The Official Magazine: How is Season Seven progressing? Spotnitz: If there’s anything I’ve learned, [it's that] I really don’t see what it’s like until the end. You look back and say, “That’s what this year was really [like].” It’s kind of hard when you’re in the midst of it. X-Files Magazine: Will this be the final year for The X-Files? Spotnitz: Nobody knows. It’s David’s last year in his contract. It’s Chris’ last year in his contract. I’m told Gillian has one more year, although ... [Continua a leggere]

Chris Carter has – and always has had – a grand master plan for The X-Files. He had – and unfortunately never got the chance to fully implement – a grand master plan for Harsh Realm. So what doesn’t Carter have a grand master plan for? His life. “There is no grand plan,” admits the 43-year-old writer/director/producer. What Carter does have is a dream. The man behind the paranoid conspiracies of The X-Files, the brooding mysteries of Millennium and the twisted virtual reality of Harsh Realm has a decidedly sunny vision of tomorrow. In it, ... [Continua a leggere]

The initial episodes of the high-concept sci-fi/action show adapted from Andrew Paquette and James Hudnall’s comic book of the same name had received critical praise for its ambition but low ratings. Fox executives concerned about how their fall line-up would fare against that of other networks abruptly cancelled the series, explains executive producer Frank Spotnitz. “It goes without saying, I think it was a terrible decision made by people who were panicked,” Spotnitz says. “I think if these people had been in charge when The X-Files launched, X-Files w ... [Continua a leggere]

X-Files Magazine: How does it feel to begin work on the much rumored final season? Spotnitz: 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 ... [Continua a leggere]

In season seven’s first stand-alone, Vince Gilligan tells the tale of a monster’s tragic eating disorder. Vince Gilligan has everyone fooled. The X-Files writer/co-executive producer best known for quirky episodes like Seasons Four’s “Small Potatoes” and Season Five’s “Bad Blood” projects an unmistakable Southern charm; in person, he is amiable, easy-going, good-natured. But lurking somewhere deep within his psyche is a villainous imp. There must be. There’s simply no other explanation for how someone so unassuming could send ... [Continua a leggere]

The Cool View Motel is not the kind of place you would expect to find outside the balmy, bustling activity of Los Angeles. A breeze rustles leaves belonging to a thick stand of trees nearby. The gravel lot shifts uncomfortably as the occasional truck rumbles over its skin. The decor is anything but trendy. The Cool View us a rustic stop somewhere in the middle of nondescript territory. Its only distinguishing feature on this mid-October evening is the remarkable sunset consuming the Western sky, an explosion of red hues that is the inadvertent result, a random passerby mentions ... [Continua a leggere]

You might say Keanu Reeves inspired the first stand alone episode of Season Six, the action packed “Drive.” “I sort of wanted to do our version of the Speed,” says writer Vince Gilligan. “[I wanted] something to do with people who couldn’t stop moving. I guess it speaks to how fast paces society is nowadays.” Fast paced is a good way to describe the episode, in which Mulder is taken hostage by a man who forces him at gun point to drive across the country. If the agent stops the car, the man dies. “I had this crazy teaser ... [Continua a leggere]

The reedy voice on the telephone, until now cheerful and friendly, suddenly cackles with familiar menace. “Kill me off for a few weeks?” it asks petulantly, referring to the events in “Redux II.” “Then I’m going to get revenge.” William B. Davis seems to enjoy playing off of his devious television persona. During interviews he frequently speaks in first person to describe the Cigarette Smoking Man’s machination, and his tone often drops conspiratorially when offering caustic asides about The Project. While it’s all done in go ... [Continua a leggere]

The X-Files Official Magazine: Congratulations on 16 Emmy Award Nominations. Spotnitz: All of us were really pleased and honored. It sounds trite, but it really is an honor. To get so many nominations in the fifth year of a television series is really gratifying and surprising. The X-Files Official Magazine: Did that help generate a positive atmosphere for the beginning of Season Six? Spotnitz: It sure did. The timing really could not have been better. The Emmy nominations were announced, and the very next day we had our first production meeting with our new crew in Los Angeles. I ... [Continua a leggere]

No one could have predicted that Spender, or the Cigarette-Smoking Man or even Skinner would don Nazi uniforms during Season Six, yet, that’s exactly what happened. Chris Carter’s imaginative narrative for his groundbreaking “real time” episode sends Mulder to the Bermuda Triangle where he boards a ship missing since 1939. On board, he encounters all the show’s characters — only they are not themselves but strangers from another era. The beautifully restored Queen Mary, which is also an operating hotel, provided the ideal location for the hist ... [Continua a leggere]

While driving down busy Southern California Streets, you might notice brightly colored sings sporting random nonsensical words affixed to the odd telephone poll. The markers are written in a secret code that only those well-versed in Industry Rhetoric can decipher-weird alien sounding abbreviations for film or television location shoots that transform neighborhood streets and store fronts into something more or less glamorous, depending on the day. Occasionally, between curses and head-shaking, grid locked drivers will glance across the street at the cardboard herald. But more ... [Continua a leggere]