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January 17, 2002
'X-Files' wrapping in May after 9 seasons out there
Jan. 17, 2002

Nine seasons. 201 episodes. Six Fox entertainment presidents. Chris Carter's "The X-Files" has stood the test of primetime during the past decade, but on Wednesday, Carter decided it was time to call it a wrap at the end of the season in May.

"I look at it as the ninth-inning situation," Carter told The Hollywood Reporter late Wednesday. "I'd rather go out now and celebrate rather than have to make an announcement in the summer."

"X-Files" had a tough start to its ninth season as it faced stiffer competition in the Sunday 9 p.m. slot and lost some of its traction with fans in its first season without original series star David Duchovny. With the show's Nielsen numbers down and production costs approaching $4 million an episode, speculation was mounting that the 20th Century Fox TV drama would end its run this year.

"I want to be able to wrap things up for the fans who have been there from the beginning and throughout," Carter said. "My determination was to go out with a series of very, very strong episodes that are going to pull a lot of threads together from the last nine years."