Sep-18-2000
Entertainment Tonight Online
Chat with Chris Carter

EatTheCorn note: article is a selection of the Jul-20-2000 TCA conference

“I’ve had a lot of high school friends call me and thank me for making them dead people.” — Chris Carter

X-Philers who were left out in orbit by the alien abduction of Mulder and the news of Scully’s pregnancy can check in here for the second part of a chat with Chris Carter, who came down to earth long enough to give ET Online the 411 on Season Eight.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Have you started writing the script for the next movie?

CHRIS CARTER: No.

ET: I thought, from previous things you had said, that it was actually pretty far developed, at least in your mind.

CHRIS: It’s really just a matter of time and timing. I really have to find the time to do it, and then find the right timing because we don’t know where the series is. I’m not looking forward to doing another movie during the series, certainly with Mulder and Scully on the show. That was very hard to do, and sometimes I still can’t believe that we did it.

ET: Can you tell us more about the new character that will be played by Robert Patrick — Agent Doggett? Does Doggett now, by default, become the skeptic?

CHRIS: Unlike Scully, who really had science and an argument, Doggett comes at it as a kind of a knee-jerk skeptic. He’s a person who is doubting by nature, and he really is one of these people who needs to see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, feel it, in order to believe it, and that’s going to be the character. As simple as that sounds, hopefully, we can make him a nice, complex character.

ET: Then is Scully going to end up sounding like Mulder?

CHRIS: No. I’ve already written two episodes, and it feels right. And of course, this was a giant consideration. You don’t want all of a sudden to have characters that are untrue to themselves. If Scully starts sounding like Mulder, I think the show is going to be bad. She’s a reluctant believer. She is a person who is a scientist first, and a believer second. This new character was a cop, and he believes, coming in, that everything can be solved if you just employ very good police technique.

ET: If Doggett and Scully will become partners, where does that leave Mulder when he’s back on the show?

CHRIS: They are not partners. He is being integrated into the show in a way that he is, in fact, not partnered with her. So when Mulder comes back to the show that will be the interesting dynamic. How does it work between them? I don’t know that it’ll be competitive. In fact, it might be a symbiotic relationship. These are things we have to explore and, certainly, we look forward to exploring Scully and Doggett through the first half of the season.

ET: Given all that Scully’s been through, wouldn’t it make a certain kind of sense for her to really believe in a lot of this? And does it seem kind of weird that she’s still resisting believing, given all that she’s been through and all that she’s seen?

CHRIS: Yeah, that was always the trick. But, as I say, she’s a scientist. In her heart, she’s a scientist and she has to come at things scientifically as any smart person would do in this case. Even Mulder considered science when making his giant leaps. So I see what you’re saying, but I think that it makes the character interesting. She’s torn. And she’s always been torn.

CHRIS: The great thing about Scully was that she wears a cross around her neck. She has a religious bent. She has beliefs and those beliefs were always in conflict with her science. So she has been a character who has been torn both in her belief and in her personal approach to life.

ET: Chris, in the past, you’ve given us the inside story on how Mulder and Scully were named. How did you come up with the name “Doggett”?

CHRIS: The name Scully is actually an homage to (baseball announcer) Vin Scully. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to name this new character, and I had lots of interesting names. I really go back to my childhood for a lot of my names. I’ve had a lot of high school friends call me and thank me for making them dead people on “The X-Files.” So, I actually went back and I thought about people I’d grown up with and names that I’d liked, and people that I’d admired and people I wondered where they were today.

CHRIS: And then all of the sudden it dawned on me that I was looking for a good, solid, working- class name, and the name Doggett came to me because every evening, for a great part of the year, I would listen to the Dodgers with my mom. Jerry Doggett was always Vin Scully’s co-host on the Dodgers. At first, I thought it might be too cute and clever, but I liked the name. I think it fits, and now we have it.

ET: Do you feel that in good conscience you owe it to people to wrap the series up?

CHRIS: There are certain things, like with Mulder’s sister, that I think need to be wrapped, and we did wrap up, although we can still investigate that, to an extent. We do, actually, next season. So, I think that you need to reward audience expectation in that way. You can’t leave people hanging. I would never want to leave people irritated, if they’ve taken the journey, that there wasn’t some satisfaction at the end. But “The X-Files” always leaves as many questions as answers, so I think that’s probably what I would say we would end up with.

ET: Are there any characters that you regretted killing off this year?

CHRIS: You know, I always regret having to kill characters off because it makes for a very uncomfortable phone call for me to the actors. But, no. It’s part of a series. If everybody lives, there is no threat to any character at any time.

ET: Is it your intention to have Scully deliver this season?

CHRIS: Let me see. I haven’t thought about it yet. So, maybe not.

ET: Can I ask a more fundamental question? This being “The X-Files,” can we really assume that Scully is pregnant? [laughter]

CHRIS: I would never assume anything on “The X-Files” and anything can happen. But I’ll tell you. I think it would be a big cheat if it was a false-positive or a phony pregnancy after all this time. It would be like bringing back a dead character.

ET: Will David Duchovny be writing or directing any episodes this season?

CHRIS: He ran a couple of story ideas past me, but he hasn’t figured out how to do one without Mulder in it yet. So I think when he comes to me with a story like that, I wouldn’t rule out anything.

ET: There is only one alien presence, right?

CHRIS: In the literature, if you will, there are different races of aliens, and so this is something we’re going to play with this year.

ET: Chris, do you know what your arc is for this whole season and how you want what could be the very final episode to go? Or are you really going to wait and see what happens with contracts and everything else before you decide how to end this?

CHRIS: Unfortunately, I have to say, it’s the latter. I really have to be mindful of what resources I have available to me. And as the TV series leads to, hopefully, another movie, I want to be mindful of that, too. I want those things to work together. So as the season progresses, I’ll have a better idea of where we stand. But it really won’t affect the storytelling all that much, it just may affect the tone or degree of something.

Aug-12-2000
San Diego Union-Tribune
Borrego Springs lands TV favorite
Kristen Green

At 110 and little shade, heat is on for filming of 8th season’s opener

BORREGO SPRINGS — If the popular television show “The X-Files” isn’t getting hotter in its eighth season, certainly its cast and crew are.

The science fiction show’s season premiere is being filmed in Borrego Springs, where temperatures have soared to 110 degrees this week. A cast and crew of about 125 descended on the small desert community last weekend, arriving on buses. About 100 others will replace them next week.

Despite the steamy weather, the crew hasn’t complained that it’s filming in one of the hottest spots in the nation, said Ilt Jones, who scouted the location for the Fox TV network.

“There used to be a time when people said, ‘What the hell are you bringing us here for?,’ ” said Jones, the show’s location manager. “But anything’s possible on ‘The X-Files.’ That’s the beauty of the show.”

At least one crew member, however, didn’t find working in nature’s blast furnace the least bit beautiful. He quipped with the location team: “Could you have possibly picked a hotter spot?”

Other crew members, heads covered in straw hats and noses coated in purple sun block, stood in front of huge fans that sprayed a constant mist of water. They made frequent trips to a tent filled with coolers full of icy drinks, including bottled water delivered on a refrigerated truck.

Harry Bring, one of the show’s producers, said he’s accustomed to filming under extreme conditions. Once, while he was a producer for “Melrose Place,” he filmed a water-skiing scene in sleet and snow, he said.

And, while most of the crew of “The X-Files” seem to be indifferent to spending a couple of weeks in the desert, the Borrego Springs community — whose population drops to about 3,000 in the summer — is thrilled about the presence of the Hollywood visitors.

“The whole town’s talking about it,” said Scott Tynan, a grocery store owner who is supplying food for Fox’s caterers.

Fox producers called “kind of out of the blue” about a week ago to ask whether they could film in three locations in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, including the park headquarters, said Park Ranger Fred Jee. They also are filming in the Split Mountain and Font’s Point areas.

During a time of year when many Borrego Springs hotel rooms would be vacant, most resorts are booked solid for the next couple of weeks.

“Absolutely nothing is available,” said Shane McClung of La Casa del Zorro Desert Resort.

Some restaurant owners are changing their hours daily to accommodate the crew’s schedule. Kathy King, who runs a coffee shop and bookstore, offered to open at 3 a.m. to make lattes for the crew members as they were getting off work.

“August is the worst month in the world down here,” King said. “We will do anything we can to make a buck.”

This is the first time “The X-Files” has filmed in San Diego County, but Borrego Springs will portray a fictitious Arizona town called Flemington. And the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park headquarters has been converted into a school for deaf children.

Producers are keeping the plot under wraps, but David Duchovny’s character, Fox Mulder, will make an appearance on the two-part premiere, Bring said. Mulder was abducted by aliens in last season’s finale.

Duchovny will arrive in Borrego Springs next week, and writer Chris Carter has said Duchovny will return for 11 of the season’s 20 episodes.

Gillian Anderson, who plays Dana Scully, has been in town all week. On Wednesday, she celebrated a birthday with a vanilla and chocolate marble cake made by King’s bakery.

Robert Patrick, known for his role as the T-1000 in “Terminator 2,” also has been in Borrego Springs this week. His character, FBI Agent John Doggett, will be introduced in the premiere.

The first episode of the new season is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Nov. 5. The conclusion of the two-parter will run Nov. 12.

By then, Borrego Springs residents will be relaxing in 80-degree temperatures.

Aug-01-2000
Mania
X-FILES: The Cigarette Smoking Man Speaks!
Jason Henderson

[Original article here]

Actor William B. Davis insists he’s the real hero of the show–and he can prove it (sort of).

William B. Davis is making an argument, laying out his analysis. He’s comparing his own character on Fox’ The X-Files, the minimally-named Cigarette Smoking Man (or ‘CSM,’) to David Duchovny’s hero, Fox Mulder. ‘Let’s start with outcomes,’ he says, hands thrust in suit pockets, smiling wryly. His hair is lighter than we are accustomed to seeing it, light gray as his character appeared before tumbling down a flight of stairs. ‘Let’s suppose Mulder gets what he wants. Let’s suppose he finds the truth. What do you think he’ll do with it? Does Mulder strike you as a thoughtful, responsible man who will disseminate this information delicately? No. I think he’ll go on Larry King live. And then what? We’ll have panic. All those things in Independence Day with everyone rushing from the city, widespread chaos.

‘Now, CSM wants to cover the truth up. Let’s suppose he does cover it up: what will happen?’ Davis shrugs to make his point. ‘Nothing! You won’t know. Things will go on just as they are.’

Davis, speaking and answering questions at the Hollywood Expo and Toy Fair in Dallas, Texas, is making as convincing an argument as he can muster that Cigarette Smoking Man, and not Mulder, is in fact the true hero of The X-Files. His argument continues down through a host of virtues: ‘Personal sacrifice?’ Mulder ‘already has the job he wants,’ while ‘CSM makes great sacrifices,’ in that he is forced to kill almost everyone he’s close to. ‘Aptitude for love?’ It’s CSM who saved both Dana Scully and Mrs. Mulder. Finally Davis gets personal. ‘I hesitate to mention this, but it must be faced. I think Mulder is a virgin.’ The audience howls. Whereas CSM could be anyone’s father.

Davis is kidding, of coursesort of. The rant Davis delivers is all a way of ‘getting behind the character, to understand what he believes.’ And it’s a gentle rant, because Davis comes across as a gentleman, sharing his observations with a casual glee. He started the Argument as his own method of researching the part of Cigarette Smoking Man, who has been a recurring character on X-Files since the very first episode, appearing to die in at least two season’s end cliff-hangers.

‘My own experience has been poor in researching for parts… I find myself as an actor copying the manners of that person, and the result is kind of stiff. I prefer to imagine that it’s me in these imaginative circumstances. That’s why I wrote the piece.’

Early on in the series, ‘getting behind’ the character extended to the props that gave the Cigarette Smoking Man his name: his cigarettes. These days on the show, Davis explains, ‘I smoke herbal cigarettes. They are awful, but they’re not addictive.’ But that took a decision. ‘I used to be a smoker. I used to smoke a lot. And when they offered me the part they offered me the real cigarettes and the herbal cigarettes. And I said ‘Ha! I’m an actor; gimme the real cigarettes.’ So for the first episode, I actually smoked real cigarettes. And the next episode, I smoked real cigarettes. And then I found myself sitting at home thinking, ‘Boy, I sure wish they’d call me for another episode.’ That’s when I figured I’d better go with those herbal cigarettes.’

Davis, 62, is free with his thoughts about his character and the show, coming across as a pleasant, easy-going journeyman actor who’s landed in a plum role that’s turned into much more than it appeared to be in the beginning. ‘Nobody ever said anything to me, in the early years, about whether the part would last.’ When the first casting notices came in for the pilot, Davis says, ‘It was a show going on in Vancouver, a pilot on the paranormal’he smiles’and a show on the paranormal is obviously not gonna get picked up. I auditioned for the senior FBI agent, who had three lines. I didn’t get it; I got the part with no lines.’ If you watch the X-FILES pilot, there he is, smoking those real cigarettes in the background. ‘My friend Ken Cameron got the part with three lines. We’ve laughed about that a lot since. I’ve laughed more than Ken.’

The character is mysterious enough that even his reported past might be a complete fabrication. At least, that’s Davis’ understanding of ‘Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man,’ in which we watch CSM grow through his role as an agent in charge of apparently every dastardly American deed in the latter half of the 20th century. According to that episodea sort-of-flashback tale told by Lone Gunman Frohike (Tom Braidwood)CSM even killed JFK. ‘I didn’t have to ask whether it was real, because I wasn’t playing Frohike. I didn’t find that idea odd because these guys have their noses in everything. But I don’t think the writers fully intended that the way we would ultimately take it. That was Frohike’s conception of the story of CSM. That was a very strange story. In retrospect, I like it better than I did. It was whimsical, fanciful, and yet kept asking real questions. ‘Oh, you shot Kennedy!’ No, no, no. Frohike says I did.’ This interpretation is buttressed by the title change instigated by series creator Chris Carter; Glen Morgan and James Wong, the men behind the episode, had wanted to call it ‘Memoirs of a Cigarette-Smoking Man,’ which would have implied more strongly that the events were real.

In applying his own personality to the role, Davis has tried to stretch the boundaries of the X-FILES’ gloomy feel, with mixed success. For instance, Davis is a competitive water skier, a sport the mind boggles to imagine CSM enjoying. ‘When Chris found out I was a competitive water skier, he said, ‘This would be terrific! We gotta get this into an episode.’ I’d been thinking about this for quite a while. And then the talk sort of petered out. I asked Chris, ‘What’s happened with the water skiing?’ and the other writers wouldn’t let him do it!’

So he tried again, when working on the one episode so far to bear Davis’ name as a writer, ‘En Ami,’ in which CSM tries to seduce Scully to his side in order to get information from her. ‘In one version of my scriptand I really did think it would workwe start one act driving in the car. Scully is laughing to find out I can water ski, and she says, ‘You’re kidding! What do you do with your cigarette?’ She says she never could ski, and I say, ‘Maybe you need a good coach.’ We’re driving in the desert. I say, ‘Would you like to learn?’ She says, ‘I don’t see any water anywhere.’ Next scene, we’re still in the desert, actually driving into a water ski park in the desert; we get her into water ski clothes, and I teach her.’

Davis shakes his head. ‘They didn’t let me do that.’

Writing the episode ‘En Ami’ presented new challenges in which Davis got to see the inner workings of the X-FILES story process. ‘The original idea,’ Davis reports, was from Shakespeare’s Richard III. There’s a scene early in the play where Richard comes across Lady Anne, who is mourning her father. And she’s also still in mourning for her husband, and both of these two men were killed by Richard. And Richard comes to her and finds her on the street. He needs her to move up to get closer to the throne. At first she’s furious to see him; she hates him, and within fifteen or twenty minutes he’s charmed the pants off her and has her virtually agreeing to marry him. So that was kind of my idea, bearing in mind that Scully would be a considerably tougher nut to crack.

‘So the original idea I pitched would have Mulder in a terrible accident, and he seems to have been killed. CSM comes to Scully in a funeral parlor and says, ‘Yes, I killed him. But I did it for love of you.’ And it goes from there. And he tries to win her over to his side. It turned out that it was all a setup, a test to see about Scully’s loyalty to Mulder. It got a little crazy. It turned out all in the end to be Scully’s bad dream. But they didn’t want to do it that way because we’d done too many dreams, and we’d done too many false deaths. So we set out to do it more realCSM really trying to win over her affection for his own purposes.’

Originally ‘En Ami’ would have fit into the early part of the past season, when Agent Fox Mulder ‘was still in his brain-fried state, which would have worked rather well,’ he says. ‘Then they decided to put it later. And the process is: there’s the idea with some guts to it, and then there’s the script conference, which I thought went on interminably, for three days, with the scenes on a board on cards. But the staff writers said, after we’d done it and finished it in three days, ‘You’re done already? That must be record time!’ So obviously it often lasts longer, thrashing out what actually is going to happen from scene to scene in the show. Then you go from the boards to the script. In my case we already had one script I wrote,’ which may have moved the process along.

Season 7 of THE X-FILES ended less than fortuitously for Davis’ character, who already looked like death warmed over before being tossed down a flight of stairs. Fans were a little shocked by the rapid decline in health of the once-robust smoker. But Davis says it wasn’t as immediate as it appeared to some.

‘In truth,’ Davis explains, ‘CSM was been getting worse through the season. I don’t know that this is clear to everybody, but in Episode Two [of Season 7], ‘Amor Fati,’ what was going on was I was getting a transfer of brain DNA from Mulder to me, because Mulder has the immunity from the alien holocaust. And if I make this transfer, I’ll get it also. So in the interest of being able to survive I do the transplant.’ Davis has a surprising theory about why it didn’t work. ‘Now, although they haven’t said this, my assumption is that the mistake I made was thinking he was my sonbecause if he was, the DNA would match, and I would absorb the immunity. If he wasn’t, the DNA would not match and my body would degenerate. That’s only my theory. They may still think I’m his father.’ He grows conspiratorial. ‘But it’s funny: they haven’t mentioned it since. So I started to get sick.

‘First episode you see me in after that, I show up in Scully’s apartment and she says, ‘You look ill.’ And I say ‘I am.’ And in ‘En Ami’ I look more sick, and I say I’m dying. But I would have said that anywayin the original version, I tell her I’m dying and it’s a lie, just to get her. After that, in just a few weeks, it was a very sudden decline,’ Davis says, referring to his final appearance as a wheelchair bound, tracheotomized, dying CSM. ‘But the reason they did that I think was, they didn’t know if that was the last episode.’ Meaning the last episode everlast-minute negotiations between the show’s producers and David Duchovny kept the X-FILES in virtual limbo before Duchovny finally signed a unique, light-load deal. ‘But it did seem to me a rather serious decline. I hope that Brian Thompson, the actor who plays the alien bounty hunter comes alonghe’s my only hope, I think.’

Davis ponders the roller coaster that has been the X-FILES. ‘It’s settled down now. It’s certainly not the phenomenon it was. I mean, X-FILES certainly struck a nerve that I don’t think anyone knew it would, including Chris. It hit a particular nerve of the ’90s, as people turned to new kinds of information, the Internet, pixels on screen rather than in print. And it became a very unique phenomenon. I think creating a show that captures the imagination is challengingI think the mistake they made in Harsh Realm [Chris Carter’s third, abortive, attempt at a series] was that there wasn’t anybody we really liked. We like Mulder and Scully; we get involved in their quest.’

Will it go on? X-FILES will be back, but right now, Davis isn’t sure whether CSM will go on. ‘This series is having a hard time finishing! It was going to be ended at Season 5, and now it’s going to be 8, and I heard something about 9 and 10!’ He registers disbelief. His character’s ‘death’ was shot just so there remained the slightest possibility he could survive. ‘But I don’t know if I’m in the next season. They know the character’s popular, but if there’s a new story arcwell, I’m tied to Mulder’s story. I keep trying to show them ways they could use the character, not necessarily as part of that arc but just as a story.’

Davis continues, ‘The other reason I don’t know is we didn’t know there was even going to be a new season until the very end of this one, and when the end came we all went off on holiday. Now they’re just getting back and figuring it all out.’

But it was always thus. ‘They tend to be very last-minute [at the X-FILES.] They’ll call me and say, ‘Hey! We need you next week!” Davis ponders the future, but he says he ‘has always sort of taken what came along next. When I was in college and then a young director, I told myself, ‘You need to make a decision about your future.” He shakes his head again. ‘I still haven’t made that decision.’

Aug-??-2000
Cinescape

[typed by Athena Xphile]

“For seven years Chris had an end to the story in mind and he just couldn’t tell that story as it turned out,” reveals X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz. “We played it out differently than he ever imagined we would.”

After seven years of aliens, conspiracies, black oil, abductions and delayed sexual gratification, the truth is as elusive as ever on The X-Files, even for the show’s creator. With the series’ future up in the air for most of last season, Chris Carter scrapped his long-planned X grand finale in favor of a season ender featuring FBI agent Fox Mulder getting beamed up by a UFO while his partner Dana Scully sat in a hospital bed pondering her surprise pregnancy.

“For seven years Chris had an end to the story in mind and he just couldn’t tell that story as it turned out,” reveals X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz. “We played it out differently than he ever imagined we would.”

But when an 11th-hour deal renewed the series for an eighth season, with David Duchovny agreeing to return as Mulder in up to 11 of 20 episodes, Carter and company had to go back to the drawing board. To help compensate for Duchovny’s dwindling role, ‘Terminator 2′ co-star Robert Patrick was hired to play Scully’s new sidekick, FBI agent John Doggett. (X-Phile trivia alert: Carter, who named Dana Scully after legendary L.A. Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, gave the new character the same surname as longtime Dodgers co-commentator Jerry Doggett.) In an intriguing switcheroo of the series’ original concept, Special Agent Doggett is a by-the-book former cop skeptical of Scully’s paranormal investigations.

“We don’t look at him as a replacement for Mulder, he’s really an addition to the cast,” Spotnitz explains. “He’s a former police officer, a sort of blue-collar guy who has risen up the ranks to become a highly regarded FBI agent. And so his skepticism is more through the lens of a great investigator, someone who understands human psychology and behavior. It’s much more of a criminal approach to the X-Files than a scientific one. It changes the whole dynamic of the show.”

Patrick is slated to appear in every episode of the upcoming season and will get third billing in the show’s opening credits behind Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. But Spotnitz is quick to point out that despite Mulder’s abduction, Duchovny isn’t about to disappear. “I think you’re likely to see more of Mulder toward the end of the year than the beginning of the year,” he says. “He’ll never be completely absent from the show. That’s not to say he’s going to be in every episode, because he’s not going to be in quite a few, but his presence will be there even when Mulder is not.”

As for other season eight secrets, Spotnitz in typical X-Files style, would rather keep the details murky. When asked about Scully’s apparent immaculate conception in the season seven finale “Requiem,” he remains cagey: “All I can say is that we’ve got an answer in mind. But the truth is that we still don’t know if this is the last year of the show.”

So could the X-Files actually come back for season IX? “I don’t know,” Spotnitz admits. “We want to be prepared for the decision in our heart but we don’t want to make any final decisions until we know the cards we’re playing with.”

Jul-20/21-2000

San Diego ComicCon transcript

[typed by marita1121]

First, the whole experience. So cool! I was so excited! My friend and I wandered around the ComicCon ’til it was time for CC, and I met some artists from The Simpsons, and got some Princess Mononoke posters, and it was pretty neat.

Then CC! We managed to get seats about three rows back on the left side, which were actually really really good, because CC was standing at a podium on the left side of the stage, and I had a very clear view of him, and we were quite close. They started off showing a montage of clips from TXF, including some outtakes (basically GA laughing and being unable to deliver her lines; I recognized some from the gagreels), and then some very brief clips of the Lone Gunmen show. I taped this, but didn’t transcribe it because it’s mostly creepy music and GA laughing. You didn’t get much from TLG clips, but as I recall we saw Frohike rolling around in mud, which was kinda erotic, in a sense. ;-D

Then CC came on stage. Like Spooky’s Toy said, he was wearing a white t-shirt and grey pants (jeans maybe). My general impressions of him were that he was very sincere. True he was somewhat distant and guarded when it came to plot specifics, but he seemed very nice and very appreciative of us, his fans.

Afterwards he signed these cards that were passed around (not everyone got a card, and that’s the only thing he’d sign), but I had to leave right after the session, so I gave my card away to some kids who were begging for them. I had brought along my Pilot script to be signed, but I guess that wouldn’t have worked out. Still, my life is that much closer to being complete. ;-D

Guy: Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please welcome Chris Carter!

[cheers from crowd]

CC: Thank you very much. I don’t even know what to say. I hope you liked that little Lone Gunmen preview. We had a lot of fun making the show. We’re starting to work on it now, we’ll be filming it in October, and I think you guys’ll see it in March. I’ve never been to Comic-con, I’ve heard a lot about it, and I’m hardly a replacement for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lady in crowd: You’re better!

CC: I was setting you up. Um, but I’m going to open the floor to questions. I know people have a lot of questions, and I’d rather hear what you want to hear than what I want to tell you. Anyone?

Shout from crowd1: What’s going to happen to Mulder?

CC: What’s going to happen to Mulder?

Shout from crowd2: I heard he has a replacement.

CC: He’s looking for a place to invest his money right now. [laughter] He’s coming back. Actually he’s in the season opener, believe it or not. And he’s going to be in a lesser number of episodes this year, but we’re going to make it really interesting. It was actually something..it was a happy accident. I had to write the season finale — which is called “Requiem” — I had to write it without knowing whether or not we’d be back. So it actually set up an interesting problem for me in cutting that [something I can’t understand] in doing an eight year, that has actually worked with David’s availability this year. But, as some of you may know we announced an addition to the cast, yesterday actually, I think was yesterday, the day before yesterday, that’s Robert Patrick, who you guys know [cheers] as, among other things, I’m sure you all know him as the terminator guy. So he’s going to come into the show, and he’s not going to be Scully’s partner, but he’s going to be playing an important part. Of course Agent Scully over the seven years has seen a tremendous number of things that have eroded her skepticism and even though she’s still a scientist she’s a reluctant believer because to find Mulder now she has to accept the fact that he may have been abducted, so it leads us into, I think, a new era of The X-Files and I’m really excited about that. Next question?

Shout from the crowd3: Are there plans for another movie?

CC: Yes, there are plans. [cheers]

SfC3: Is there a script?

CC: No, the plans are all in my head. [laughter] Actually, I had a lot of time to think about it. It took me three hours to drive here, so I was working on the movie during the traffic jam in Oceanside today. [laughter]

SftC4: O-side!

CC: Anyway, next question?

SftC Are we going to see Mrs. Scully next season?

CC: Are you going to see Mrs. Scully, that’s an interesting question. Yes, you will see Mrs. Scully next season. She didn’t appear at all in the seventh season, which was not by choice, it just kind of the way it worked out. So I think now that Scully’s alone that she will go to her mother, certainly for comfort, if not dinner. [laughter, cheers]

[Brian Thompson walks up onto the other side of the stage with a microphone. He looks a lot hotter than as ABH. yee-ha]

Brian Thompson: Uh, Mr. Carter, my name’s Brian Thompson, I live in Los Angeles. I play the Bounty Hunter on the X-Files. It’s the television show you wrote about seven years ago, and, uh, I was in the last episode. Did you see that? I got in this space ship, and I was just wondering: what have Mulder and I been doing these last three months?

[laughter]

CC: That’ll be the cable version of the show.

BT: One more question. You know, what’s her name, the girl on the show, she’s pregnant…

CC: Scully.

BT: Oh, right. Everybody at the show says that’s going to be the Bounty Hunter’s baby. [laughter] And, could you confirm that?

CC: It’s actually going to be my baby.

BT: At the very least could you write a scene where I get to make out with her?

CC: I’m corruptible. [cheers] I’m not taking off my shirt. Next question.

[someone asking very softly a question about fansites]

CC: Right. I have an answer. The question was, how do I feel about fan sites that promote the show but aren’t necessarily official, and my feelings are, I’m all for them. I think what happens is Fox gets a little upset when people start to sell things on them or there’s copyright material on them that’s downloadable, I think that’s where the Corporation gets sticky. Me, personally, Chris Carter, I don’t care. [cheers] ‘Nother question.

Guy in crowd: I’ve been looking around for books on your directing techniques, the way you brought about X-Files and your past experience. I haven’t found very many, you know, they’re mostly about, you know, the fandom, you know, “The truth is out there.”

CC: Right.

GiC: Are there sources that can say influences you’ve had, techniques you’ve used to bring the mood about in X-Files, etc., etc.?

CC: I talk a lot about what my influences were and, so, those things, I’ve never spoken about…I’ve resisted speaking about it because I have to pretend I have some, something to say. Now, one of these days I’ll actually get it straight in my head then maybe I might talk about it. Ok, all right, stand up.

[Someone in the crowd saying something too quietly to be picked up on my recorder. She’s talking about newsgroups — not ATXF — and about a HR fanfic list. She asks what CC meant by the line at the end of some HR ep (didn’t catch the title) when someone says to Tom, “The healer thinks you’re the one: she’s right.”]

CC: Um, it’s a good question, I don’t remember. I’ve sort of repressed that experience. [someone shouts something indecipherable from the crowd] Thank you. She’s talking about Harsh Realm, she had some questions about Harsh Realm, a line that was in the end of one of the episodes, latter eight episodes. Um, I don’t remember exactly, I’d have to go back and read the script and think about why that was in there. But I’m certain it had to do with the mythology. And she’s also…and there’s obviously some fan fiction out there related to Harsh Realm, which is actually my, probably my only real connection to the comic book world, which is a very, very, very, very, very thin one. Anyway, next question?

VfC [a very very very faint one that took me a long time to decipher]: Why make Scully pregnant?

CC: Why not?

SfC5: It’s his baby!

CC: I thought it was interesting. I thought as we get into our relationship with Mulder, we’re going to go back and explore that. In the episode “all things” if you guys saw it [cheers]. And I thought it was interesting it complied with former character, too, because she’s a very lonely character, and now she’s even lonelier without Mulder.

Guy sitting next to me: Mr. Carter?

CC: Yes?

GSNtM: Will there be future X-Files conventions with the cast being able to tour with those conventions?

CC: There aren’t any immediate plans to have any more X-Files conventions, with or without the cast. I think it’s just because it was logistically really tough. I never wanted to merchandise the show, but all of a sudden it felt like when we did the movie there was a lot of stuff out there. I thought it was all pretty good because I had a lot of people who worked for me, one person particularly, who make sure the stuff that got out there was good, but, it took just too much time, it was a whole job in its self, so if we did it again I’d want to make sure that our quality control was what it should be.

Voice on the Microphone: Folks, if you have any questions, I’m going to have you come down here, I have a wireless, so if you have any questions come on over.

CC: That’s a good idea.

SfC6: Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? [laughter]

SfC7: What about the boys?

CC: What?

SfC7: The Lone Gunmen!

CC: The Lone Gunmen.

SfC8: Bruce Harwood! Woo!

CC: I bet you Bruce Harwood never thought in his life he’d have women catcalling him. [laughter]

SfC9: He’s a teddy bear!

CC: All right.

Questioner1: Are we going to see anymore Krycek, [cheers] and in particular are we going to see any more Mulder/Krycek interactions? [cheers]

CC: You’ll see more Krycek, he’s coming back. And Mulder/Krycek, I mean, we’ve got to get Mulder back before we get any interactions. Yeah, the mythology lives on, and even though there are certain things that have been resolved, there are things to explore, and as you saw in the season finale, Krycek’s very much alive. So’s Covarrubias, and since Laurie Holden, who plays Marita Covarrubias, sent me a nice letter at the end of the year, I’ll probably give her as much screen time as I possibly can.

Q2: Do you have any plans to bring Frank Black into any more episodes?

[cheers]

CC: I was thinking about that, too. I think I was thinking about that right around Del Mar. Yeah, you know, I love that character and I love working with Lance, so the big treat last year was being able to bring him back and doing it in an episode where Mulder and Scully actually get to consummate their relationship with a kiss, you know, a smooch. That’s pretty good, after seven years, you have to admit for two characters who have had such sexual tension that they finally smack on the lips. It’s the world’s longest foreplay. Anyway, I hope to bring Frank Black back, I came up with an idea on the way here on how to do that. It’s really Lance’s availability. There’s some Millennium fans out there. [cheers] All right.

Q3: Are there plans to increase Skinner’s presence on the series?

CC: I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of letters, that I think this is an orchestrated movement to get Mitch Pileggi on the show more, and the truth is I’d love to do that. I spoke to him yesterday, we’re trying to figure out ways to do that. It’s really just being true to the characters, true to the stories, how we do that, because obviously the character of Skinner is extremely important to the show because he has seen something now, he’s seen something even Scully hasn’t seen, so I think that it’s a pivotal role that he now plays in the development of the show.

Q4 (a small Asian girl with a blue wig): Um, hi.

CC: Hi.

Q4 (asAgwabw): I’m nervous.

CC: How can you be nervous? You have blue hair.

Q4 (asAgwabw): I know you already had the episode about it, but I was wondering if you could kind of clarify what happened to Samantha. It was kind of confusing.

CC: Right. It was supposed to be just a little big vague, but Mulder believes that through the course of those two episodes this year, that when bad things are about to happen to children that there is some force, some presence that comes down and, perhaps, saves children from those terrible fates. And he thinks that because of the testing that was being done on Samantha that, in fact, that’s what happened and that she has been removed and will perhaps be returned. She has become starlight, if you will. So that’s what he believes.

Q4 (asAgwabw): Do you need, uh, any Asian 15-year-old girls for the show?

CC: Uh, leave me your number.

[sAgwabw starts to walk away; stops in front of CC and looks hopefully]

[CC looks at her]

[sAgwabw doesn’t know quite what to do, but is still quite hopeful]

CC: Ok.

[she’s still kinda hopeful]

CC: Next.

[sAgwabw walks back to her seat dejectedly] [meanie]

Q5: I have a few questions about the Lone Gunmen. I’ve been keeping my eye out for the pilot all summer long and I haven’t seen it anywhere. Is there any way that we can see that?

CC: No, I’m sorry, you have to wait for the spring. Although, as with Millennium, I actually saw it bootlegged long before I saw it on the air, so there’s no telling today where it might pop up. That’s all I can tell you. Not that I would be involved in that.

Q5: And then, I’m not sure about your relationship with them now, but I’d really love to see an episode by Wong & Morgan, especially Darin Morgan.

[cheers]

CC: Yeah, those guys did great X-Files episodes, some of the best, I think. Actually, they’re all from the San Diego area. [cheers] But they’re off doing their own stuff now.

Q6: The only show that I’ve seen that’s done what your show has done, in terms of longevity of being good, is the Simpsons. I’ve watched your shows and seen story arcs complete and I stop right there and think, ‘you can’t get any better,’ but you would! How do you do that? What do you contribute to the longevity of being good. Even at the first show, it was good.

CC: Are you on my payroll? [laughter]

Q6: It’s just that I remember your show when it had just started, and people told me about it.

CC: Yeah.

Q6: Then I started watching it and it was good and it was before everybody got in to the, you know, Mulder’s all sexy and everything like that. It was a good show.

CC: You know, the reason for that is, one thing is that the people who have come to work on the show, you know, besides David and Gillian, who are the secret to the success of the show is David and Gillian, and hopefully now Robert Patrick will even add to that in a greater way, but the secret to the success is the people who come to work on the show. The writers, the directors, Rob Bowman and Kim Manners, David Nutter, people like Bob Goodwin and Michael Watkins, and the writing staff, which right now includes Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and some other people, some staff writers. This is the reason we’re successful, ’cause everybody works really really hard to make it good.

Q6: Are you taking cards? [he holds up his business card]

CC: Uh, when I’m signing autographs I’ll take some, you can hand me stuff.

Q7: Mr. Carter, I enjoy your work.

CC: Thank you.

Q7: More of a wishlist, or a plea. Is there any chance you could use Darren McGavin as Kolchak the Night Stalker? Have a cameo of him in The Lone Gunmen.

CC: He is Kolchak the Night Stalker.

Q7: Yeah. Could you have him maybe show up…

CC: As Kolchak the Night Stalker…That’s a good idea. He’s already playing Mulder’s predecessor on The X-Files. I’ll have to think about it.

[some quiet mumblings I can’t quite catch…that could have been people sitting around me]

CC: There’s a person trying to tell me how to do my job.

Q8: Can you tell us how far the interactions between Robert Patrick’s character and minor characters like Skinner, the CSM, [mumble], how will they interact?

CC: The character that Robert Patrick plays will be Special Agent John Doggett, is a member of the FBI fraternity, so he’s like one of the guys, he’s like one of the hardcore there, he’s on his way up the ladder, he’s a do-gooder in a sense, but he’s his own man. So what he represents to them is a threat to this thing, the X-Files because it is a basement operation. So in coming to look for Mulder, to find Mulder, he is a threat because he’s part of the system, and now he’s attacking the X-Files. So he isn’t working as Agent Scully’s partner, but at some point they will come to a place where they can agree to disagree.

Q8: Also, could you not make him another Spender, please?

CC: You didn’t like Spender?

Q8: [choosing his words carefully] Not in continuing the show, if that’s going to happen. Also, can you tell us anything about the Season 2 DVDs? And the rumored Millennium and Harsh Realm DVDs?

CC: I don’t think, I don’t know about Harsh Realm. They don’t do anything nice to that show, that they could possibly do. But the X-Files DVD, I don’t know, right now I think they’re doing the second printing of the first batch, so I think they might get that out of the way first because they’ve been very popular. And the rumor is about the Millennium, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t do it if there was a big enough demand.

Q9: Hi, this is another Millennium question.

CC: Yeah.

Q9: Do you think that the one episode that you did was sufficient to tie up the three years that the Millennium series had. Were you satisfied with how it was done.

CC: I would like to make a Millennium movie. [cheers] I think it would be a great movie, and I would go back to the pilot, what the pilot was, what the whole show could have been, and I would kind of like to go back and start all over again and do that as a movie. If I knew that there were people who would go out and watch it, because I would make it good. I think that would be something I’d spend some time on.

Q10: Hi Mr. Carter. I was curious whether you feel that as a body of work, and assuming that the X-Files is on its last season, do you feel completed, or satisfied with what you’ve done with the show, or is there anything you would have liked to have done that you’re not going to get an opportunity to do?

CC: Well, you know, I’m going on, so I have the opportunity right now to explore the things that I wasn’t going to be able to do. There was a point last season, it was actually distressing, where it was right around Christmas time and I came into Frank Spotnitz’s office and I was kind of excited and I said, ‘I’ve got this idea, and it’s be really great if we could do this and this and this.’ And he said, ‘You know, we only have ten more episodes left to go.’ And that was when we thought the show wasn’t coming back, and it was like, wait a second. I never actually imagined that the show actually ending, so there’s still a lot of things I want to explore, but I’ve got a new character now so I’ve got to integrate them in an interesting way so that I can explore those things.

Q11: I’ve noticed in the last few years that humor, specifically a kind of, almost slapstick at times, a kind of sarcastic humor, has been really prevalent. Is that going to continue, or…

CC: That’s a good question. I think that this year we’ll really go back to our roots, which is good scary stories. [cheers] And, but you know, with the X-Files, as with Mulder, and oftentimes with Scully, we always inject humor into the show, we just won’t be doing those big, slapstick-y, slaphappy episodes.

Q11: I was just going to say I’ve always really enjoyed — I’ve always enjoyed the X-Files, obviously — the non-Mythology episodes, the ones that are real plain scary stories. Can you do more of those?

CC: What are your favorites?

Q11: Oh, gosh. Well I love, Small Potatoes is one of my favorites…

CC: That’s a funny one, though.

Q11: It’s funny but it’s…

CC: Yeah, it’s touching.

Q11: I also love the one, that’s back in the fifties with the kid who was kind of deformed…

CC: The black and white one?

Q11: Yeah.

CC: Yeah, that’s one of my favorites, too.

Q11: I also really like the old ones.

CC: She likes the old ones.

Q11: I like them all!

CC: Ok, thanks.

Q12: First of all, I’d like to say thank you for creating the show.

CC: Thanks.

Q12: I would like to know, will the actors be writing any more episodes?

CC: I don’t know. I think it’s really about time and availability. Both of them…I know Gillian, who did a great job this year, you know, it took a lot of time and she has a daughter and the more time she gets to spend with that daughter the better. So I think that it’s all about time and timing.

Q13: First of all I have to say, I love your stuff.

CC: Nice t-shirt.

Q13: Thank you. I have two questions. First of is, is there any chance they’ll have a Harsh Realm movie now to wrap everything up? Or, Fox won’t do that, or what? ‘Cause I love the show.

CC: Thanks.

Q13: I think it’s excellent.

CC: Thank you. I doubt it, I really doubt it. It’s really too bad, too, ’cause Scott Bairstow and D.B. Sweeney were two really great guys to work with. And the character who played the non-speaking part, the woman, Florence. I thought that was a really interesting role to get to develop, I’m sorry we didn’t get to develop it.

Q13: My other question is, I got to appear in “Fight Club,” I got to be in the crowd, fighting.

CC: Yeah.

Q13: And I was just wondering if there are going to be any other episodes where they’re going to have open casting calls like that, so I can be on it again? ‘Cause it was, like, one of the highlights of my life.

CC: Ooo-kay. [laughter] I don’t know yet.

Q14: Regarding your influences on the mythology of the show, I know you mentioned in the past that All the President’s Men, Star Wars…

CC: Yes, yes.

Q14: Recently there have been some online print publications that have pointed out some striking similarities between the X-Files mytharc and Nigel Neil’s Quatermass series that ran during the ’60s and ’70s. Were you aware of these similarities, and was it an influence directly on you?

CC: No. That’s somebody that’s really working hard. But if you start the show with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon… [laughter]

Q15: Hello, Mr. Carter. I was just wondering if real life conspiracy theories and UFOs interest you, or if it’s just a way to let your creativity flow?

CC: What was the question?

Q15: If, uh, real life conspiracy theories and UFOs interest you?

CC: Yes, it does. Especially now with corporate America consolidating, I think these are real things we’re talking about here. I believe that these aren’t just stories we’re telling, that these conspiracies are going to start becoming more and more real at a more personal level. So it’s fun to tell, what’re now almost like allegories or metaphors for what’s actually happening in the real world.

Q16: I’d just like to say that I think all your shows have hands down some of the best writing ever seen on television.

CC: Thanks.

Q16: And I’d like to ask, do you have any advice you’d like to give to future television writers.

CC: Work really really hard, and everybody, I have a lot of people come up to me, not everybody, I have a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘I want to write.’ And I always say, ‘what’s stopping you?’ It’s a matter of sitting yourself down in front of a computer, a notepad, a typewriter, and doing it. You’re about 90% of the way there if you can do that.

Q17: Hello. I was in a group of students that you spoke to at USC about five years ago, when X-Files was in season 3, and you said back then you sort of had a plan in your head that you were going to go about five years and then wrap it up and everything. We’re entering season 8, and I’m wondering how much the plan has changed. What was that original plan? Will we ever know what that was?

CC: Well, it changed because of the movie. And it changed because of the popularity of the show. And it changed because Fox didn’t want the show to end. So, I think the television series will ultimately become a movie series. So right now we’re telling the stories that ultimately will lead to that, so we’re just…I think the X-Files could probably go on forever if it was in the right hands. So, you’re right, I didn’t anticipate going into the eighth year, nor did my wife. And, she’s looking forward to seeing me home one of these days, rather than on the phone.

Q18: Hello, I’m a huge fan of Darin Morgan’s writing. Is there any chance of persuading him of coming back and writing another episode or two?

CC: We call him every year, several times a year, and, I think the last conversation someone had with him, he said that he saw the movie, “The Sixth Sense,” he had actually he had threatened that he had a ghost story that he wanted to tell, and he saw the movie “The Sixth Sense” and he said, ‘oh, they took my idea.’ And he went into a state of depression. Or so he said. Anyway, we’ve not been able to get Darin to come back to the show, sadly, because he added something to it that I think was special. And even though he only did four episodes, out of 161, I think all of those four episodes are among the top shows that we’ve ever done, and he added something to the show that I think it needed, and has benefitted from, which was a sense of humor, a particular sense of humor.

Q19: Are you planning on introducing a mytharc to the Lone Gunmen show?

CC: I seem to introduce a mythology to all of the shows that I do. So, I would say yes. But you’ve got to be careful, because as I saw with Harsh Realm, if you introduce it too early, you lose your opportunity to get people to come to the show. So you’ve actually got to build just good hard straight story telling before you actually start to build the mythology, so that’s probably the way the Lone Gunmen will work.

Q20: You were working on a couple novels. Do you have to go through a couple more traffic jams before we see them?

CC: Yes.

Q21: Hi. This has been bothering me for quite a while now, and I was just wondering. What happened to Gibson Praise? Are we going to be expecting him?

CC: I’m glad you asked that question. If you remember the character Gibson Praise, he was a little boy, the chess-playing boy. [applause] He’s coming back. [cheers]

Q22: I was just wondering what Mulder’s reaction will be to Scully’s pregnancy. I mean, did they have sex, or what? It wasn’t clarified in “all things,” and it’s just been bugging me forever.

CC: How old are you?

Q22: I’m 13. [laughter]

CC: Uh, that’s a PG-13 question, so I can answer it. We’re going to explore what happened this season, so while it may seem as if you missed something, and you did, you will not miss it in the end.

Q23: In the first two episodes, is Mulder coming back only in flashbacks?

CC: Uh…one of these tape recorders I was asked to bring up here just went off, the other one’s still working. I’m not going to tell you, ’cause I want to keep that a mystery. All right? Thanks.

Q24: How many scripts have you developed for the Lone Gunmen at this point?

CC: Right now there are three or four stories in the pipeline. I’m sorry. There are three or four stories in the pipeline, but there are no scripts actually written past that, but one is being worked on. So we’re really right at the beginning of that. But we want to be careful with that, especially after Harsh Realm, we want to be careful to do it just right.

Q25: We got an official glimpse at some gags that you’ve done on the show, I’ve seen some online for the first three seasons. Are you going to release at all some gags from those three seasons, as well as the last five?

CC: Yeah, we’ll do like those Jerry Springer tapes. [laughter]

Q25: I mean, you can see here that everyone liked them, but I think it’d be great to officially release them.

CC: I think that that would be tied up in big legal issues, about what could be released and how people would be paid for it and compensated. I think it’s sticky as far as the finances. That’s probably the reason you don’t see them, because…sometimes I think X-Files is the proverbial chicken, that Fox would sell every single part of it that it possibly could.

Q26: I’ll understand if you can’t answer the question, but, when do we get to see the FBI raid Area 51?

CC: Well, you saw a little bit of it, you saw at least Mulder escape into it in “Dreamland” which was, admittedly, a humorous two-parter. We really hinted at an Area 51-like base in the “Deep Throat” episode, which is the first one past the Pilot. I don’t know if we’ll go back to that base particularly, but we may actually explore that area because we’re actually back in UFO territory and alien territory with the abduction of Mulder.

Q27: I just want to thank you for writing the greatest show ever.

CC: Thank you.

Q27: Could you possibly clarify the two alien races, or do we have to wait?

CC: There are actually several alien races, and of course there’s the greys and there are the faceless aliens, who are another race, and then there’s the alien bounty hunter who is a renegade, he left the faceless crew. So these things are actually all going to be explored this year, because I know people have big questions about that.

Man on Microphone: We’re running short on time so we’re going to take two more questions.

[aww’s. The third girl in line looks incredibly distressed.]

CC: That’s a long line out the door there.

Q28: In contrast with her question, in the movie “The X-Files,” well, if Mulder’s sister was also abducted would she also have been on that ship? Or was she abducted by a different race?

CC: Well, the idea was that she wasn’t abducted, this was actually more of a spiritual thing, so we’re going to explore that this year and answer some questions that I think are still outstanding.

MoM: Last question.

CC: I’m sorry. You know what? Let’s answer them real quick.

Q29: Do you see in the future any more X-Files PC games?

CC: Uh, yes, actually, I think there’ll be different platforms for sure, but I think something else is being developed right as we speak.

Q30: Do you know when the next season’s gonna start?

CC: In November. [laughter]

Q31: How’s that Serios project going?

CC: Uh, we’re right in the beginning of that.

Q32: Two questions. First one: with regard to the writing, if 90% is sitting down in front of the typewriter and typing something, what’s the other 10%, in a nutshell?

CC: 5% of it is talent, and the other percent of it is luck.

Q32: Just go for it, right?

CC: Yeah.

Q32: Also, with regards to the metaphor of the government…I know that your view on aliens is that you don’t believe in them…or that’s what I heard you say on a documentary earlier.

CC: It’s not that I don’t believe in them. I have no reason to believe in them. So I’m waiting for a reason.

Q32: Ok, thank you. It’s just I’m really big [?? I can’t quite understand her.]

CC: That’s something we’re going to explore, too.

Q33: I was just wondering, did you change your mind about Mulder and Scully’s relationship? Because in the beginning you said they’d never get together, and now she’s having his child. [laughter]

CC: You obviously see they’re not together.

Q34: I love the show. Uh, the Lone Gunmen show, is that gonna be much more humourous [he had an accent, too] than the X-Files?

CC: Yes, it’s going to be a very lighthearted show.

Q35: Hi, I’m [insert name I can’t understand], we met at the [something] workshop.

CC: Yeah, I remember you. I sent you something, didn’t I?

Q35: You did, too, yeah. [oh no, this guy is not only mumbling, but talking really fast] And you said you’d let me pitch [??] when you were gonna do a new season.

CC: Not right here, I’m not. [laughter]

Q35: I’m here to call you on it.

CC: Haha. Ok. All right. Thank you guys very much. [cheers] [end of tape]

Jul-20-2000
Television Critics Association, Pasadena, CA, conference

[typed by Mr Mike]

GAIL BERMAN (President, Fox Entertainment): Hi, we’re back. This introduction is an easy one since I’m sure everybody in this room knows Chris Carter and a little show called “The X-Files.” As you know, last season, the show kept a very low profile. It stayed out of the press and steered clear of any controversy. NOT!

When we last left them, Mulder boarded a spaceship and Scully revealed the news that she’s pregnant. Chris and the show’s writing staff left all of their fans on the edge of their seats this summer, setting the Internet ablaze with buzz. And I know that I cannot wait to see where this next season goes when there is a new man in Scully’s life.

First, let’s take a look at a clip from the season finale.

[CLIP SHOWN: “THE X-FILES” SEASON FINALE]

BERMAN: Wow. [gives housekeeping announcement about hotel heating] Now, please help me welcome the man who has all the answers: executive producer and creator Chris Carter. [applause]

If I may join the ranks of the press for one brief question, may I start?

QUESTION: No.

BERMAN: Oh, come on, give me one. Hey, Chris?

CHRIS CARTER: Yes?

BERMAN: Who is the baby’s father?

CARTER: I am. [laughter]

BERMAN: Thank you.

CARTER: I’m his father and its mother. Thanks.

QUESTION: Hi, Chris.

CARTER: Hi.

QUESTION: So now that Skinner has seen the spaceship and he’s really got to believe, where are you going to take his character this year?

CARTER: It’s interesting. Everything is kind of changing. Agent Scully, who has always been the skeptic over seven years, of course, has seen enough that it has eroded her skepticism. And now that Agent Mulder has been abducted, as reported by Skinner, the only way to find him is to accept what Skinner is saying. So the two of them become believers, although reluctant believers. And that’s really the way we make room for this new character to come in, who is – his name is Special Agent John Doggett – two “Gs,” two “Ts.” And he comes in on the manhunt, the search for Agent Mulder.

QUESTION: Jerry?

CARTER: John.

QUESTION: No, but any relation to him?

CARTER: You said that, not me.

QUESTION: And one more question: how – what – the process that Robert Patrick won out over everybody? I know Bruce Campbell and a bunch of the other actors were up for it.

CARTER: Right. No, it’s hard. I mean, we saw terrific actors for the parts. We had written the part and conceived of a part that was very much an insider at the FBI. He’s part of the fraternity. Mulder had always been an outsider, the consummate outsider. We wanted somebody who was blue-collar, former cop, a man’s man. And Robert Patrick came in and blew us away.

I had known him – he had done so much good work, and then he had actually come in a couple years ago to read for something else, and he wasn’t quite right for that part, but I knew I wanted to work with him. So I told him last night when I called him, I said that this is fate because what I wanted to do then I’m getting to do now.

QUESTION: Chris?

CARTER: Yes?

QUESTION: I’m wondering. Did I miss something? Scully has been having sex? [laughter] With whom? I mean – I mean, just the potential that she was having sex.

CARTER: Yes. [laughter] Yes, there is a potential she was having sex. [laughter] We’re going to play with that storyline this year actually and find out what exactly happened. We hinted at some sort of a relationship in the episode, “All Things,” which was actually Gillian’s written and directed episode. So there was a nod to a possibility. And we’re going to play with that some more.

QUESTION: Chris, there’s a perception that the decision to go on with the show is based more on business reasons than artistic reasons. Would you respond to that?

CARTER: FOX had asked me very late in the season last year to do the show, and I said to them, I really just do not want to do this just as a matter of commerce. I wanted it to be a good show. I wanted it to be special. I want this to be a great season of “The X-Files.” I want the event of Mulder’s disappearance to be an important event. I want the possibility that the show could go on. I wanted it to go on for all the right reasons.

And there were business considerations because there was a lawsuit. There were business considerations because there always are business considerations when people don’t have contracts. So the reason the show is still on the air is that there were people that wanted to do it and still felt they could make it good. And that’s really the reason.

QUESTION: Chris, has it been defined yet exactly how many Duchovny will be in? And secondarily, how is the relationship between the two of you as a result over the financial situation?

CARTER: We had lunch twice in the last week and a half, so I think that while we weren’t able to speak a lot last year because of the lawsuit, there has been, I think, a lot of repair of something that was damaged.

I think that – I’m not sure what else…

QUESTION: Well, how many will Duchovny be in this year? And when?

CARTER: I am told that he will be in 11 of 20 episodes. And as I understand it, he is going to be in – six of those will be complete episodes.

QUESTION: Chris, David’s denial last year that he definitely would not be back was even stronger than your denial that you wouldn’t be back.

CARTER: Right.

QUESTION: What do you think it was that convinced him to change his mind? Did you know he’d be back when you wrote that odd season finale? And how does this affect the movies?

CARTER: It was interesting. I had to write the season finale, truly, honestly, not knowing whether or not we’d be back next year. So I had to write a sort of all-purpose season finale. And it was difficult, but it was a wonderful exercise, too. And it actually has set us up for a very interesting way to approach season eight. Then entry of a new character, new blood, a new dramatic balance, is actually going to be a really fim thing to play.

But I think the show probably could have ended there. And I still would like to do movies past the TV series.

QUESTION: Chris?

CARTER: Yes?

QUESTION: Chris, how do you maintain, say, the willing suspension of disbelief in a situation like this, when everybody in the audience knows that the reason that these are being written as they are, is because David Duchovny wanted out? He’s only in a certain number of episodes, and that kind of thing. You know, they can see the wheels turning behind the stage, as it were.

CARTER: That’s not really the case. I have to deal with what I have to deal with. The truth is, I have to deal with Gillian – this year, she needs to be with her daughter a certain amount of time. So, as a producer, you’re always dealing with certain restrictions and disadvantages, and that’s really what this is.

It’s not that we’re constructing the show for David, and for David’s disappearance. I could have used him more and I could have used him less, to be honest. So, really, I’ve got to make it interesting for the audience and for myself, and then ultimately, make it interesting for the actors.

It’s really a creative exercise, in any event.

QUESTION: Chris, I was wondering – what’s the likelihood of continuing the series past this year – this season?

CARTER: Well, I don’t have a contract, so I’m right back where I started. I think that there’s a terrific opportunity to do it, particularly now that Robert Patrick is aboard. It’s really just figuring out how to tell the stories, and who to tell the stories with. Neither David nor Gillian have contracts past this year. It really becomes a contractual thing, and I wish it weren’t that way, but that’s the way the business works.

It really depends on us doing good shows this year, making that character interesting, introducing new characters, and whether it goes on with David and Gillian, Robert, or whomever, I really only want the show to go on if it’s going to be good.

QUESTION: And as a follow up, I was wondering how badly did your relationship with David deteriorate during the period when you weren’t speaking, and saying things about each other in the press, perhaps.

CARTER: Well, I only know what I read in the press, and that’s that he said it was – “our friendship was damaged.” I still am yet to understand, truly, what it is I was accused of doing, and have it articulated to me in any kind of understandable way.

So, it’s still – there’s still a little bit of a mystery to me, but lawsuits are mysterious, and I’m happy just to move on and try to do the good work that we’ve done together.

QUESTION: Chris, two questions. One – for a lot of people, the core of “The X-Files” has always been the relationship between Scully and Mulder. How do you keep it rolling along when one of those two people simply isn’t there for large chunks of time?

CARTER: It’s – well, I mean, you’re going to have to watch and see what we do, but I actually – I think that we’ve come up with a very good way – a good solution for that. And, you know, everyone’s afraid of change. Everyone says, “That’s what made the show work, and that’s what’s great about the show.”

That’s true. I think, really, Mulder and Scully are the reason – David and Gillian are the reason – for the show’s great success. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t threaten the paradigm, you can’t threaten the model, you can’t threaten the relationship.

In fact, I think, dramatically, you better do that every once in a while, or else you’re going to have a very stale show, particularly when you have two characters who, for seven years, have – you know, they kissed last New Year’s Eve – they kissed on the you know, a smooch at the strike of twelve. I think that’s pretty good for two characters who have had tremendous sexual chemistry and tension.

QUESTION: Chris, can you give me –

QUESTION: [overlapping] Chris, can I – I’m sorry. Can I get in one last question?

CARTER: Sure.

QUESTION: Have you started writing the script for the next movie?

CARTER: Yes. For the next movie?

QUESTION: Yeah.

CARTER: No.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Chris, could you tell me how different is the Lone Gunmen series going to be from “The X-Files.” And are the Lone Gunmen going to appear this season?

CARTER: Yeah. Hey, do you mind if we ask the Lone Gunmen questions after “The X-Files” questions?

QUESTION: Sure.

QUESTION: Okay, I have a “X-Files” question.

CARTER: All right.

QUESTION: Is David going to appear in the season finale, and if not, can you give us some idea of when he will be making an appearance – how far into the season?

CARTER: He’ll be in the season opener – I can tell you that. And the season opener is a two-part episode, and beyond that, I’m not going to tell you, and I really can’t tell you because we’re still kind of figuring it out.

QUESTION: Can you tell us more about Agent Doggett? I mean, does Agent Doggett now, by default become the skeptic? Tell me more about him.

CARTER: Yeah, he is – he come at it [sic]. He’s really like – unlike Scully, who was a really had science and an argument – he comes at it as a kind of knee-jerk skeptic. He’s a person who is doubting by nature, and he really is one of these people who needs to see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, feel it, in order to believe it, and that’s going to be the character.

As simple as that sounds, hopefully we can make him a nice, complex character.

QUESTION: What’s some of his backstory?

CARTER: He was a former New York City police detective, and he was in the U.S. Marine Corps, and that’s where we’re working from.

QUESTION: Sense of humor?

CARTER: Everyone on “The X-Files” has to have a sense of humor.

QUESTION: Chris, will Gillian be in all 20 episodes this year, first of all, because you said there were some time constraints on her?

CARTER: Right.

QUESTION: And second of all, is one of the real challenges you’ve set for yourself, even though you’ve said that Doggett’s a different kind of skeptic from Scully, that Scully’s going to end up sounding like Mulder, and Doggett’s going to end up sounding like Scully?

CARTER: No. I’ve already written two episodes, and it feels right. And of course, this was a giant consideration. You don’t want to, all of the sudden, make – have characters who are untrue to themselves, and who start sounding like, you know – if Scully starts sounding like Mulder, I think the show is going to be bad.

She’s a reluctant believer. She is a person who is a scientist first, and a believer second. This new character is a cop, and he believes, coming in, that everything can be solved if you just employ very good cop/police technique.

QUESTION: [unmiked/inaudible] Will Gillian be in all 20?

CARTER: Gillian will probably be in all 20, in varying degrees.

QUESTION: Chris, after the finale, we found out that Scully was pregnant. I got an avalanche of mail from “X-Files” fans, about half of whom think that there is some possibility that Mulder and Scully got together in that “All Things” episodes. And the other half who say, “No way. Chris wouldn’t cheat us that way. He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t have them consummate the relationship off screen.” Would you cheat them that way? [laughter]

CARTER: It’s a primetime television show. [laughter] You can’t consummate –

QUESTION: But at least show that they’ve gotten together. Would you do that off screen?

CARTER: What happens is that it makes it a lot more […] to now go back and find out what really happened. And so, I think if anyone feels cheated, they will get their prurient interest satisfied. [laughter]

QUESTION: Chris, three quick questions. Just to clarify, you said you do not have a contract, or you do not have a contract beyond this year?

CARTER: My “X-Files” contract is through the eighth season. So – and I don’t want it to sound like I’m negotiating in the press, or I’m going to lay down any limits or restrictions or rules, but that’s the case. So, if I speak about a ninth year, it’s really about “The X-Files” and not about me.

QUESTION: Okay. And what’s the split – what split do you envision in this coming season, between mythology episodes and non-mythology episodes?

CARTER: It’s a good question, and I don’t have it really worked out yet, but I think that it will be a pretty typical “X-Files” ratio, which would be, I’d say, six or seven to twenty.

QUESTION: Okay. And finally, I’m a little surprised to hear what you’ve said about the next feature film because I thought, from previous things you had said, that it was actually pretty far developed, at least in your mind. If there wasn’t a script, that is what not going to be mythology, it was just going to be a real hardcore, spooky “X-Files” movie. And so I’m surprised to hear that it seems to be off the drawing board.

CARTER: Oh, it’s not at all. I mean, it’s really just a matter of time and timing. I really have to find the time to do it, and then find the right timing because we don’t know where the series is.

I would really – I’m not looking forward to doing another movie during the series, certainly with Mulder and Scully in the show. That was very hard to do, and sometimes I still can’t believe that we did it. It was – just the physical production and also continuing back with the TV series.

QUESTION: Chris, are you a big believer in, eventually, final resolutions, or are you more like David Lynch, where the whole idea of a final resolution is sort of anathema to the way he thinks? In your mind, will there, at long last, ever be a real end to “The X-Files,” where everything is wrapped up, whether it’s in a movie, or on the FOX series?

CARTER: I don’t know. That’s a good question. I’ve never thought about it in those terms because when the movie was a success, all of the sudden, it seemed like the television series could become a movie series.

And, you know, it really comes down to how long it’s good, and if it ever feels like it’s running out of steam, or people don’t want to see it, or no one wants to do it, I think that’s the time to pack it in. But it would be nice to come to some sort of conclusion, but my fear is, as with the show, is that when you have a show about the unexplained unexplainable, and the unknown – to actually try to explain any of that is kind of ridiculous.

QUESTION: Do you feel in any way you sort of owe it people – there are some people who still live and die by this series and every nuance.

CARTER: I’m knocking wood right now.

QUESTION: Chris –

QUESTION: I mean, is there any debt to them, in your mind, that you almost, in good conscience, have to have to wrap it up?

CARTER: There’s certain things, like with Mulder’s sister, that I think needed to be wrapped, and we did wrap up, although we can still investigate that, to an extent, and we do, actually, next season, to some degree.

So, I think that you need to reward audience expectation in that way. You can’t leave people hanging. I would never want to leave people irritated that, if they’ve taken the journey, that there wasn’t some satisfaction at the end.

But “The X-Files” always leaves as many questions as answers, so I think that’s probably what I would say we would end up with.

QUESTION: Chris, speaking of feeling cheated, if Scully has this baby, and the father is not Mulder, how is Mulder going to feel about that?

CARTER: Cheated. [laughter]

QUESTION: Yeah – how he’s going to react?

CARTER: Well, I mean, he’s got no claim to her, truly. I mean, you know, I don’t know. It’d be an interesting thing to explore.

QUESTION: We waited seven years for a kiss. [laughter]

QUESTION: Chris, in the past, you’ve given us these – inside story on how the two characters were named “Mulder” and “Scully.” How did you come up with the name “Doggett”?

CARTER: The name “Scully” is actually an homage to Vin Scully. And I thought long and hard about what I wanted to name this new character, and I had lots of interesting names, and I really go back to my childhood for a lot of my names. I’ve had a lot of high school friends call me and thank me for making them dead people on “The X-Files.” So, I actually went back and I thought about people I’d grown up with and ones that I’d liked, and people that I admired and people I wondered about where they are today.

And then all of the sudden it dawned on me that I was looking for a good, solid, working-class name, and one that fit, and the name “Doggett” came to me because every evening, for a great part of the year, I would listen to the Dodgers with my mom, and Jerry Doggett was always Vin Scully’s co-host on the Dodgers, and the name came to me, and at first, I thought it might be too cute and clever, but I liked the name. I think it fits, and now we have it.

QUESTION: Chris, since it was part of David Duchovny – or actually, it was largely fueled by David Duchovny, as I heard it, to bring the show back to Los Angeles, now that he’s kind of a – I hesitate to say part-time player – but, not figuring in as mightily as he did, where is your production going to be headquartered this coming season?

CARTER: We’re in Los Angeles this year as we have been the last two years. So this is our third year back in Los Angeles. David is a regular. He is just – even when he’s there, he’s going to be – not there, he’s going to be an absent presence and an absent center. And so, his involvement in the show, even though it is in an abbreviated fashion, is going to be very important.

QUESTION: Was there any consideration at all about going back to Vancouver?

CARTER: Never for me.

QUESTION: Chris, are there any characters that you regretted killing off this year? And is the cigarette-smoking man really dead?

CARTER: Well, of course, I’m not going to tell – like with Scully’s baby and the cigarette-smoking man – these are the things I want to play with next year, so I’m going to keep them a secret. You know, I always regret having to kill characters off because it makes for a very uncomfortable phone call for me to the actors. But, no. It’s part of a series. You have to have characters. If everybody lives, there is no threat to any character at any time.

QUESTION: Chris, would you talk a little bit more about Robert Patrick? What made him right for the role? What did you see in him that you thought he could pull in this? And, also, are we going to see more of Skinner this year? Even in the press thing, it notes “Also starting” which makes it sound like an expanded role.

CARTER: Yeah. I hope to have more Skinner on the show. I plan to. I intend to. Robert Patrick just embodied this character. He has got a great – everything from the timbre of his voice to his presence to his intensity. I just saw him as – because he’s going to be on screen with Scully a lot, I saw them as worthy adversaries and worthy partners.

He was not going to be a person that would shrink because she’s a very powerful person and actor – shrink from her. He would be able to stand up to her both as an actor and as a character. And I just thought he really filled the bill for me in that way.

QUESTION: And did Gillian have any say? Did she audition with him and that was part of it?

CARTER: No, but I kept her in the loop every step of the way. We talked a number of times about people that she wanted to work with, people that she would work with, the character, how it was going to work. I was very considerate, I think, of giving her the best possible co-player.

QUESTION: Chris, is it your intention to have Scully deliver this season, probably in a sweeps period? [laughter] I mean, can we expect she’ll have the baby this season or do you know yet?

CARTER: Let me see. I haven’t thought about it yet.

QUESTION: Chris…

CARTER: [overlapping] So, maybe not.

QUESTION: Chris, actually, can I ask a more fundamental question? This being “The X-Files,” can we really assume that Scully is pregnant? [laughter]

CARTER: Wait. I would never assume anything on “The X-Files” and anything can happen. But I’ll tell you. I think that would be a big cheat if it was a false-positive or a phony pregnancy, certainly after all this time. It would be like bringing back a dead character.

QUESTION: Chris, a couple of basic things. What’s Doggett’s first name and how do you spell Doggett?

CARTER: Doggett is D-O-G-G-E-T-T. First name John with an “h.”

QUESTION: Okay. And those of us who aren’t familiar with Robert Patrick’s work at all – give us an example of a movie he did or that was really good – something that impressed you.

CARTER: He’s been in so many things. He actually just did a little arc in “The Sopranos” which was completely unlike the character he’s playing for us, which showed me a tremendous amount of range on his part. He was best known, I think – or first known – his face – in “T2.” He was the Terminator. He had a great part on “Copland.” This is where I really saw another side of him that was very exciting to me when I saw that movie.

He played one of the bad cops. There have just been a number of things that he’s done that I thought showed his ability. There’s a coincidence here too. His brother, being the lead singer of the band, Filter, has actually done two songs for “The X-Files” for two different soundtracks. So there’s a familial connection as well, which is interesting.

QUESTION: Hey Chris, just a quick question. So are we to understand that Doggett like got fired or is like sick of New York or something? And then he comes to work on the X-files?

CARTER: He is an FBI agent and he was a cop and that’s actually not atypical for FBI agents. He is not assigned to the X-files to begin with. He is not Scully’s partner to begin with. There is a gradual, hopefully, realistic integration of the character into this series.

QUESTION: So Scully is still going to be working within the whole boundaries and…

CARTER: [overlapping] Within the structure of the FBI, yes.

QUESTION: And he’s not going to take Mulder’s office is he?

CARTER: No, he’s not taking Mulder’s office.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Chris, I wondered, were you satisfied with this past season? How do you think it stacked up to previous seasons?

CARTER: I thought it had some real highlights and bright spots. There are some episodes that I think weren’t as good as some of the others. I think the standard was kept pretty high. I think we tried some new things. The “COPS” – “X-COPS” was a really inventive, I think, episode. FOX loved it because it cost them a million dollars less than every other episode that we did. [laughter] I think, as a season, it stacked up to the other seasons, to be honest.

QUESTION: Chris, a lot of sci-fi shows are coming up, particularly on FOX. Do you get the sense that people are kind of lining up to be the next “X-Files” and how do you react to that?

CARTER: What shows in particular?

QUESTION: Well, just about every new drama on FOX. [laughter]

CARTER: You mean in popularity?

QUESTION: Well, in terms of giving the shot. I think there might be a sense that there’s room for more sci-fi and, if “The X-Files” – this is the last season. Hey, we want to be the next “X-Files.”

CARTER: You know, with reality programming, there’s hardly room for anything on TV. I don’t know. I mean, “The X-Files” is such a miracle that everything worked. There’s just a million ways to fail in television. And when you have something like this that hits, I know how lucky I am that I had the Gods in my favor.

Everybody can be lined up. But you’d better make really good choices and hire really good people every step of the way or else there’s a good chance that you’ll fail. So it’s really hard to comment on that. A lot of people would like to be popular and successful. But it’s mostly hard work, but it’s a lot of luck too.

QUESTION: Chris, you did say that you anticipate six or seven anthology episodes this season…

CARTER: Mythology.

QUESTION: Pardon?

CARTER: Mythology.

QUESTION: Mythology. I’m sorry. Of course. So if Duchovny’s in 11, there are going to be some that he’s in unrelated to mythology.

CARTER: Yes, but you’ll see how that works. Hopefully, you’ll think it’s very clever of us.

QUESTION: Okay. And can we expect to see Krycek and Covarrubias?

CARTER: I would expect to see them.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Chris, do your story needs or your time considerations allow you to take the show on any distant locations away from Los Angeles this year?

CARTER: Actually, our first location is away from Los Angeles. It isn’t too far away. We’re going into the desert. There are a lot of resources here, right in this area, that I think we can use and do another season. But, you know, as you run into season eight, you do start looking for other things to shoot – other places to base an episode. I know we have scouted this year something we’ve never scouted before but talked about. We scouted an offshore oil iig and talked about building an episode around that. It’s really just a matter of cost and logistical reality.

QUESTION: Is that the one by Santa Barbara?

CARTER: Yeah, right off the Coast of Summerland there.

QUESTION: Chris, do think that Frank Black will resurface?

QUESTION: [overlapping] What desert are you going to?

CARTER: I’m sorry. One second.

QUESTION: What desert are you going to?

CARTER: Right now, I believe we’re going to the Anza Borrego Desert.

QUESTION: Chris, do you think Frank Black will resurface in another episode? And were you pleased with the way he worked into the one that he did?

CARTER: Yeah, well of course, I love Lance and I love the character Frank Black, and I would love to figure out a way to work with him again as that character. I don’t know if he’ll come back this year but it’s something that I would like to explore. I mean, actually, “Millennium,” which was not as beloved as “X-Files,” would make a great movie.

QUESTION: Chris, to play devil’s advocate, I was just wondering – given all that Scully’s been through, wouldn’t it make a certain kind of sense for her to really believe in a lot of this? And does it seem kind of weird that she’s still resisting believing, given all that she’s been through and all that she’s seen?

CARTER: Yeah, that was always the trick. But, as I say, she’s a scientist. In her heart, she’s a scientist and she has to come at things scientifically as any smart person would do in this case. Even Mulder was, at least, considerate – or considered science when making his giant leaps. So I see what you’re saying, but I think that it makes the character interesting. She’s torn. And she’s always been torn.

The great thing about Scully was that she wears a cross around her neck. She has a religious bent. She has beliefs and those beliefs were always in conflict with her science anyway. So she has been a character who has been tom both in her belief and in her personal approach in life.

QUESTION: Chris, speaking of that “Millennium” episode, when you had to wrap up the show in just an hour of “X-Files,” did that force you to change your original plans? Or was the Millennium group’s big scheme always involving a guy in a basement with a bunch of zombies? [laughter]

CARTER: That story came about as a result of wanting to put Lance and Frank Black on the show. But I still think there are places to go with that idea. You know, whether or not I’ll ever get to do it is another story.

QUESTION: Will David be writing or directing any episodes this season?

CARTER: He’s actually – he ran a couple of story ideas past me, but he hasn’t figured out how to do one without Mulder in it yet. So I think when he comes to me with a story like that, I wouldn’t rule out anything.

QUESTION: Are there any new marketing plans for – it seems like, at one time, the market was just flooded, especially when the movie came out, with “X-Files” merchandise. And I know you’re very protective of what’s done there. Has there been any discussion of any new markets or any new products that anybody’s approached you about lately?

CARTER: No. I mean, it’s always a matter of just what’s – just putting the stuff out there and making sure that it’s very good quality. And I think, with the movie, the gates were opened and a lot of stuff got out there that I had never anticipated putting out there. I still think that less is more and that smaller is better.

And, luckily, that way you don’t see stuff in the bargain basement bins and stuff. That would be my biggest disappointment is if I ever saw stuff out there that no one really wanted. So I think that if we do anything, that will be certainly a consideration of ours.

QUESTION: Chris, could you talk a little bit about the actors who have become kind of accidental stars? Was Mitch Pileggi originally thought to be just going to be in for a second and the guys, who were the Lone Gunmen – they were like guys you just cast in Vancouver for small roles? Just talk about them for a minute.

CARTER: It’s all a happy accident. You know, you find these actors and you like to write for them and you find them interesting to watch and, all of a sudden, everyone else does too. I mean, it’s wonderful. And with Mitch and with the Lone Gunmen, I think there could be a spin-off series with Mitch Pileggi if you wanted to do that. These have just become very important characters to the series and who have grown into their own. They’ve developed their own fan clubs. That’s always a good thing on a show.

QUESTION: Chris, is it okay for us to ask “Lone Gunmen” questions now?

CARTER: Yeah. [laughter]

QUESTION: What can you tell us about the spin-off?

CARTER: It’s going to be a mid-season replacement as I understand it. I’m told that it’s going to take “The X-Files” time slot in the spring. I’m very excited about that. We’ll take a little “X-Files” hiatus and it’s going to be a show that’s more comedic than it is dramatic. These guys are wonderful together. These three sort of nerds – techies. It’s kind of like “Mission Impossible” on laughing gas. It is a light touch and approach and I think that we’re doing some things we would never have done on “The X-Files” and that’s an exciting thing.

QUESTION: Now Chris, are the Lone Gunmen going to be on “The X-Files”? And are any of “The X-Files” actors going to appear on “The Lone Gunmen”?

CARTER: I hope that there’s going to be a crossover? And the Lone Gunmen are definitely going to be back on “The X-Files” because they’re going to be in the first episode, which I have just written. And they’re in the second episode as well. So they will be still a part of “The X-Files.” I don’t know yet what the crossover possibilities are into “The Lone Gunmen.” It’ll all be contractual and our abilities are going to be hampered or helped by people’s willingness to go to Vancouver which is where that show will be shot. Actually, the three actors are Canadian.

QUESTION: How many episodes have been filmed – are they planning to film in the beginning? Thirteen?

CARTER: There’s one episode filmed – the pilot. And then, we’re going to do 12 past that.

QUESTION: To go back to “The X-Files” quickly, Doggett and Scully will become partners. And where does that leave Mulder when he’s back on the show?

CARTER: They are not partners. He is being integrated into the show in a way that he is, in fact, not partnered with her. So when Mulder comes back to the show, it will be – that will be the interesting dynamic. How does it work? How does it work between them? I don’t know necessarily that it’ll be competitive. In fact, it might be a symbiotic relationship. These are things we have to explore and, certainly, we look forward to exploring Scully and Doggett through the first half of the season.

QUESTION: What do you think the ramifications from last season – the controversy with David and the lack of Emmy nods means for this season? I mean, are you approaching it with a little bit of, you know, fear or-

CARTER: No, I have no fear. All it makes me want to do is work harder. You know, I’m very competitive. I think one of the reasons this show has been as good as its been for seven years is that there’s a competitive environment on the show. We want to win, we want to impress people, we want to keep the show good, we want to prove to ourselves that we are not resting – we don’t want to rest on our laurels — we want to prove to ourselves that we can still, after 161 episodes, we can continue to be imaginative. It’s a real challenge. But I think that’s the challenge past the challenge and we’re continuing to take it.

QUESTION: Yeah, I think a lot of fans are worried that the show is going to kind of go out with a whimper, you know?

CARTER: I don’t want that to happen. I would not have come back this year if I felt that was going to happen. And I thought long and hard about how the character dynamic would be, what would be a nice addition to the show, how we could in fact reenergize the show in a way that made it interesting for everyone, including the audience. And I think Robert Patrick is going to be a hit. I think he is going to strike a chord. And I certainly think the relationship that these two characters are going to have is going to be – make the Mulder and Scully relationship even more interesting.

QUESTION: Chris, can we clarify something here, because everything we have received from the network in terms of a schedule has “The Lone Gunman” as a mid-season series on Thursday nights. You seem to be saying something different.

CARTER: I don’t know exactly what night it’ll be on, but I hope that there is a change that it will be in that “X-Files” timeslot, certainly for its premiere.

QUESTION: And what would the timing of that be? Because at one time there was every indication it was going to be January or –

CARTER: My impression, and this is far in the future, is that it will be late February, early March.

QUESTION: Chris, can you tell me is smoking man finally dead? [laughter]

CARTER: You know, I’m going to not tell you because I want to give the audience something later on this year.

QUESTION: So we will see William B. Davis again?

CARTER: Dead or alive.

QUESTION: Just one question right here. Am I getting this right, there is only one alien presence, right? That is the same ship that was in the movie?

CARTER: The ship that you just saw in the-

QUESTION: Yeah, I mean there’s only one – there’s not like tons of aliens that’s coming up sucking up people.

CARTER: Well, it’s not a one-horse town, I mean, they do have other ships. [laughter]

QUESTION: One alien town.

QUESTION: But I mean, it just seems weird that like – oh there’s one tribe. Is that what it is?

CARTER: Well you know, in the literature, if you will, there are different races of aliens, and so this is something we’re going to play with this year.

QUESTION: So then – because when the movie happened, it was like, okay, why would he get – okay, he rescued Scully, right? And it’s like, ooh, they’re bad, they’re trying to ruin us, whatever. And then – then you go – and then he gets sucked up and you’re in the season finale, like okay, now what the hell? I mean-

CARTER: This is the sports car and the other one was the Lincoln Continental.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you.

QUESTION: Chris, I’m a little curious about the timing of “The Lone Gunmen.” With the – a series where you have the characters, you have the concept, you have the people playing them, why is it coming on so late, especially given the holes that FOX has in its schedule?

CARTER: Because I felt that it would be too difficult for us to do “The X-Files” the way we’re doing it and launch another show for the fall. It was just too much work. I’ve done that. And it’s a tremendous amount of work and everything and everybody suffers. And I just wanted to do “The X-Files” right and I wanted to do “The Lone Gunmen” night.

QUESTION: Chris, I think the idea of “The Lone Gunmen” is a great one, but I’m wondering, just in terms of the mass audience, because who is the audience going to be for that show beyond “X-Files” fans? And how much of that do you have to take into account in creating this kind of a series?

CARTER: I mean, you’ve got to be very mindful of that because the idea is to get enough people to watch it to keep it on the air. So I think that there’s going to be something for everyone, not by design, but I think it’s going to be funny, I think it’s going to be smart, it’ll be touching, it’ll be winning in every way.

And it’s not just the Lone Gunmen, there are other characters as well. There’s a character named Yves Adele Harlow [sp], the woman you see in the pilot, who is going to play a big role in the show. There’s going to be a character you’ll see in the second episode who is a very masculine presence in their midst, and a sort of – a kind of Sam Malone sort of character.

There’s going to be – it is going to end up being a kind of ensemble cast but with these three characters at the very core and center of it.

QUESTION: In your mind is it a companion piece to “The X-Files”? Or is it like a “Harsh Realm” or a “Millennium,” its own animal?

CARTER: I think it’s a companion piece but it, tonally, is going to be more like the lighter-hearted “X-Files”?

QUESTION: Chris, since we’ve only seen the Lone Gunmen in their little lab with all their computers, are you going to maybe expand more into the personal lives of them outside of the bolted-door place?

CARTER: Yeah, in fact, in the pilot you actually learn a lot more about the Lone Gunmen than you’ve ever, ever known before. So – that’s the answer. I see people creeping on stage.

QUESTION: Chris, going back to your comments on limiting the merchandising. How has your theory on that limited the number of home video episodes of “The X-Files” being available to the public?

CARTER: I don’t think it’s limited it at all. I mean, the video – the choice to put the videos out is FOX’S, and FOX’s alone. And they put them out when they feel that it is right – the right time to put them out.

QUESTION: What consultation do they have with you as far as which of the episodes from each season that you would like to see on home video?

CARTER: I think we all sort of agree on – and I have – there’s actually a person who works with me here — Mary Astadourian, she’s here today – who is very much involved in that process, and they choose the best episodes to put out in any event, what are considered to be the best episodes.

QUESTION: So how many will come out this coming year?

CARTER: I actually don’t know the answer to that.

QUESTION: Chris, do you know how – do you know sort of what your arc is for this whole season and how you want that final – what could be the very final episode to go? Or are you really going to have to wait and see what happens with contracts and everything else before you decide how to end this?

CARTER: Unfortunately, I have to say, it’s the latter. I really have to be mindful of what I have – what resources I have available to me. And as the TV series leads to hopefully another movie, I want to be mindful of that too. I want those things to work together. So as the season progresses, I’ll have a better idea of where we stand. But it really won’t affect the storytelling all that much, it just may affect the tone or degree of something.

KOUNELIAS: One more question please.

QUESTION: [unmiked] Chris, the female lead in “Lone Gunmen” is she cast yet?

CARTER: Yes.

QUESTION: Who is that?

CARTER: Her name is Zuleika Robinson [sp]. And she’s a newcomer, you’ve never seen her before. She’s wonderful.

QUESTION: And you said the first name of the character is Yves Adele?

CARTER: Yves — [spells] Y-V-E-S — Adele Harlow. It’s an anagram.

QUESTION: I get it.

KOUNELIAS: We’d like to thank you all for coming today.