The truth is out there but so are lies. Thus Scully cautioned her fellow investigator Mulder. And for those others who spend time investigating the mysteries of "The X-Files" [the series in this case] these are words to follow like the beam of a flashlight. The rumors are out there too. And as far as season seven of the award winning Fox drama is involved few of them have substance.
For example, one such rumor that has been running with lungs of iron is that the much promised, Stephen King/George Romero episode will finally spring to life [undeath?] in the seventh season. As nothing has been packaged in terms of any agreement with these two talents such claims are stapled together with hopes and not much more at this point. This isn't to say that it won't happen, just that it's not happening now.
Names of episodes and details about them are being handed out like candy on Halloween. But in every case fans are walking away much like Charlie Brown with a bag full of rocks. There are as of yet no scripts written for season seven of The X-Files and as such the titles that are being suggested for episodes are non existent.
However, for those in search of spoilers the answers are there. You just need to know where to look. The season six finale left the audience with large questions. Mulder seemed to be losing his mind. Why? What made Mulder go "violent" and cause him to be institutionalized? In the past the scribes at Ten Thirteen Productions were as much in the dark as the show's rabid followers! They often times wrote themselves into corners with no solid concept of where the story would evolve. Things are different with this cliffhanger.
Originally, the plot for the season finale was to consist of more than a single episode and to be continued to the opening of the seventh season [a fourth installment]. Various difficulties led to the story arc being trimmed down. But important elements were written and even included into the script for the twenty second episode of season six. These were later removed. Yet as it is that they're pivotal to the explanation of how certain situations came about they'll be expressed dramatically in the show's premiere in November.
In the installment that opens season seven the nature of Mulder's 'insanity' will be revealed. The agent hasn't been enduring bouts of schizophrenia after all. He's been reading people's minds after the fashion of psychic whiz kid Gibson Praise! [Jeff Gulka who portrays Gibson has been approached by Ten Thirteen for further work on the series for it's seventh year.] Mulder hasn't been able to control this paranormal ability and this has caused him to become disoriented and seemingly insane.
The reason for this psychic ability coming into being is related to Mulder becoming exposed to the cosmic radiation from an ancient artifact. A rubbing was made of this relic and it absorbed from it a form of energy found only outside of our solar system. Mulder became impregnated with it upon handling the rubbing. This energy only causes a reaction in certain people [ there are plot points here reminiscent of Hammer Studio's 1967 film "Quatermass And The Pit" released in the US as "Five Million Years To Earth"]
In the premiere of "The X-Files" in November we'll learn that while alone with her at his apartment Mulder started to receive psychic impressions from the mind of Diana Fowley. From what he was able to take from her mind his old flame had in some way betrayed him [he suspects her of spying on him as he suggested to Scully that Skinner was].
Mulder became enraged. He made such accusations against her. In his disorganized state [as well as his anger] Fowley became convinced that Mulder was a danger. She fired on him with an electric stun gun and incapacitated him. This is how Mulder came to be deemed dangerous and held in a rubber room.
This episode will mark a new direction in the continuing 'mythology' [the main story thread] of the series. Most of the plot points of earlier seasons will never be revisited again. There's going to be hanging loose ends to be sure. However it will make for a leaner, clearer season...
Added 7-16-99:
BRYAN SPICER was the new kid on the block when he directed "Three Of A Kind" for the sixth season of THE X-FILES. Clearly he didn't leave the series producers as paranoid as he left his audience because they've slated him to direct another X-opus this season.
CHRIS OWENS of X-Files fame looks as though he's been given the gift of reincarnation over at TEN THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS. Although he saw his character of FBI agent SPENDER killed off on that program there's strong word that he's going to be turning up on HARSH REALM during its first season.
For the regular cast of THE X-FILES some wiggling around is going to have to be done in terms of scheduling during the early days of production. Filming of THE X-FILES is to start on August 2nd. As those who caught the season cliffhanger of the sixth season know the character of ALEX KRYCEK seemed to be playing an important role in the story that was as tradition would have it was TO BE CONTINUED.
It would have been expected that KRYCEK would return for the second installment. But in order for that to happen... a mountain will have to be overcome. NICK LEA is signed to a feature for Columbia Pictures [Martin Campbell's "VERTICAL LIMIT"] that begins production in New Zealand at the same time as filming of season seven of THE X-FILES is to start! You can imagine the problems this makes for the character of KRYCEK.
Both DUCHOVNY and ANDERSON will be hard at work on projects of their own as filming begins on THE X-FILES. All this goes to make up a tricky start for the final season of the long running hit.
Added 7-26-99:
Taken from Mr. Showbiz:
It's no secret that next season will likely be the last for Fox's hit series The X-Files, but if it does go on, it'll do so without David Duchovny.
Seven years of aliens, conspiracies, and paranormal encounters is plenty, says Duchovny. He told the Toronto Sun, "Seven years is a long time to do one show and I have other things to do."
The actor, who plays FBI agent Fox Mulder on the show, has been very vocal in the past about his boredom and dissatisfaction with the series. He was somewhat appeased when the show moved from Vancouver B.C. to L.A. last year at Duchovny's request. The move apparently wasn't enough to make the actor want to renew his contract, however, which expires after season number seven, as does that of series creator Chris Carter.
Carter told the New York Daily News that he hasn't ruled out an eighth season, even one without Mulder, who is half of the show's dynamic duo. "I have no absolute answer about this," said Carter. He is on track with original plans to end the series in May 2000, "I'm looking at these next 22 episodes as a wrapup," he told the Daily News. Carter is turning his attention to his new sci-fi drama, Harsh Realm, which will premiere this fall on Fox.
Curiously, Gillian Anderson is signed to an eighth season (even though Carter and Duchovny had only seven-year contracts), which means she could get a new partner or go it solo. (Does that mean that we'll be seeing The Scully Forensic Hour?)
And, strange as it sounds, Duchovny thinks he won't be missed. He told the Sun, "Even if I was indispensable at one point, I'm no longer indispensable. Nobody is indispensable. It's a brand name. It's Crest. It's something like that. It's Menudo," he said, referring to the Puerto Rican boy band that constantly refreshed its members.
He does admit to feeling "proprietary" about the Mulder character, adding that if the show continued without him, "There would be a part of me that would be sitting at home wishing thoroughly that it would fail." However, he told the Sun the show will certainly be fondly remembered. "I think you know that at its heart … it was just a f---ing good show."
Duchovny's not only honed his skills at alien-hunting while on the show, he's also co-written episodes, and this season wrote and directed his first installment, a well-received riff on aliens and baseball.
Although Playing God, his first movie vehicle made after the show turned him into one of TV's hottest hunks, crashed and burned at the box office, Duchovny's back on the big screen, teaming with Minnie Driver for the romantic comedy Return to Me, due out next year.
Whether or not Mulder's on the small screen, Duchovny is committed to upcoming X-Files movies. Much like the Star Trek films, which feature the cast of the long-canceled Star Trek: Next Generation series, Anderson and Duchovny will continue to make motion pictures about the adventures of Mulder and Scully.
Just don't expect a sequel to last year's big screen drama too soon. "I think it would be wonderful to do one this summer," Carter told the Daily News, but I think this is going to be a busy year."
Personally, I wouldn't want the show to go on without Mulder (not necessarily DD, who's really starting to piss me off...but there's no Mulder w/o him), and I don't see how it *could* go on, if they're planning to make more movies.
Added 8-16-99:
From Jesse on the message boards:
I saw Mimi Rogers while attending the premiere of BOWFINGER the other night and walked up to her and asked if she would be back on X-Files this year and I'll quote: "Pfft, not for long."
I saw Michael McKean while attending the premiere of TEACHING MRS TINGLE last night and told him I loved him on X-Files - he was happy to meet a fan of the show! He said he would be back this season and as he got into his limo he said "KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES".
Added 8-17-99:
The Lone Gunmen are contracted for 6 eps this season and Vince Gilligan will write another solo ep for the Gunmen.
Added 8-23-99:
On page 50 of the Sept/Oct issue of Cinescape
It seems like just yesterday that the X-Files was the little cult show that could. But now the successful series is heading into its seventh - and likely final - season. And although the series isn't quite the media hype magnet it once was, in many ways the show is still on top of its game. "Its like a marriage," says XF exec producer Frank Spotnitz. "We have been around for six years and people know us. It becomes harder to surprise people, but we just keep doing the same hard work we've always done and try to deliver the best quality show we know how."
In the seventh season, the show's writers will have to work hard to pick up the shards of the X-Files's mythology arc that was obliterated in last year's watershed two-parter "Two Fathers/One Son." Spotnitz admits that the government conspiracy was becoming too unwieldy and that he and Chris Carter thought that partially resolving the arc in the 6th season had an advantage; the element of surprise. "We thought it would be great because no one expected us to do it [then]," he says. Instead, they decided to take the mythology in a new direction. "We really opened up a new chapter in the mythology [with the sixth season cliffhanger] 'Biogenesis', and that will be the final chapter of the series.
The effects of that discovery and what has happened to Mulder will drive all the mythology episodes [leading] into the series finale," Spotnitz promises. "I think you can expect to see all of the major characters involved in the resolution of the series." He adds that viewers can look forward to the series coming full-circle in the seventh season and dealing "very directly" with the disappearance of Mulder's sister & his relationship with Scully.
Although the X-Files cast and crew are counting on the seventh season as being their last, they recognize that there may be pressure from Fox to pump out an additional year. Nonetheless, Carter and Spotnitz are already planning ways to bid their characters a fond farewell. "We are plotting out the last thing you will see of CSM, the last you'll see of Krycek, of Skinner. We do that with a lot of mixed feelings, even though I think the time is right [to end the series]," Spotnitz says. But take heart, disconsolate X-Philes - Mulder & Scully may return for another big-screen adventure as early as 2001. "We're just at the very early stages of discussing that with the studio," Spotnitz reveals. "I anticipate the series finale will leave room for films in the future."
Added 9-21-99:
An interview with Frank Spotnitz:
FS talking about 7ABX08, the (rumored) Millenium Crossover Episode: "There will be a millennial episode of The X Files, about the end of the century."
The series' writers and producers have come up with some other interesting concepts as well. "David Amman is writing an episode about teenagers who are able to commit crimes with impunity in a small town. Jeff Bell is writing an episode about luck, which is one of the few X Files that everyone has experienced, so that should be interesting. And Vince Gilligan is writing a story from the point of view of the monster, which we've never done before. The hunted will be telling the story, and you'll really be seeing Mulder and Scully through the monster's eyes," explains FS. (Gotta love that 3rd person POV! *g*)
Fans of the fifth season's Kill Switch will be happy to learn cyberpunk author William Gibson will be coming down the pike. "It's not a sequel; it's a completely different story. I'm not sure when in the season that will be, but there will be another William Gibson episode."
The seventh season of TXF will open with a two-part conclusion to last season's cliffhanger, Biogenesis. The episode picks up where Biogenesis left off, with FM in a sanitarium and DS finding a space ship off the coast of Africa. The impact and implications of DS's findings will reverberate throughout the remainder of the series - not to mention affect DS's own outlook, which historically has been that of the staunch sceptic. "We really opened up a new chapter in mythology with Biogenesis, and that will be the final chapter of the series. The effects of that discovery and what has happened to Mulder will drive all the mythology episodes into the series finale," elaborates FS. "The series will be continuous with everything that preceded it. It's really continuing the mythology that's been going on since the beginning, but without the conspiracy. And I think people will begin to see how it all reconnects heading towards the end point of the series, assuming the end point of the series is this year."
XF: the future
Whether this year is really the end of the line remains to be seen. As of the start of filming for the new season in early August, FS admitted that he's heard rumblings about the possibility of an eighth season. "I intend to act like this is the last year until I hear otherwise, because as far as I know, it is," he maintains. "Until someone tells me differently, I'm just going to try and build this season as gracefully as I can towards a conclusion. I love the series, and I could go on forever - but I just think the time is right. There was time, a point in time when I thought five seasons was going to be it, and then we got two more years of life. I think it feels right [to conclude the series] at the end of this season. But I also think there will probably be enormous pressure put on all of us to continue." Ultimately, the decision on whether to continue will rest with series creator CC and stars GA and DD.
Together with fellow producers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban, FS has been busily plotting the course of XF mythology across the 22 episodes of the season. Laughs FS, "I don't what [sic] I'll do if it ends up there's another year. I assume I'll know early enough that the other writers and I can adjust in time. I hope," he adds quickly. When the final episode does come, there will be no holds barred. "I can tell you that this is a series where, when we write that final episode, it will be the final episode, because there are things that are going to happen so that you will know it's the final episode," promises FS.
Solving the puzzle
"We've all been thinking about, in anticipation of this being the last year, what's the best way to send off Skinner, Krycek, Marita Covarrubius, the Cigarette Smoking Man, and all of these characters that we have come to care so much about. You can expect to see all the major characters involved in the resolution of the series. And we'll deal very directly with Mulder's sister and with the relationship between Mulder and Scully. (I have read this so many times that it's starting to sound like a threat rather than a promise...but read on, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. *g*) So we are working out the story lines that will lead to the series finale, and to the place where we leave all these characters as the TV series ends. That's very exciting, while also a huge responsibility, because it's a farewell, and we want to do it just right." FS offers a bemused glance when pressed about the state of M&S's relationship - a topic which was beaten to death by the press when the feature film was released last year. "I remember one season - I think it was Season Five - I logged on [to the Internet] and I saw everyone thought there had been a rift between them. And we never intended that," remembers FS. "I actually talked to Gillian, and she didn't perceive it either. So I don't know where these perceptions come from sometimes. People read a lot into small things and that's probably because we so rarely write specifically to address the state of that relationship." (Gee, ya THINK???)
The producers are contemplating a more overt treatment of the dynamic FBI duo's relationship this season. (YES!!) "There was the near kiss in the movie, which indicated their desire, even though they did not consummate their kiss. We played with that mostly humorously last year. And I think there will be a more direct examination of their relationship in the coming year," FS hints. (Woo hoo! The characters deserve to be happy...and so do we!)
Added 10-4-99:
David is not returning for season 8. Gillian recently made it clear she is not returning. David IS IN the last 4 episodes (so he will not be replaced for the last 4 episodes). This latter is in response to a rumor that had circulated saying that "Mulder" would be played by Stephen Rea for the last 4 episodes of S7. THIS RUMOR IS UNTRUE.
This is an excerpt taken out of the Houston Chronicle - article written by Ian Spelling.
The X-Files begins its seventh and final season Nov. 7. Carter won't rule out an eighth year. But, given DD's desire to move on and his lawsuit against Twentieth Century Fox television, Agent Scully may be left to carry on without Agent Mulder, the male lead in the series. And Carter admits he is compelled to craft new episodes as a sprint to the finish line.
"You can expect us to deliver on the promises the show gave you seven years ago, as far as the Mulder mythology and the Mulder-Scully relationship are concerned," Carter says. "There's going to be a significant episode for Mulder and Scully that will deeply affect their relationship. (I don't know whether to be thrilled or frightened to death when CC says stuff like this.)
"Beyond that we're going to do really, scary shows this season," Carter decided. "Last year, after the movie, I think we decided to do something different with the show. It was an imaginative as it had ever been, but was also fanciful and somewhat whimsical.
"I was very proud of season six, but for year seven we want to see if we can go back to scary the pants off people," he says.
From Cinescape Online: --> Veronica Cartwright to return <--
"It seems reasonable that Veronica Cartwright will be back, not just because she's a terrific actress, but because her character undoubtedly survived..." Davis says. "The Rebel Aliens took her and they needed her. So, she's still alive. I don't know if 'alive' is quite the right word, but she's probably still out there in outer space."
Added 10-7-99:
From Mr. Showbiz:
If "Trust no one" is the mantra of The X-Files, than "trust no rumors" seems to be its creator's creed.
After public statements by both David Duchovny and, more recently, Gillian Anderson that they're hanging up their FBI badges, producer Chris Carter comes forward to say nothing is certain.
"I wouldn't make any assumptions about who is going to be with the show or not, or even if the show is going to be around next year," Carter tells the New York Post. "I think there are way too many things that need to be worked out, decided, and cleared up before anyone can say clearly what is going to happen.
"We'll have to know [if the series will continue for an eighth season] sometime after the new year," Carter says, "probably in February or March for sure."
For the record, Duchovny and Carter both have contracts that expire at the end of this, the seventh, season; Anderson's runs for another year, but would be null and void if the show's off the air.
"It always [complicates matters] when contracts run out and there are situations unresolved, whether they be legal or creative. There are always things to work out. Through the life of the show, there have been many renegotiations. This is just another one," Carter says.
However, regardless of whether the series will end after seven or eight seasons, Carter says the story will continue on the big screen with Duchovny and Anderson reprising their roles of Mulder and Scully, a fact that seemed up in the air, given the two stars' public griping about their roles. The first film hit theaters in the summer of 1998 and brought in a so-so $84.6 million domestically.
Carter also took the opportunity to address his relationship with Duchovny, who's suing Fox over X-Files profits. Carter isn't a target of the actor's lawsuit, but Duchovny did allege that Carter conspired to keep him out of the loop.
The prolific producer, whose Harsh Realm premieres this Friday, says of his X-Files male lead, "We're doing great work; David and I just co-wrote a script. I don't see that there are any issues [between us]."
Carter is looking ahead, however. He told the New York Times that he's eyeing the Sunday slot as the eventual home of Harsh Realm.
The X-Files initially debuted on Fridays, where, Carter says, "You have to build an audience, you can't steal one." He'd originally opposed the switch to Sunday, but now says, "The show would never have been as popular without that move." So popular that Carter tells the Times, "I know Fox is still trying to find a way to keep The X-Files on another year."
from Andy Guess
"George Clooney is returning to the world of television, but it won't be the same show that launched him into super stardom. Clooney left NBC's blockbuster ER in February to focus on his movie career. His latest film, Three Kings--the story of three Gulf War soldiers seeking to find the spoils of war--debuted at number two at the box office this weekend and is being highly acclaimed by critics everywhere. Despite this, it looks like Clooney is heading over to the set of The X-Files. Star David Duchovny recently played the ER hunk in a game of basketball and convinced him to play a role in a script that Duchovny wrote with creator Chris Carter. The sci-fi show is reportedly in its last season."
from The X-Files Official Magazine
Q: How does it feel to begin work on the much rumored final season?
A: Every story feels like it's got a lot of weight attached to it because they may be the last 22. We're being careful about what stories we choose to tell. One of the very first things we did was sit down and talk about all of our major characters and where they're going to go and how they're going to end. Where's Skinner going to end up? Where's Krycek going to end up? What's the last image you'll see of CSM? It's a little sad actually to be thinking about those things, but it's kind of exciting, too.
Q: What can you reveal about the initial episodes?
A: We're going to begin with kind of a two-parter. The season finale from last year will not be resolved right away. There'll be two episodes. There'll be a major new character introduced there. We're going to do some storylines that David Duchovny actually suggested in those first two. Then we go in to stand-alones. Vince Gilligan's working on a story that's told from the point of view of the monster, which is going to be a lot of fun. Jeff Bell has a story about luck and what it means to have good luck or bad luck. David Amann is doing a story about troubled teenagers and a secret they all share in this one town. That's our starting line up.
Q: Will the upcoming season include as much comedy as we saw in Season 6?
A: It's kind of odd because you don't really know if you're going to go into a run of comedic episodes or not until you do it. It wasn't that premeditated. Last year, we just felt like it was a relief to all of us to have more funny ones. I don't expect there'll be as many comedic ones this year.
Q: Is Chris Carter planning another blockbuster type episode along the lines of "Triangle" or "The Post Modern Prometheus"?
A: I would be amazed if he has the time to direct anything this year. I think we will try to make as many of these episodes as we can this year spectacular and precedent-breaking, but between Harsh Realm and The X-Files I expect we'll be too busy writing to have him get behind the camera.
Q: You mentioned last year that Mulder and Scully are moving toward a new plateau in their relationship. What changes are in store this year?
A: Big changes! In the movie, they didn't kiss but clearly the desire was there. Then we really, I thought, teased the audience with episodes like "Triangle" and "The Rain King." I think you will see that attraction addressed more squarely at some point during the year and then certainly in the finale I would expect a direct conclusion to seven years of unrequited sexual tension.
Added 10-9-99:
Turns out that Clooney will be in the Season Premiere; for more information, go to spoiler information on that particular episode.
from a CC interview on KROQ:
I know this has already been said but CC confirmed this morning that the storyline dealing with Mulder's sister will be wrapped up. He also said that the final decision on whether this is the last season or not will come around the first of the year.
Added 10-12-99:
Clooney is NOT IN any of the premiere episodes. He has yet to do any filming and right now him appearing in a future episode is highly tentative and depends on Clooney's schedule. If Clooney does appear it will be in Feb sweeps in a standalone written by Carter and Duchovny.
Added 10-19-99:
Rob Bowman about his work for The X-Files in S7:
"I will have little involvement in the next season of the show because I've been working on a feature film "Riptide" for the Twentieth Century Fox since last January."
Rob Bowman about the Krycek/Skinner situation:
"Next season, we're going to find out Krycek has somehow blackmailed Skinner. He must know something about Skinner, that is, for Skinner to agree to go along with him. Skinner promised Mulder and Scully that he'd never side against them again, but something happens between he and Krycek. Skinner definitely has a deep connection to CSM, too. He supposedly noticed
what's behind these two from the very beginning when CSM sent Krycek as Mulder's new partner (Sleepless). I can't tell you what the resolution is, but Skinner is the man who plays the people underneath. If you need a certain thing that is very important in your life, he'll find that out and stop you from getting it unless you do him a favor. He follows people, and people's needs. Somehow he's going to acquire the fact that the spaceship is perhaps speculation. That's what Chris has told me," says Bowman.
...the video from 6x22 "Biogenesis":
"...CSM is going to want that video, the US government, and the Russians are going to want it, everyone wants it. This is how Krycek controls his place in the game. He's having this, stealing it, blackmailing for it, killing for it, whatever it takes. That's how he works. It's not strictly greed.
It's self preservation. If he doesn't have it, he feels he would be killed because he's worked both sides."
... on mytharc-real-deals in S7:
"In Season 7 we start focusing on Mulder's sister and family. What was the origin of alien arrival on Earth, and how that also impacted on Mulder's life. I think that most ot the storylines are light or deep. From my point of view, to do conspiracies and spaceships is automatically not the theme of the show. They are: Mulder's sister's abduction and his father's death in the bathroom in the house. Why his father was killed, what happened to his sister, and where is she now, are what Mulder wants to know. I think they're going to make a very powerful storyline about Mulder and his sister because that really is the theme of the foundation of the show."
(Umm...I hate to differ with you, Rob, but I think the foundation of the show is the relationship between Mulder and Scully, not Mulder and his sister - which it may have been at one point. Without Scully there, I couldn't care less about whether Mulder finds Samantha or not...come to think of it, I don't really care all that much, anyway. *g*)
Added 11-29-99:
From Cinescape: ‘X-Files’ Coming Back?
Though it’s generally assumed these days that with the seemingly imminent departure of David Duchovny from the Fox series, the days are numbered for The X-Files, there may still be hope. While talking to the L.A. Times, Fox Television Entertainment Group big shot, Sandy Grushow, revealed that bringing the series back for more is "a major priority, and it will continue to be one until we've secured another season."
Still, this isn’t all that far fetched with word back on November 15th from Duchovny where the actor seemed to be suggesting there was some small hope for Grushow, saying, "I mean, I wouldn't say ‘never’ about anything, but as of right now, my contract is up at the end of this coming year, so I'm living my life as if this would be the last year, and I'd be fine if it were the last year. I'm really proud of the six years so far, and seven years is a long time to be doing one show, and I have other things to do. But again, I don’t know."
Added 1-14-00:
Gillian is working on a script with the writers.
From Autumn on the mb:
I'd heard a rumor earlier this week that Gillian was going to be directing an episode of X-Files so I checked it out and apparently it is true. I hope to have more information soon. I don't know what episode at this point.
From TV Guide:
Files's Future Clouds Fox's Comeback Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Formerly foxy Fox, which had a fall season from hell, wants you to know that it is on the comeback trail — but the truth may not be out there when the cavalry arrives to rescue the under-performing network. We're talking, of course, about The X-Files, a hit show whose future is in doubt. "We still don't know whether it will be back for an eighth season," Sandy Grushow, chairman, Fox Television Entertainment Group, told reporters in Pasadena, CA, at the semi-annual TV critics press tour. "We would love to have The X-Files back and we're currently in discussions with Mr. [David] Duchovny's representatives and [series honcho] Chris Carter. Right now its chances [of returning] are no better than 50/50."
Can the show continue without Duchovny, who is making loud rumblings about his desire to leave the franchise? "Our agenda is to get the show back with him in it, but the decision to continue the show [without Duchovny] rests with Chris Carter," Grushow added. "A decision [on the show's future] is about a month away, so we are close. If there is no eighth season, we want to send this show out in an appropriate way."
Earlier in the session, Grushow admitted that 1999 was a "pretty challenging, dissatisfying year" for Fox, and that the network's "over-reliance on and over-saturation of [reality programming] bit us on our Fox behind. We've met the enemy, and the enemy is us... [but] I do believe that with a lot of hard work, patience and persistence, it is possible to turn it around."
Helping Fox turn its beat around are drama-series deals with sci-fi author Michael Crichton, who created the monster hit ER, and David E. Kelley, who just signed a long-term first-look deal with the network. "The light is still on [at Fox]," Doug Herzog, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, reminded reporters, adding that, "'Beleaguered' is not part of my official title."— Jonathan Reiner
CNN reported today that FOX plans to carry on with an eighth season of The X-Files with or without Duchovny. It is also reported that FOX executives are doing everything they can (including increasing his salary by almost double) to intice him to stay. Gillian Anderson, of course, is contracted through the eighth season regardless.
Added 1-18-00:
Mitch Pileggi just did a chat on news.au.com which is based in Australia.
He said that David Duchovny has written and will direct an upcoming episode and Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner will be heavily involved in it. He also went on to say that there is a funny scene involving or referring to the question about a romance developing between Skinner and Scully.
(Well, actually, when asked if there was any chance of a romance developing between Scully and Skinner, he said an emphatic NO then went on to explain about DD's ep)
Read the transcript here: http://www.community.news.com.au/logs/done/000117_pileggi.htm
From USA Today as posted by Marilyn on alt.tv.x-files:
And in the spring, Duchovny will direct an episode he wrote, which he
hopes will guest-star his wife, Tea Leoni, and Garry Shandling.
Please feel free to 
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