Nov-03-1999
LA Times
Chris Carter: Facing ‘X’ Factor
Greg Braxton

As ‘The X-Files’ prepares for the launch of its seventh season this weekend on Fox, there is continuing drama over the series’ uncertain future.

“The X-Files” returns Sunday on Fox for its seventh season, scaring and mystifying viewers with its tales of the paranormal and the unexplainable. But though he knows how the cliffhanger that launches the season premiere turns out, the ultimate truth is still out there for the show’s creator, Chris Carter.

That is, whether this season will be the end of the line for Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson–and the show itself.

The contracts for Carter and Duchovny, who plays FBI Agent Fox Mulder, are both up this season. And Anderson, who portrays FBI Agent Dana Scully, has declared that she will not return, even though she is contracted for another season.

Both 20th Century Fox Television, for whom Carter produces the series, and the Fox network say they would like everyone back for an eighth season, and Carter says he’s interested. But there are obstacles–primarily of a financial nature. At a cost of about $3 million per episode, “The X-Files” already is the most expensive series on network TV, and that would climb even higher with the extra money it presumably would take to keep the key players in the fold.

But Fox, off to a disastrous start to the season with the almost total failure of its fall lineup, badly needs to keep the few hits it has.

“We would love to have the show back,” Fox Entertainment President Doug Herzog said. “There are a couple of hurdles that need to be jumped over. But we are already in discussions with the studio, and when the time is right, we will sit down with Chris. The wheels are in motion.”

In an interview this week, Carter indicated that he would very much like “The X-Files” to continue–if some major issues are resolved and Duchovny, Anderson and other key principals are on board. He said he is extremely excited, personally and creatively, about the coming season.

Carter outlined some of the highlights of things to come this season. The central characters, particularly Mulder, will have a renewed vigor and purpose in their investigation of the unknown. The series will deal more with the personal relationship–and romantic tension–between the two agents; they may even finally kiss. Carter added: “And there are a lot of great stories left to tell.”

But Carter said pointedly that while studio chief Sandy Grushow has approached him about another season of the drama, Herzog has not. He feels that some answers have to come early next year. He also said he felt Herzog was “not a fan of the show.”

Responded Herzog: “I’m not going to comment on that.”

Carter realizes Fox owns the drama and can continue it without him.

“I don’t know what their plans are,” he said. “But it’s their show. They can put it on without any of the principals being involved.”

Besides the financial hurdles, the show’s future is clouded by the lawsuit filed last August by Duchovny against 20th Century Fox Film Corp., the parent of the television studio. Duchovny alleges in the Los Angeles Superior Court suit that Fox gave its broadcast stations and FX cable channel sweetheart licensing deals for reruns of “The X-Files” rather than seek the highest bid in a competitive auction.

Casting even more uncertainty is the strain between the network and Carter following the cancellation of Carter’s new drama series, “Harsh Realm,” after just three weeks. Carter criticized Fox for failing to promote the show properly.

“I really don’t know how the ‘Harsh Realm’ situation will affect ‘The X-Files,’ but it hasn’t created any greater desire for me to work harder to create a TV series for a network that is unwilling to promote it and unwilling to take a chance,” he said.

Nevertheless, Carter said he has been proceeding with this season of “The X-Files” with the same enthusiasm and freshness as previous seasons. And for now, he is not steering the series toward a conclusion.

“As always, I want to tell good stories, scare people, leaven it with some funny episodes, expand and possibly wind down the ‘X-Files’ mythology,” he said.

Sunday’s season premiere picks up where last season left off: Mulder has lost his mind and is locked away in a padded cell, while Scully is on the Ivory Coast, looking at what appears to be a spaceship in a tide pool. The installment, which continues next week with an episode written by Carter and Duchovny, “reinvests and redefines Mulder with a new spirit in his quest,” Carter said.

Several other surprises are in store. Prominent will be a New Year’s Eve-themed episode in which Mulder and Scully find themselves “in a position that men and women find themselves in at midnight.” The two agents, who have always put their personal feelings for each other aside, may finally deal with them.

“We’ll explore their relationship in a way we never have before,” said Carter, giving credit to a fan who expressed frustration that producers have teased the show’s followers with hints of a romance between the characters in previous episodes and in “The X-Files” movie, but never followed through.

“Now we’re going to address this,” Carter said, adding with a smile, “though not exactly in a clear way, which is the manner in which ‘The X-Files’ handles things.”

That exploration will continue into the February episodes that traditionally have leaped extensively into the mythology of aliens and government conspiracies at the heart of the series.

Also scheduled this season is an episode featuring the resurrection of criminal investigator Frank Black, the lead character of Carter’s “Millennium” series, which was canceled after three seasons. “We’re going to wrap him up in a way we weren’t able to do with the series,” he said.

Even with the question marks about the future, Duchovny’s legal action and Anderson’s determination about leaving, Carter said working on the series this season has been mostly business as usual.

“With the fact of the lawsuit, working with David has created some limitations on what we can actually speak about,” Carter said. “But we wrote a script together. And I’ll be directing him. So work goes on.”

It wasn’t until recently, when fellow executive producer Frank Spotnitz reminded him, that the reality of a possible final countdown hit him.

“I was all excited by an idea, and after I told Frank, he said, ‘We may be telling our last few stories here,’ ” Carter recalled. “If this indeed is our last season, there are a lot of things that we have to do. I have some big ideas.”

And when the end finally comes?

“One thing for sure,” said Carter, taking a good-natured swipe at the much-maligned “Seinfeld” finale, “our characters will not end up in a jail cell, talking among themselves.”

“The X-Files” begins its new season Sunday at 9 p.m. on Fox.

Nov-01-1999
The Vicki Gabereau Show
Interview with Chris Carter

[Transcribed by gde1013]

VG: Chris Carter is with me as The X-Files launches its 7th season, November the 7th – that’s a bit late if you ask me. But, unfortunately the new series “Harsh Realm,” just got whacked after three episodes, and we can’t figure out just why that is – but I will say, Mr. Carter, sir, that you’re as big a star as the people that are on your show. Isn’t it weird how that happens?

CC: Ha – [laughs] hardly. Not today, at least.

VG: What happened, with Harsh Realm?

CC: It just didn’t get the ratings they had hoped, it didn’t get much of a launch to be honest — it premiered against baseball, which is always a tough competition, and they didn’t do a whole lot of promotion for it. I think they had some statistics and forecasts, and they thought it was going to get bigger ratings then it did, going in, and they thought they didn’t have to spend the money to get people to come see it, and to be aware of it. So, I think it suffered from a couple different things.

VG: Yeah, well how — hmm, I can’t think of another expression — pissed off are you?

CC: [laughing] You know, it came as a big shock, because I think we were doing good work, and the ratings tell the story I think, but you also have to give a show a chance to really sort of find its feet, and I think that didn’t happen. There are bigger troubles at FOX and, we were sort of part of that.

VG: When you say the ratings weren’t good – I mean, if you get 7 people in Canada it’s good – but we’re talking about the great thing down south, but I mean what do they need to carry on? What is required?

CC: They just need, well, you need to be winning your time slot.

VG: So you have to have a share, a big share.

CC: Right, right.

VG: And who wasn’t watching, do you think?

CC: Everyone [everybody laughing]. You know, we had hoped the X-Files audience would come, but they premiered it before The X-Files so it really didn’t use The X-Files as a launching pad. I think that’s pretty much the story, that it really got lost in the, sort of, all the things there are to watch on television these days, and no one really knew it was on.

VG: Yeah – Well, I would think that if the guys were watching baseball, the women might not have been watching. I’ve seen one episode, and one episode only, and of course the production values are first rate, and the writing was very good and everything, but, you know, I just didn’t want to see more guys in fatigues. I think it might have scared women away.

CC: You may be right, but if you stuck with it, you would see that it actually had a lot for everyone. Once you got past those guys in fatigues, there were good stories being told.

VG: Are you severely disappointed, or do you think it will live again?

CC: Harsh Realm?

VG: Yeah.

CC: I think we’re probably moving past Harsh Realm, we’re done with Harsh Realm — out of Harsh Realm, as it were. But, I think there are lessons learned, and we’ll move on. We have other good stories to tell.

VG: Now, why couldn’t you take it to another network?

CC: You probably could, it’s an expensive show to do — all my shows have been expensive to produce because I demand quality. So, it’s not something that someone wants to just pick up, with the low ratings. Because I think there are costs associated that would —

VG: Make somebody panic, and back up.

CC: I think so.

VG: Did you tell the crew, the cast?

CC: Yes, I told the cast and crew, and I’m up here now in Vancouver to say thank you to everyone, because there was a lot of really good work done by a lot of good people. I hope to come back to Vancouver.

VG: Because Millennium’s gone, too. You’ve got to bring those X-Files back here! It ain’t the same. Canadians, are we the only people who tell you that?

CC: No, I mean, it’s the same good show, it just lacks the atmosphere that Vancouver gave.

VG: Fog, rain, muck.

CC: It doesn’t rain in Vancouver, let me just get that straight. [laughs]

VG: You know, it hasn’t been raining, until yesterday. It’s been exquisite, clear, sunny — you haven’t been here.

CC: No, I haven’t. September was an amazing month, you know, Vancouver at its best. Every day you would relish it because it just might go away.

VG: Do you think we’re sick in the head – that we only talk about weather?

CC: No, I mean weather is a big part about living up here, but I love it. I own a place up here now, and I’ll come back even when I’m not working.

VG: Did you buy a place in town, or out in the sticks somewhere?

CC: No, in town.

VG: So, how often will you come back? What are you going to do now, do you have anything to do, do you have a job? [everyone laughing]

CC: Umm… Yeah, I’ve got this other show called The X-Files.

VG: But isn’t it like a train on the tracks, it just goes now.

CC: Hardly at all. It is such hard work, and double duty on both shows — it was probably too much work with the quality we tried to keep up. So, I’m looking forward to now focusing on The X-Files specifically.

VG: Hard to find writers?

CC: Very hard — it’s a Harsh Realm.

VG: [laughs] Quit that. But, your country has millions and millions of people. I can see how it might be hard to find maybe a dozen writers specifically here, but there? They must be hanging from the trees.

CC: If they are, I’ve been picking from the wrong trees. It’s very difficult to write the show. We’re always looking for talents, always looking for people who can execute good stories — and you know, screenwriting is hard. Everyone thinks they can do it because the format is so readily available and understandable.

VG: Because we’ve all seen a million movies.

CC: Yes, everyone’s writing a screen play, but to write well in the screen play format is very, very difficult.

VG: Well one of the things – I don’t know how many people have read screen plays, but you can read a screen play and you cannot know that it’s any good. So, how do you know if it’s any good?

CC: Obviously a lot of people don’t know that it’s no good, and bad things get made [everyone laughing]. But, I think when you read something that is very good, and if you sort of develop your tastes, you can start to know the difference.

VG: Right, but don’t you remember a few years ago when they submitted ‘Casablanca’ to a bunch of hot shots and they all said, “this stinks, put it away.” I mean, so there you are – you gotta lose some. So, will you stick around now for a minute? We’ve got to take a break.

CC: Oh, yeah.

VG: We’ll be right back with Chris Carter.

clip from “The Sixth Extinction”

*

Scully is sitting beside Mulder’s hospital bed. He is still in a coma, not responding, but she is leaning over, talking to him, and crying.

SCULLY: “If you can hear me, just give me some sign — I want you know where I’ve been, and what I’ve found. I think that if you know, that you could find a way to hold on —- I need you to hold on.”

*

VG: Oh dear – a scene from The X-Files’ new season. I’m talking with its creator and writer, often, Chris Carter. So that was melodramatic. He spends a lot… one or the other of them spends quite a bit of time in comas. [laughs]

CC: [laughing] Well, that’s not exactly true. But, it’s true at the end of last season, which was the sixth season. Seventh season, if I can plug, starts November the 7th…

VG: I think I said that – I did say that..

CC: and that’s the, pilot – or, not the pilot – I mean the premiere episode of the seventh season.

VG: What happens?

CC: Obviously nothing — Mulder doesn’t have to act because he’s in a coma. [everyone laughing]

VG: One time… That’s the kind of part I want. Just lie there – or knit, that I think would be good. One time a couple of – I don’t know – about a year ago, I saw you in a restaurant. We waved at each other, and you were with a person – and you said you’d like to introduce me – your niece. Then she said her name. Her first name I’ve forgotten.. Just tell me her first name.

CC: Tracy

VG: Tracy – and what’s her last name?

CC: [laughing] Mulder.

VG: How could you do that? I looked right at this kid – how old is she – 18, 20?

CC: Older than that – twenties.

VG: She looks young. So I said, “how many..” – of course she knew exactly what I was going to say, which was “how many times today?” And she said “Dozens..” Now why would you.. who.. or is that..

CC: That’s my mother’s maiden name.

VG: Ah ha.. So you’ve really, really done it to her, and that happens all the time.

CC: I have a lot of relatives that were very flattered in the beginning, who are now very annoyed. [laughing]

VG: But naming characters is a big deal.

CC: Yeah, it is. Name’s your destiny – particularly on television.

VG: So do you go through.. I mean – I’m not familiar with the Harsh Realm names, but even Millennium, do you go through great lists of names to see how they match? Let’s say Lance’s character.

CC: Well, Frank Black was the name of the lead singer of The Pixies, which I was a big fan of.

VG: That’s deep. [laughs]

CC: The truth is that my name should have been Black. There was some sort of family history that’s been buried deep, or swept under the carpet, and my name wouldn’t have been Carter, it would have been Black. So that’s why…

VG: Well, what is the history that’s been swept under the carpet? Do you know?

CC: I don’t know. I’m actually having my genealogy read right now.

VG: Is your father your father?

CC: Yes, I think. [laughs]

VG: Well, I guess the truth is in the files somewhere. Are you doing that through the Mormons, or how are you doing that?

CC: No, there’s actually many professional genealogists out there now, and you can sort of pick and choose people who have specific skills.

VG: Right, we’re obsessed with this – our generation. You know that – knowing who we are.

CC: We have a lot of money and now we want to know who we are. How we got it.

VG: Who do you think you are? [jokingly] Just who do you think you are!

CC: Who do I think I am? I don’t know – I think that there are rascals and criminals on my father’s side that were never spoken about, so I’m very curious to see from which I came.

VG: Yes, and from what country you came.

CC: Well, my mother’s side.. I’m half Dutch, my mother was all Dutch. My father was a quarter Italian and the rest, I’m sure is some sort of Mongrel – Heinz 57.

VG: They were the ones who were all in jail. What possessed you to try and find this out? I mean, how did you find out your name would have been Black?

CC: There’s is no clear family history on my father’s side. He never knew his father, I never knew my grandfather – my real grandfather. So, I’m just kind of curious what is was that was kept a big secret.

VG: Well, it will be interesting. It might be quite tame. Something that might have been deep and dark then.

CC: My grandmother always referred to herself as widowed, until I realized sometime in my teens that she was actually divorced. Which no one wanted to be known as then in that generation. It’s going to be curious to find out.

VG: Are you writing a book??

CC: Yes.

VG: What is it?

CC: You know, it’s a book.. a character I created, probably about 12 years ago, and it’s just been something that’s been sitting around. I always knew I wanted to do something with it. I thought, you know, why not do a TV Series or movie, but then I thought, it’s the perfect character for a series of books. So I’m currently at work on that.

VG: Is it a… What kind of a character is it? Not a cop or a detective?

CC: Nope. He’s kind of a rapscallion himself. He’s a guy who sits around..

VG: You’re doing your research, that’s why you’re doing your genealogy. [laughs]

CC: Yes, exactly. There are two characters – there’s a… Two characters who work together and it’s set post-World War II, and.. which is really fun to write in that era. It has kind of detective qualities, but it owes something to The X-Files, too.

VG: It must be hard to separate those stories. So, you have a story that you’re working on for the book — and, you might want to cheat and put it in The X-Files.

CC: Well, everybody asks, “how do you keep things straight?” Ultimately you do — you don’t write into the wrong characters, or wrong scripts.

VG: How much are you writing now?

[sirens blaring in the background]

CC: Vancouver is supposed to be such a safe city, and all I hear are sirens. [laughs]

VG: No, you see that’s an ambulance, those aren’t cops, honey. It’s coming to take some poor soul who’s tripped and hurt their ankle. [laughing] And we’re Johnny on the Spot, see, coming to fix them up — what was the question?

CC: [laughs] I don’t remember.

VG: Oh yeah – are you writing a lot of episodes?

CC: Yes, I write — I probably write more episodes than anyone, and we write more episodes than anyone, and I have since the beginning of the show. It’s just been the way it is.

VG: Right, but sometimes you don’t re-write them. They have to be perfect…

CC: No, there are some times.. There are some scripts that I don’t re-write and won’t re-write. But, I’d say about 2/3 of them have some of my involvement as far as going through my typewriter.

VG: Is that… Typewriter??

CC: [quickly] computer.

VG: Just checking. Just want to know if you’re a Luddite or not.

CC: Ha – no Luddite here.

VG: But when you re-write, is it because you just have to change it. Are you a control freak, sort of?

CC: No, I mean I wish every script came in perfect and I had to do nothing — it would make my life a lot easier. But there are some things — I have the voices in my head, and I have a sense of how the story should be told. And it’s… You know is has been difficult sometimes — some people get a little irritated when you mess with their work. But, you know we’re in our seventh year, so you know we’re doing something right.

VG: Do you ever take a Holiday?

CC: I’ve had one Christmas off in the last seven years, where I haven’t been writing or rewriting. So, it’s really about two weeks a year. But, I get to come to Vancouver now and again, so…

VG: Yeah, but you’re working when you’re here, and that’s kind of a heartbreaking one.

So, stay with me and I’ll talk to you a bit more. Chris Carter.

*

VG: I’m back with the writer, producer, surfer – Chris Carter. You still doing that?

CC: Yes, as much as possible. Yeah, not in Vancouver, of course.

VG: No, but if you ever go to Halifax — you ever been there?

CC: No, I haven’t.

VG: It’s a great place, and has great settings for your weirdo stories. [laughs] But you know, I have a friend there who’s a publisher, his name is Leslie Choice, and he surfs there, in of course, a wet suit. But he surfs all the time up there, on those big North Atlantic waves. Yipes.

CC: Cold, cold water.

VG: I know, but if you’ve got the wet suit on. You went all around the world, surfing.

CC: I used to work for Surfing magazine when I graduated from college, and I didn’t want to join the adult world. I took a job at surfing magazine and had an amazing time.

VG: Have you joined the adult world now, do you think?

CC: I still.. I’m not sure.

VG: Yeah, but when you’re involved, let’s say, in this particular situation — everything that’s gone on with the cancellation of this show, the one before, I mean, all of a sudden you’ve got the lawyers, you’ve got the lawsuits, you’ve got people freaking out over here. You have to be an adult, and your stomach must hurt all the time.

CC: You know, business is tough, and entertainment is a particularly tough business, and you become very high-profile as I have, kind of inadvertently, and you become somewhat of a target, and you have to be prepared in business to deal with these kinds of things.

VG: When Gene Roddenbury was still alive, did people stop him in the street? Were there 20 people waiting for him when he got off the plane to sign autographs?

CC: You know, I doubt it. It’s a different time, there’s more media, there’s more attention to these kinds of things. I think that people know who producers are nowadays unlike they ever did, for some reason. David E. Kelley is a very… perfect example of that. He’s a big popular guy. So, who knows why that is. But I think a show like The X-Files develops a kind of fan and fan base that tend to be a little obsessive about the show, thank God. Let me knock on wood here.

VG: There’s plywood under there somewhere. One of things among many, that you’ve done that I think is so impressive, when you shot 3 series up here, is that you use a lot of Canadian actors. And you didn’t put them in the background, you put them in the foreground. You used them the way any actor should be used.

CC: Well, I love coming up here because I think the quality of talent, of every technical acting pool, is tops, and I was determined to use the Canadian actors who I knew were very good, in the series, which is another reason I’m kind of sad to say good-bye.

VG: Well, you’ll come up with something else.

CC: Yeah.

VG: But, did you know that they were good, until they read for you?

CC: Well, I know almost all of the Canadian actors.

VG: I’ll bet you do.

CC: There are some that I don’t know still, and I’m still learning faces and names, but I know a lot of them. So, I was able to go back to some people I’ve used before successfully and then to some new people I’ve never used before. Rachel Hayward, would be one.

VG: Right.. What do you read, when you’re not writing?

CC: Not Science Fiction, believe it or not. It’s funny because when you’re working as hard as I am, as hard as we do, you scavenge. You pick up things, you pick up magazines in airports, you read bits of books… You’re always just reading parts of things. What you’re doing all the time is you’re trying to come up with material. Everything’s a resource.

VG: Which is kind of irritating, in a way because.. I mean, books that I read for this show – I mean, I’m practically reading a book a day – and you don’t read it the same way as when you’re sitting around at the old cabin, leisurely reading. You’re reading for – “there’s a thing I can ask..” Or there’s a thing you could develop, I guess. When do you figure, was the last time you read a book just because you were… What, 12 years old?

CC: I read a Graham Green novel last May, which I enjoyed the hell out of, so I have the chance to read every now and again. Something that I’ve either read before, or want to read new.

VG: I’ve saved a book for you. It’s called “Baltimore’s Mansion” by a guy named Wayne Johnson, from New Foundland. Then you can send me a note and tell me what you thought of it. Or now, send it to him. But that’s only if you thought it was good. [laughs] Chris Carter, thanks very much and good luck on the seventh season.

CC: Thank You.

Oct-28-1999
San Francisco Examiner
Networks showing their stupidity again
Tim Goodman

This is the part of the TV season when the luster of everyone thinking life was sweet gets rubbed down to the awful truth: Even in the midst of a great season, shows have to die.

Usually, this period begins much earlier — like the week after most of them debut.

NBC’s “Mike O’Malley” was the first show to get canceled, followed shortly thereafter by CBS’s “Work With Me.” No problem there — most everyone thought they were lousy. Much more difficult — and telling — is when shows with potential get the ax.

When Fox killed Chris Carter’s “Harsh Realm” and “Ryan Caulfield: Year One” Monday, it raised some eyebrows. After all, both shows aired with relatively good reviews — more so for “Harsh Realm” than “Ryan Caulfield,” but both of them were positively received on the whole. The former got a meager three airings and the latter only two. Immediately, Carter suggested that Fox blew it with his show — that the promotion was nonexistent and the support from management was never there.

He’s definitely right on the first count and if he’s right on the second, it almost certainly means that his mystique is over at the network and, barring a miracle, this is indeed the last season of “The X-Files,” the show that put him on the map and has helped define Fox.

No time like now to bring up the old but apt slogan: What have you done for me lately?

This is how the television industry works, though, and even a massive Internet campaign that is most likely right around the corner won’t save “Harsh Realm” or Carter for that matter. Networks are ruthless when they want to be and stupid when they need to be. They become so when it best suits them. For Fox, the stupid part came when it had to play along with Carter on his wonderfully bleak but woefully witnessed second series, “Millennium.”

What could Fox do back then? Tell one of the hottest producers in the business that they were yanking his failure? No chance. Like many networks before it, Fox figured Carter would hit one out of the ballpark next time, and they couldn’t risk him doing it for someone else.

But when “Harsh Realm” reaped some of the lowest ratings Fox has ever had on Fridays (lower than “Millennium” even), that sealed it. The question is this: Has Carter lost his touch, or did Fox bungle “Harsh Realm” from the start and then fail to nurture it?

Network identities, their cultures, rest on the answer you get. Fox has gone from nurturing new shows — mostly because they had no choice — to being a network willing to pull the plug almost immediately. This season, Fox has a new entertainment president in Doug Herzog, who came from MTV and Comedy Central. He didn’t green-light any of Fox’s fall programming so he’s not emotionally invested in them. Carter even told Daily Variety that Herzog wasn’t a fan of “The X-Files.” That’s a bad sign.

The fact is, “Harsh Realm” was confusing. No question about it. But so was “The X-Files” — maybe the most confusing series ever. But it became a hit through patience. And “Ryan Caulfield” at the very least offered a fresh take on the tired and nearly dead cop genre. It was surprisingly good and had potential. Now — gone.

It’s clear that this season Fox’s culture is one of low patience. But perhaps the blame should be shifted off the shows and onto the network itself. Fox eschewed the traditional premiere week concept this season — as it has done much of the past. Instead, knowing that it had baseball, which would preempt some new shows, it chose to roll shows out slower, in dribs and drabs.

So much for that plan. How can a network bungle the most hyped show of the season (“Action”) so that it airs two back-to-back debut episodes and gets beaten unmercifully by a rerun of “Frasier”? That’s as unexplainable as it is inexcusable. The network has also failed to build much of an audience for “Get Real,” an unorthodox series that needed particular attention paid to the promotion, so audiences would grasp what it was trying to do.

Although “Action” will return, the fate of last season’s budding hit, “Family Guy,” is less clear. Both have been pulled from the November sweeps schedule.

The cancellation of “Harsh Realm” and “Ryan Caulfield” could signal that Herzog wants to put his own stamp on the network. But the move is disturbing in that it seems a knee-jerk reaction. And what does Fox have to replace these shows with? There’s a backlog of reality shows, but that’s a direction Herzog said the network was moving away from.

Fox, of course, is not the only network making difficult, sometimes mind-boggling decisions. When ABC presented “Once and Again,” it was clear to most critics (though that’s hardly a good barometer) that it was the best new show the network had. By putting it in the “NYPD Blue” spot, wouldn’t that cause problems down the line if the show was an actual hit?

In essence, ABC said it would deal with that when the time came. The time came and ABC ended up alienating “NYPD Blue” creator Steven Bochco by first suggesting it might move the venerable cop show, then finally pushing its debut back until January.

ABC’s network identity has always been the quick-hook coupled with no brains. It has ruined many a fine show (“My So-Called Life,” “Murder One,” “Relativity,” “Cupid,” “Nothing Sacred,” and many, many more) by putting them in impossible time slots or simply giving up on them.

The network had no idea what to do with “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” despite the fact it fascinated a nation. The show is coming back next month for sweeps, but that initial buzz is gone and the gap has allowed other networks (like Fox, with “Greed”) to rip off the idea and steal its thunder.

Not every move is a blunder, however. Many shows get pulled precisely because they are bad. ABC yanked “Wasteland” but says it will give it another chance (hopefully that’s a typical network lie. Also coming off the schedule, deservedly, are NBC’s “Suddenly Susan” and CBS’s “Love & Money.”).

Most shows die because they deserve to, but in a world where, up until this season, having a plethora of quality was unheard of, killing one great show unnecessarily caused gaping creative holes that were rarely filled.

It bears watching whether networks will have patience or panic. NBC has a gem in “Freaks and Geeks,” which has aired only twice because of baseball and rests in the Saturday night death slot. That’s a dangerous future.

Fox has said it will be patient with “Action” — a show it had to know would appeal to a very limited audience — but we’ll let the network’s own actions speak loudest on that.

We are about to see more cancellations. These things tend to come in droves.

If the networks can muster an equally impressive midseason maybe the damage won’t be so severe. But the fear is that all of the surprising good quality we’ve seen from the fall premieres will be squandered by networks in an all-too-familiar squeeze of their hair triggers.

Oct-28-1999
TV Guide Online Chat: Chris Carter

TVGuide Chat: Welcome, Chris! Thanks so much for coming!

Chris Carter: Hello, “X-Files” fans throughout the world.

Question: Is last season’s season finale the last we are going to be seeing of Agent Spender? (We saw no body.)

Chris Carter: Agent Spender is dearly departed. But his ghost will live on.

Question: On average, how many days does it take for you to write a script for one episode?

Chris Carter: Average is seven to ten days.

Question: What gave you the idea to start the show?

Chris Carter: I was under contract with a gun to my head.

Question: What do you think of the fans? Do you think we’re crazy?

Chris Carter: Not nearly as crazy as the producers.

Question: Is the rumor true about the New Year’s kiss?

Chris Carter: I’m assuming that you mean does it happen. You’ll have to wait for the New Year.

Question: What is your most favorite episode of “The X-Files”?

Chris Carter: I have too many that I am proud of. But I have favorites from each season. The one that was the most personal one to me was the black and white one called “Post Modern Prometheus.”

Question: Hey Chris, we met some time ago, and I didn’t get the chance to ask you, who where your influences growing up? What motivated you to make such an extraordinary series?

Chris Carter: Rod Serling, Richard Matheson, Philip K. Dick, Sinclair Lewis, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe and John Cheever. My television inspiration was “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.”

Question: Do you base your characters on real-life people, or are they solely fictional creations?

Chris Carter: Mulder and Scully are fictional characters, as are most of the characters in “The X-Files.” But occasionally, and not so occasionally, we name characters after our friends and coworkers.

Question: What are your views on the paranormal?

Chris Carter: I’m a skeptic by nature. But, like Mulder, I want to believe.

Question: Do you get recognized often in public?

Chris Carter: More often than I’d like. I’m surprised that anyone recognizes me.

Question: From interviews I’ve seen and read, you seem like a truly sincere, all-around nice guy. Because you are able to come up with great story lines for “The X-Files,” you obviously have a dark side. How do you get in touch with that side? Music, movies, books?

Chris Carter: I turn on my computer.

Question: Are we going to learn more about Mulder and Scully’s personal lives?

Chris Carter: Yes, definitely. This could be the last season, so we want to explore them thoroughly.

Question: How has religion affected the decisions you make about the show? (I think it’s really cool that Scully is Catholic!!)

Chris Carter: Faith is an all-important, ever-present component in the stories we tell. It is Scully’s struggle with her religious faith and her faith in science that provide a good bit of character conflict. It is Mulder’s faith in the unknown, in its unknowableness, that drives his quest.

Question: If/when you get writer’s block, what do you do to get past it? Being a writer myself, it’s tough.

Chris Carter: 20th Century Fox doesn’t allow us to have writer’s block. It’s in our contract. And we are summarily executed upon display of any symptoms.

Question: Can we expect to get answers to a lot of the questions that have been left for us since the first season up until now?

Chris Carter: Yes. Sit back, put your feet up, no clicking, and we will explain it all for you.

Question: If you could choose one “X-Files” episode to watch on Halloween (besides “Home”), which would it be? Keep in mind, I enjoy being spooked.

Chris Carter: “Irresistible.” Or “Oubliette.”

Question: Have you ever read the tabloids to get ideas for an episode?

Chris Carter: I only read the tabloids for the articles on the “worst dressed.”

Question: Hi, Chris! Have you ever thought about doing a show of just the Lone Gunmen?

Chris Carter: We have done shows of just the Lone Gunmen. If you mean a series of just the Lone Gunmen, we’ve thought of that too. We’re still thinking.

Question: First, please let me thank you for the many great hours of entertainment that you have provided for me and my husband. We would like to know how much of the story line behind “The X-Files” is based upon fact.

Chris Carter: Thank you, first of all. Almost every episode of “The X-Files” is based on science fact. We work very hard to be true to science. You might want to pick up Anne Simon’s book, “Science of the X-Files,” which is just out, that does a wonderful job of explaining the science foundations of the show. But it’s where we go from there that creates the science fiction.

Question: Are the fans going to be paid off by seeing Scully destroy Fowley before the end of the season?

Chris Carter: Stay tuned for the season opening two-parter.

Question: Some of the stuff you write about makes the viewer stop and think… is there any one show that you feel does the same for you?

Chris Carter: Nothing that I can think of. But… I have to say “Gumby” made me stop and think.

Question: Are there going to be any more “X-Files” novels? I really like all the previous ones.

Chris Carter: I can’t say, honestly.

Question: Will the show get refocused next season on paranormal activity with a kitchy twist… like the circus episode?

Chris Carter: We felt last season was very light, and this season we want to see how much we can scare you. But there will be the oddball episode.

Question: Two-parter? What’s that all about?

Chris Carter: We couldn’t tell the story in just one hour of how Mulder survives (or doesn’t) whatever has befallen him in last season’s finale.

Question: Chris, I love your show, but can you tell me if there are going to be any new characters?

Chris Carter: Nothing through the first eight episodes.

Question: Is it true that there will be a sequel to “Irresistible”?

Chris Carter: Yes. Episode seven this year.

Question: Will Smoking Man ever be set free?

Chris Carter: He is free. Or at least discounted.

Question: Will Mulder and Fowley’s past with each other be talked about?

Chris Carter: Referenced.

Question: Mr. Carter, don’t you find it amazing the following “The X-Files” has?

Chris Carter: Every day. It’s like a dream. But I just go with it.

Question: What is the purpose of the rebels? Why do they want to stop colonization?

Chris Carter: They want to control Earth and its resources for themselves.

Question: There are crossovers in fan fiction. I wondered if you ever thought about crossing over with another sci-fi show.

Chris Carter: “Harsh Realm.” Too late now.

Question: Just wondering… did you decide to stop the “Millennium” story line?

Chris Carter: No. The ratings were such that Fox believed that they could do better.

Question: Is the “Consortium” really dead, or are they otherwise detained?

Chris Carter: They’re dead. Good riddance.

Question: Does Fox censor what you can air?

Chris Carter: Only the most indelicate or sensitive images and content. But they are very reasonable and always open for arguments.

Question: Is Fox’s sister even alive?

Chris Carter: Stay tuned for season seven.

Question: Is “Millennium” gone for good, or can we expect Frank Black to make additional appearances on “The X-Files”?

Chris Carter: Frank Black will be in “The X-Files” this season for an episode titled “Millennium.”

Question: Are there any books that have inspired you?

Chris Carter: I was not into science fiction as a kid, but my brother was. I read some of his books, mostly Ursula K. LeGuin.

Question: What do you believe is one of the more astounding facts that the government has kept under wraps?

Chris Carter: That Elvis is alive.

Question: Did you feel that the “flavor” of “The X-Files” changed last season?

Chris Carter: Yes. After the movie, we wanted to take the show in new directions, and it lightened considerably. But David and Gillian are very good comedic actors and they helped, also, to let us choose this direction.

Question: David and Gillian have incredible on-screen chemistry. When did you first begin to sense this?

Chris Carter: I didn’t know it until the first day I saw them on the set, which was in March 1993.

Question: Where did you get the idea for “Neighborhood” episode?

Chris Carter: There were several different elements that came out of a writer’s meeting, but one of them was something called the “Ubermencher,” which I had somewhere in the back of my brain. This was wedded to the idea of a planned community.

Question: Any hope of one last Darren Morgan X-File?

Chris Carter: There’s hope, but that’s about all there is.

Question: How did you come up with the name Fox Mulder?

Chris Carter: Mulder is my mother’s maiden name. But please don’t try to activate credit cards. Fox is the name of a kid I grew up with. And NBC Mulder just seemed too weird.

Question: How long does it take to make an episode from start to finish?

Chris Carter: About five weeks.

Question: What was your very first reaction to the fans’ obsessive behavior towards your shows?

Chris Carter: Glee. Wild glee. And ecstatic jubilation. Speaking in tongues and running around naked.

Question: Will we ever learn more about what Krycek is really up to?

Chris Carter: Yes. Stayed tuned for the season opener and episode #2.

Question: Is Donnie Pfaster really coming back? If so, can you tell us anything about the episode?

Chris Carter: Yes, he’s coming back. And he’s hungry for finger food.

Question: What are your hopes for the upcoming season?

Chris Carter: I hope that the season will be of a quality with the previous six seasons; that if this is the last, that we end with a bang and not a whimper.

Question: Do other people write episodes for you?

Chris Carter: No. There’s a staff of writers, who are mostly listed in the credits as producers.

Question: Will we be seeing more of the bounty hunter this season?

Chris Carter: I don’t know.

Question: When can we expect another feature film?

Chris Carter: I won’t know until we decide when the series ends. But probably a year after that.

Question: Have you decided if this is going to be the last season?

Chris Carter: I haven’t decided yet. There are many things that factor in, including the actors’ desire and their contractual obligations, and my contractual obligations. And keeping the show good and fresh. Also, the writing staff. We wouldn’t want to do it without the people who have gotten us all this way.

TVGuide Chat: Thanks so much, Mr. Carter, for chatting with us! We’ll definitely keep watching, and we wish you the best!

Oct-26-1999
Variety
Fox axes ‘Ryan,’ Carter’s ‘Realm’ shows draw lowest-ever Fri. ratings
Michael Schneider

Fox’s fall follies continued Monday with the quick dismissal of new Friday dramas “Harsh Realm” and “Ryan Caulfield: Year One.”

The second outing of “Ryan Caulfield” and third appearance of “Harsh Realm” last week equaled Fox’s lowest-ever Friday-night ratings, averaging a 2.3 Nielsen household rating and 4 share for the night.

The death of executive producer Chris Carter’s “Harsh Realm” comes weeks before Carter’s flagship series “The X-Files” even airs its season premiere.

Fox “botched” the launch of “Harsh Realm,” a disappointed Carter told Daily Variety. “I think in the end it looks rather misguided to have premiered the show without any promotional base, certainly when the reviews of it were good,” he said. “I have a feeling we’re a victim of a much bigger problem at Fox.”

Carter said Fox executives told him they realized they underpromoted “Harsh Realm,” and planned to heavily promote the show for the next seven weeks. “The viewer-awareness levels were pathetically low,” Carter said.

Carter also said he believed that Fox Entertainment president Doug Herzog was never a fan of “Harsh Realm.”

“When I first met Doug I realized he wasn’t a fan of `The X-Files,’ which made me paranoid that he didn’t know what we did over here,” he said.

And when lead-in “Ryan Caulfield” debuted to numbers much lower than expected, it effectively killed “Harsh Realm,” Carter said, adding, “They have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.”

Fox sources said production has halted on both series, although Carter said shooting would continue at least the rest of Monday on “Harsh Realm.” “No one told us to shut down,” he said.

Eight episodes of “Harsh Realm” had already been shot. And with its meager ratings, sources said it’s unlikely that “Harsh Realm” would end up at another network.

Meanwhile, ABC Monday confirmed that the low-rated Thursday-night drama “Wasteland” will be yanked for the duration of the November sweeps, effective immediately. The specials “The Best Commercials You’ve Never Seen” and “Totally Out of Control Vehicles” will air the next two Thursdays. For the second two Thursdays of sweeps, ABC will air an hourlong “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., followed by a repeat of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” ABC had already scheduled “Forrest Gump” for Thanksgiving.

“Because we feel the show never truly got sampled and we believe in the talents of Kevin Williamson and our cast, we plan on relaunching the series again in December,” the network said in a statement.

Oct-15-1999
Chris Carter Yahoo Chat

Sent in by BamaX

Yahoomc: Here he is — The man behind your favorite shows — Chris Carter!

chris_carter_live: Ask away everyone!

robandlisafalzone asks: did the Harsh Realm script change after seeing the Martix?

chris_carter_live: The Harsh Realm was written before we ever knew of the Matrix. We were surprised at some of the similarities, particularly with the hero in both pieces. But we realized that is a not uncommon for the heroe’s journey in these kinds of saga tales.

megmon8 asks: Where did you come up with the idea of your new show?

chris_carter_live: The inspiration originally came from a series of comic books that were brought to me. Fox made a deal with the comic book people. I ended up taking the title and the area of virtual reality. Beyond that, it was really our original idea.

Scullys_tattoo asks: Chris, Can the true blue X-Files fans really get into Harsh Realm? Will you keeep us comming back for more each week? Will it fill the void?

chris_carter_live: Yes, yes, and what void?

RachelLRobinson asks: How, and I am sure you went through it, did you, and do you deal with writers block?

chris_carter_live: I don’t think about it with the double barrel gun that FOX has pointed at my head!

Mutato1121 asks: Is it hard filming Harsh Realm in Vancouver and the X-files in LA?

chris_carter_live: It’s only hard on me, since I’m the one who has to fly back and forth mostly. Buy beyond that it’s really no more difficult than it’s ever been.

catcher79 asks: Will we be seeing any more guest appearances in Harsh Realm? I loved that you had Lance in the premiere!

chris_carter_live: Yes, definitely, stay tuned.

crysteen20 asks: Since the X-Files show maybe ending will any of the actors cross over in to the show Harsh Realm?

chris_carter_live: I haven’t thought about it that far in advance. But Scully’s voice has already made an appearance in Harsh Realm. I would love to use Chris Owen in Harsh Realm. And someone came into my office today and asked me what I thought about casting Bill Davis in a part.

Dyslexic_Scana_Dully asks: I have been a fan of yours for a long time, Mr. Carter, and I’ve noticed that you seem to have large fan-bases for every television show, I could never imagine so many people being as obsessed and into a show, such as The X-Files, but here we are… like a giant cult bowing to your power! What, in your mind, makes your shows so incredibly different?

chris_carter_live: Stood gory telling.

mrsday99 asks: Do you ever work with Stephen King?

chris_carter_live: One of the nicest, most generous, gentle people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I look forward to future collaborations in whatever form and on whatever show.

OznArt asks: Why is Dexter in both worlds? Are there copies of all our pets in Harsh Realm???

chris_carter_live: Yes. Even the dog from Fraser.

Spooky_FBIAgent asks: Chris, First of all I want to say that you’ve done a great job on the X-Files, and that I’m sure that Harsh Realm will be just as popular. I want to ask how are you gonna feel when the X-Files ends this season, for good?

chris_carter_live: You assume too much. And I don’t want to think about how I’m going to feel when the show ends.

wildcatz76 asks: Who was your inspiration for the characters in the X-Files?

chris_carter_live: The names all come from real life characters, but the personalities were composites. Mulder was originally written as somebody who could have been an MTV VJ. I think he’s not quite that luckily.

Wildwings102 asks: how does it feel, to be one of the first successful pioneers in your genre? many people have thought of Scifi as Trekie type shows, but you have change all that!

chris_carter_live: I just set out to originally tell as much story with as many scares as possible. And it has turned out to be a winning formula. But it was simply that. It has been very satisfying.

GoDucki asks: did you always like science fiction?

chris_carter_live: No. I wouldn’t consider myself of science fiction when I was a kid, but my brother was a big fan. He was a big Star Trek fan. And I still claim not to have watched an entire Star Trek episode, until this year, Gary 9 I think it was called. My staff thinks that I am lying.

Yahoomc: What kind of genres were you into?

chris_carter_live: I don’t know if I was a genre person per se. I just loved good movies and good television. I loved Mannix when I was a kid, I watched every episode of Gilligan’s Island. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery and Kolchak The Night Stalker.

berthafanation asks: Are there any other areas you are interested in exploring other than Science Fiction. I think that your talent could take you in many directions?

chris_carter_live: Yes. I want to do a romantic period piece.

jnimbus asks: Were you a huge comic book fan as a kid, Mr. Carter?

chris_carter_live: I was a comic book fan, but like most things when I was a kid, I wasn’t obsessive about any particular thing.

moogie_76 asks: How much do fans’ responses to the show influence its outcome?

chris_carter_live: I have to say very little directly. But indirectly, I think we pay very careful attention and are wounded terribly by criticism, particularly good criticism. We’re overly sensitive writer-producers here. Just teasing.

filmgirl99 asks: As a smart redhead I wish to thank you for the character of Scully

chris_carter_live: I’m very interested in smart redheads and their opinions.

Dawn_311 asks: I read in an article that you feel Harsh Realm could explore different scenarios. So far, I can’t imagine it taking place outside the “battlefield” -type arena. How do you plan on expanding the story??

chris_carter_live: Harsh Realm is really like imagine colonial America if it were developed and looked like America circa 1995. So the United States becomes the playing field, if you will, and not all of it has been destroyed.

xphreak42 asks: One thing that I think really distinguishes your shows is the excellent casting. How do you know when you have found the right person for a role?

chris_carter_live: It’s one of those magic parts of the process where someone comes in and understands the plight or problem of the character and is able to sort of step inside of that character’s clothes. And hears the rhythms the writers had imagined. Sometimes it’s finding that perfect fit,. Other times you find an actor that can suggest a way the character can be rewritten. So sometimes it works one way sometimes the other.

r_michnik asks: were Gillian and David your original choices

chris_carter_live: Both David and Gillian were my original choices for the show. There is a somewhat little known fact that David had accepted the part, but shortly before we were to film, he declined it. And was only reluctantly talked back into doing the role of Mulder.

Czarina_TrustsNo1 asks: Chris…how many cups of coffee do you go through in a week? LoL

chris_carter_live: Far too many. I wish Starbuck was a public company so I could invest in it!

outlaw_torn721 asks: Are you an avid gamer? What Games do you play?

chris_carter_live: I am not. I wish I had time to be. Any chance I have when I see someone else playing a game, I sit down and usually marvel at the thought, artistry and ingenuity that goes into the games. And I love the music to Zelda.

lauracap_2000 asks: Will there be mythology and stand-alone type Harsh Realm episodes?

chris_carter_live: Yes, the plan is to create a mythology that is the backbone of the show. But that there will be stand alone episodes that create the bulk of the stories that make up the season.

xphreak42 asks: Do you feel that making TV shows is harder than making movies?

chris_carter_live: Making movies is a very difficult, tedious and time consuming process. Dedicated to putting roughly 120 minutes of film on the screen. A television season which takes roughly the same amount of time as it does to make a movie, the same amount of energy goes into putting 22 hours of programming on the screen. The difficulties are in maintaining your stamina and each week re-inventing and revitalizing the original movie that began the TV series.

kbillick asks: How long do you work on an idea before it finds its way to being a full blown project? (on the average)

chris_carter_live: Sometimes it’s right at the deadline of the amount of time, maybe a week before the script is written and two weeks before it is filmed. But generally we have something in the works for several months before it is developed into a shootable script.

Wanderer2298 asks: When is the tentative start date for the production of the next movie and about how long do you think it will take to make the movie judging on the time it took for the production of the last one

chris_carter_live: It’s a question that I can’t answer right now. I just hope that we have twice as much prep as we had last time, but I can’t tell you when the movie will be made or when it will be in the theaters.

ZombCat asks: Are there plans to introduce Frank Black to Mulder and Scully? Is Millennium dead as a series or otherwise?

chris_carter_live: Frank Black will appear in the X Files this season in a very special episode. Is Millennium dead? Not if you live on the Internet. Someone is actually creating 22 stories this season that are I guess going to be the 4th season of Millennium.

weyoun2k asks: Mr. Carter, there are quite a few fans of Millennium still out there on the web. Have you heard anything about our virtual fourth season?

chris_carter_live: I haven’t checked it out. But I’m very curious to see how the characters are treated and in what direction the fans take the show so that I can nitpick them!

lmsmlucy asks: Do you ever read what other people write about you or the X-Files on the internet? If so what was the most interesting or funny thing that you read?

chris_carter_live: I am not a cross dresser!

yowsah1 asks: Have you ever considered spinning off the Lone Gunmen into their own, perhaps comedically themed, series?

chris_carter_live: We considered it. And are continuing to consider it seriously.

josechungfan asks: When Gillian left for maternity leave, why did you write in Scully being abducted instead of just at her mother’s? Would the abduction arc even exists if Gillian hadn’t needed a few days off?

chris_carter_live: As soon as we learned Gillian was pregnant we anticipated her departure and her inability to work for some time. So the abduction came from the fact of her pregnancy, but we never anticipated exactly how it would play such an important part in the mythology.

Dyslexic_Scana_Dully asks: Many X-Files fans may argue that the move to LA has affected the show… Do you agree, and if you do, In what ways has it affected the show? Good, bad, or not at all?

chris_carter_live: I don’t believe it’s effected it in any negative way. The show still looks terrific I think. We have different resources in Los Angeles. So we are working with new locations and geography which is a good thing. The only thing missing is all that free atmosphere.

OlenskaL asks: Good evening, Mr. Carter. My Q. is: Do you think that the current trend of “horror” films can be derived from the XF’s popularity?

chris_carter_live: Well horror and science fiction came long before the X Files. But I think that the quality of the X Files has at least for television raised the bar for both of those genres.

jack25522552 asks: From a writer’s stand point what is the toughest thing about developing a character?

chris_carter_live: The toughest thing is always coming up with someone who is original but not in a way that is unfamiliar.

catcher79 asks: Why did you have to kill off Pendrell?!!!! (As you can tell, I am an avid Pendrell fan.) Do you think we could be seeing Brendan Beiser any time on Harsh Realm? (crossing fingers hopefully)

chris_carter_live: Yes, he will be on Harsh Realm. I am flattered.

choochoochild asks: How do you keep track of it all?? It drives me crazy just thinking about it!!

chris_carter_live: It drives us crazy too!

felkor_2000 asks: How did you come across Mark Snow? His music adds so much atmosphere to both “Harsh Realm” and “The X-Files”!

chris_carter_live: Mark Snow was introduced to me by Bob Goodwin who was the executive producer on X Files through its first five seasons. I thought Mark had a very good take on what I wanted, and was open to what I wanted. And then added things that I didn’t know I wanted.

ns_literski asks: Why were the bee-domes at the end of the movie dropped in the series? Will that aspect of the story reappear?

chris_carter_live: Possibly, but I think people are tired of bees now.

leinad_ca asks: Last Seasons X-files finale: Was the scene of Scully walking down the hospital hall (to Albert Hostiens room) shot on video? If not, why does it look different?

chris_carter_live: I believe that scene was a surveillance scene, and if that’s the one you are talking about, it would have been on video.

sat964 asks: Did you expect viewers to hate Diana so much?

chris_carter_live: We hoped that they would. Which is unfortunate because we like Mimi Rogers so much.

oddra67 asks: Is there any truth to the rumor that George Clooney is going to appear in an XFiles Ep?

chris_carter_live: That’s an obscure rumor. I haven’t even heard it!

gmautz59 asks: Chris, were you influenced by David Lynch’s tv series Twin Peaks, and if so did you like David Duchovny’s small role as an FBI agent in episodes that he was in

chris_carter_live: I loved Twin Peaks, but like most people, those first eight episodes were the most important to me. And I get nervous seeing David in a dress.

UberKate1013 asks: Has the real FBI been receptive to the show (XF) or are they indifferent?

chris_carter_live: They are unofficially fans. And they think that the X Files has been very good promotionally for the FBI.

cathleenr13 asks: Do you plan to explain the mysterious hold Krycek has on Skinner?

chris_carter_live: Yes. It’s been somewhat explained, but there is more to come.

prometheus8 asks: It seems that acknowledging the existence of aliens has limited where the X-files can go. Can you comment?

chris_carter_live: Now what we have to determine through the characters and the show is what the aliens are up to and when they might be up to it. Actually it’s just a natural evolution of that story line.

ciila asks: Did you see the Blair Witch Project? What’s your opinion about it?

chris_carter_live: I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately. But I have many opinions.

tigger324 asks: what happens if someone dies in the real world, do they also perish in Harsh Realm?

chris_carter_live: If you die in the real world your character is alive in Harsh Realm but can never assume your consciousness.

outlaw_torn721 asks: What software do you use for the special effects in harsh realm?

chris_carter_live: I have no idea. It is done under the very capable authority of Mat Beck. Who does his work away from our main offices here. And keeps his trade secrets to himself.

rishi81_1999 asks: why have u limited yourself to America in Harsh Realm?

chris_carter_live: It’s only the first season. But we plan to do Harsh Realm downunder for season three.

OlenskaL asks: Is there a subject you haven’t treated yet on an episode that you’d like to explore?

Yahoomc: Assuming that’s an X-Files question

chris_carter_live: I’m assuming that is an X Files question. The show really could go on indefinitely. There are so many stories left to tell. But we have certainly mined all the obvious subjects, and robbed all the obvious banks.

orville_third asks: My first question is: What books have influenced your work on the X-Files? (Robert Anton Wilson’s for example.)

chris_carter_live: Definitely Robert Anton Wilson. Colin Wilson for that matter. But the number of books is too great to list. But many of them are science books rather than science fiction. That Ann Simon, the science researcher on the X Files, has just written a book called The Science of the X Files. In bookstores. And I think it is a terrific addition to the show.

Agent_DesiLu asks: Do you ever read Fan Fiction?

chris_carter_live: I have read fan fiction but I don’t regularly. I’ve never lifted an idea from the internet, but my favorite tend to be the more lurid subjects. Or I should say the more lurid tales.

lemon_head_2000 asks: How far ahead did you plan the story arc of the X-Files?

chris_carter_live: If you look at the first two episodes, the pilot episode and Deep Throat, and then look at the Erlenmeyer Flask, you really see the basis of the larger mythology.

brendan2003 asks: PLEASE! I NEED SPOLIERS!!! Can you give any?

chris_carter_live: Mulder and Scully have a very nice New Year’s Eve.

hyperscly asks: Are you in LA or in Vancouver right now doing this live chat? Or are you in some obscure place being held hostage by the gods of Yahoo forcing you to answer questions from rabid fans that you don’t know. . .

chris_carter_live: Stark naked.

Outryder asks: Is there any particular ration you try to achieve between continuing conspiracy shows and non-related investigation shows for the x-files?

chris_carter_live: There is a balance, but it is the non-related shows that outnumber the mythology shows three to one.

Ottid123 asks: In the X-Files: Are there any secrets you wish you hadn’t told to the audience yet?

chris_carter_live: No, we’re very happy with how little we’ve told them, even though in some cases they think we’ve told them more than we should.

Yahoomc: Getting back to Harsh Realm…

T_E_L_E_C_A_S_T asks: pleese answer if it is OK for a 5th grade person to watch your new show. My mom knows you and won’t let me watch unless you say it is OK. can I watch it tonight?

chris_carter_live: Tell your mom it’s a free country. To leave the room and give you the remote control.

cainer_14 asks: Are you a fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer? For a suggestion, maybe a crossover episode?!

chris_carter_live: I’ve watched Buffy, but I’m too busy to be a fan. I have never even considered a crossover. Nor do I think they’ve considered a crossover either.

pohlner asks: Are you into Star Wars? Have you ever talked with George Lucas?

chris_carter_live: I am into Star Wars but I’ve never had the pleasure of talking to George Lucas.

renyuan_wong asks: What is the biggest challenge that you face in making the X-files

chris_carter_live: Keeping it fresh and new each week. Through the talents of unrelenting competitiveness of the writing staff.

Ultimus_Terra_Maximus asks: What happens if a living person dies in Harsh Realm? Do they go back to the Real World just as they were?

chris_carter_live: No. Your brain is destroyed and you are left comatose in the real world.

Dawn_311 asks: Are all the episodes of Harsh Realm filmed already? Or do you continue to film throughout the season?

chris_carter_live: We are only finishing right now episode three. So we are right smack up against our deadlines and air dates.

nyctos asks: Do you find any parallels between the Prisoner and Harsh Realm?

chris_carter_live: Yes, I think there are parallels. But I think this show benefits from the use of a technology which has now become familiar to everyone who owns a computer.

britney_duchovny asks: Do you think all the UFO and extraterrestrial stuff is real? Or are you a none -beleiver?

chris_carter_live: I’m a skeptic.

crysteen20 asks: You have such a creative mind, how do you sleep at night?

chris_carter_live: I don’t.

wooly1960 asks: Some people have compared you to the late Rod Sterling…Do you agree with that comparison?

chris_carter_live: I have no idea. He and I both created shows about the unknown. But he distinguished himself beyond that show with works like Requiem for a Heavyweight. So I have a long way to go to ever be compared.

Angel_Babe254 asks: everyone in this room thinks Scully should kill Diana

chris_carter_live: So much for limiting violence on TV!

jazzmynp asks: What’s the scariest thing is in your fridge?

chris_carter_live: The emptiness.

felkor_2000 asks: Have you ever been told you had to “tone down” an episode because it was too graphic?

chris_carter_live: Every week.

outlaw_torn721 asks: Are their aliens in Harsh realm?

chris_carter_live: There may be.

lauraanddan asks: Has there been, or will there be an X-files on bigfoot?

chris_carter_live: Big Foot was referenced but there has never been an actual Bigfoot episode.

carneo asks: do you got plans to make cartoons?

chris_carter_live: We’ve considered it and talked about it, but we have no plans. But I think a Saturday morning X Files cartoon would be fun.

chris_carter_live: Thanks for indulging me and watch Harsh Realm!

Yahoomc: Thanks for joining us Chris!