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Archive for November, 1999

Newsday: Is the Future Out There?

Nov-04-1999
Newsday
Is the Future Out There?
Verne Gay

(The Long Island daily newspaper)

“The X-Files” has become the X factor for a struggling Fox.

Poor, poor Fox. Imagine the painful musings that are now going through executives’ heads: “No one is watching us … no one is watching us.” The mantra has picked up in recent days. No matter what we do, what we put on (with the exception of “Ally McBeal’s” premiere) the song remains the same. No one is watching Fox.

And no one knows exactly why.

The numbers tell a particularly brutal tale. Last week – with the World Series airing Tuesday and Wednesday – virtually all Fox’ shows drew under a 10 percent audience share. The exception was Sunday, when an NFL overrun dragged some football fans into the prime-time schedule. So far this season, Fox’ regular shows are tracking more than half a rating point behind last year’s performance.

Fox has already canceled two shows (Harsh Realm, Ryan Caulfield: Year One), shelved two others (Family Guy, Action) and pulled one (Manchester Prep) even before a single episode aired. The network is now airing movies on Friday, throwing “trash” specials into other holes, and praying hard – that the new Chuck Woolery game show, “Greed,” which premiers tonight will not sink into the muck that has become its new season.

Executives don’t really want to talk about the fall and for good reason: They have no answers. There have been rumors – all unsubstantiated – that new boss Doug Herzog is about to take a bullet for the merging fiasco. That’s unlikely to happen, just yet. Herzog’s not to blame. He’s a newcomer (from cable’s Comedy Central) with some good ideas (Action) and some bad luck, who is saddled with a scheduling strategy sanctioned by Rupert Murdoch. But then no one is going to fire Rupert, are they?

So what gives? First off, “The X-Files” premieres Sunday, and Fox without “Files” is like NBC without “ER.” The premiere is a good and appropriately creepy continuation of last year’s season-ender, and the episode should do a big number.

Also, Fox typically has a poor October. Last year at this time, a bunch of new shows were canceled and another entertainment president (Peter Roth), took an early vacation. Then the rest of the season turned around – even though that was accomplished mostly by sensational “shock TV” specials.

Veteran TV observer Paul Schulman, president of Schulman/Advanswers NY (a media buying firm), says that “the biggest problem that Fox has is that they started the season late, and when you start “Files” in November, the hour version of “Ally” and “Party of Five” in October, you are, in effect, losing the promotional platform for your new shows.” He adds, “it also hurts that those who did tune to their new shows rejected them.”

Yes, indeed. But others just might argue that Fox’ biggest problem has to do with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, the two guys who produce the network’s biggest show. Most people now assume that “The X-Files” will end this season; both David Duchovny (who is suing Fox for back-end profits) and Gillian Anderson have indicated they want out.

But in the strange netherworld that is Hollywood, the following could also happen: Fox, desperate to keep “Files” for an eighth season, could settle Duchovny’s suit and pay the producers and “ER”-size ransom to return.

Will they want to? Both Carter and Spotnitz were stunned when their “Harsh Realm” was dumped after just three airings. In an interview, Spotnitz says that “it seemed like a panicked, irrational decision. They came to us before the show debuted and said, ‘we blew it by not promoting the show. It’s just terrible and we’re going to try and make it up …’ And then, suddenly, it was canceled without any warning whatsoever. There was no discussion, we were not even privy to their line of thinking. So we were shocked.”

Now ask yourself this: If you were president of Fox, would you throw a cream pie in the face of your most important producers? Of course you wouldn’t. But sources say Fox execs were shocked themselves after they learned that the Oct 22 episode of “Realm” was nearly beaten by the WB’s “Steve Harvey Show.” Given that a founder of Fox (Jamie Kellner) now runs the WB, the humiliation was apparently too great to endure.

Spotnitz adds that “obviously we were very unhappy with the way they treated “Harsh Realm” but we love “Files” and we want to keep a firewall between the issues.”

But is the end out there? “You know, it may be, but I don’t know. But from where I stand, not knowing the answer, I’ll act as if it is. I don’t want to find out that it’s too late and [we] haven’t done anything about it. So we’re treating it creatively as if this is the last season. We don’t want to miss any opportunities that last year might give us.”

And those would be: a kiss between Mulder and Scully; an episode starring the magician, Ricky Jay; the return of Lance Henriksen’s character, Frank Black, to complete the storyline for the canceled “Millennium”; and the return of an evil serial killer from an early season who had kidnaped Scully. And may we humbly suggest another idea? An episode about how an entire nation of Fox viewers were abducted by aliens.

Los Angeles Times: Chris Carter: Facing 'X' Factor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And when the end finally comes?

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

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

The Vicki Gabereau Show: Interview with Chris Carter

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

[Transcribed by gde1013]

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

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

VG: What happened, with Harsh Realm?

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

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

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

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

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

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

CC: Right, right.

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

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

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

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

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

CC: Harsh Realm?

VG: Yeah.

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

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

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

VG: Make somebody panic, and back up.

CC: I think so.

VG: Did you tell the crew, the cast?

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

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

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

VG: Fog, rain, muck.

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

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

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

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

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

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

CC: No, in town.

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

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

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

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

VG: Hard to find writers?

CC: Very hard — it’s a Harsh Realm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CC: Oh, yeah.

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

clip from “The Sixth Extinction”

*

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

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

*

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

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

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

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

VG: What happens?

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

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

CC: Tracy

VG: Tracy – and what’s her last name?

CC: [laughing] Mulder.

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

CC: Older than that – twenties.

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

CC: That’s my mother’s maiden name.

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

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

VG: But naming characters is a big deal.

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

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

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

VG: That’s deep. [laughs]

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

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

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

VG: Is your father your father?

CC: Yes, I think. [laughs]

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

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

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

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

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

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

VG: Yes, and from what country you came.

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

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

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

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

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

VG: Are you writing a book??

CC: Yes.

VG: What is it?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VG: How much are you writing now?

[sirens blaring in the background]

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

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

CC: [laughs] I don’t remember.

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

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

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

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

VG: Is that… Typewriter??

CC: [quickly] computer.

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

CC: Ha – no Luddite here.

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

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

VG: Do you ever take a Holiday?

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

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

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

*

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

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

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

CC: No, I haven’t.

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

CC: Cold, cold water.

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

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

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

CC: I still.. I’m not sure.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CC: Yeah.

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

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

VG: I’ll bet you do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

CC: Thank You.