Oct-15-1999
Chris Carter Yahoo Chat

Sent in by BamaX

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

chris_carter_live: Ask away everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: Yes, yes, and what void?

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: Yes, definitely, stay tuned.

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: Stood gory telling.

mrsday99 asks: Do you ever work with Stephen King?

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

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

chris_carter_live: Yes. Even the dog from Fraser.

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

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

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

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

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

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

GoDucki asks: did you always like science fiction?

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

Yahoomc: What kind of genres were you into?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

r_michnik asks: were Gillian and David your original choices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: I am not a cross dresser!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: It drives us crazy too!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yahoomc: Assuming that’s an X-Files question

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

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

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

Agent_DesiLu asks: Do you ever read Fan Fiction?

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

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: Stark naked.

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

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

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

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

Yahoomc: Getting back to Harsh Realm…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: I’m a skeptic.

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

chris_carter_live: I don’t.

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

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

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

chris_carter_live: So much for limiting violence on TV!

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

chris_carter_live: The emptiness.

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

chris_carter_live: Every week.

outlaw_torn721 asks: Are their aliens in Harsh realm?

chris_carter_live: There may be.

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

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

carneo asks: do you got plans to make cartoons?

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

chris_carter_live: Thanks for indulging me and watch Harsh Realm!

Yahoomc: Thanks for joining us Chris!

Tags: chris carter, harsh realm, lone gunmen, millennium, x-files, xf2

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 1999 at 12:00 am and is filed under Interviews: Online. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.