t want to do this season of “The X-Files” as Dana Scully, though it hasn’t been nearly as bad as she feared it would be trying to make things seem fresh.
“As much as I fantasized about getting out, simply for exhaustion if nothing else, I couldn’t,” she said. “I was obligated to come back, so I did. But quite honestly, I am having fun. It’s been a good year.”
That said, it probably wouldn’t break her heart–or any other vital organ-not to return for another season. One senses she envied the largely absent David Duchovny, no matter how the aliens poked and prodded him, if only because he didn’t have to show up day after day.
Some people are reading something into the introduction of Annabeth Gish as another special agent for three episodes beginning later this month. They may be right. But Anderson’s contract runs another year, whether the show does or not.
Duchovny, who had Fox over a barrel last year and negotiated a lucrative deal for Special Agent Mulder to appear in only half this season’s episodes, is under no such obligation. Fortunately, Robert Patrick’s John Doggett has proved an able replacement, no matter what some diehards say in the online chat rooms.
As for the actual storyline that has been playing out this season, Carter says Scully’s pregnancy will continue through the rest of the season. “But,” he said, “the episodes [this month] will explain much more of the context.”
It’s the birthing of Carter’s other baby–“Lone Gunmen”–that may hold the true suspense for “X-Files” fans.
Tags: chris carter, frank spotnitz, gillian anderson, lone gunmen, x-files