Chris Carter

Writer / Show Creator
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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About
About this interview

In his nearly two-and-a-half-hour interview, Chris Carter talks about his early years, and working for Jeffrey Katzenberg at Disney. He describes pitching The X-Files to Fox, casting David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in the pilot, and getting the show on the air. He discusses the early seasons of the show and the audience reaction, as well as the process of collaborating with different writers and producers on the series. Carter describes The X-Files being one of the earliest shows that was discussed in depth on the internet, and the impact new media had on the series. He chronicles David Duchovny leaving the series, as well as the end of the show and the feature film spinoffs. He recalls his other series Millennium and The Lone Gunmen, which predicted a 9/11-style attack four months before the actual event. John Dalton conducted the interview on June 24, 2010 in Malibu, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I hope that we had an impact on the quality of television. I hope that if people talk about a golden age of television in the '90s that we were a part of it. I don't know what [The X-Files'] ultimate influence will be, but I just hope it plays forever."

People Talking About ...
Chris Carter
Highlights
Chris Carter on The X-Files' themes of government conspiracy theories
02:15
Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:04
Chris Carter on his favorite season of The X-Files, and on leaving some storylines and questions open
01:06
Chris Carter on responding to fan criticism of season 6 of The X-Files
01:05
Chris Carter on The X-Files main theme and title
03:03
Chris Carter on the series The Lone Gunmen and it having predicted some aspects of 9/11
02:29
Full Interview

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Chapter 1
On his early life and influences; on getting noticed by Jeffrey Katzenberg; on his stint working at Disney
On how The X-Files came about; on pitching The X-Files to Fox and their reaction to the pilot; on casting David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson on the show
On the filming the pilot of The X-Files, and on the audience reaction to it and the mythology arc; on The X-Files main theme and title
On the characters' motivation in the first season of The X-Files, and on the romance, themes, and goals of the show; on "Fox Mulder's" shooting on The X-Files, and on coming up with story ideas; on The X-Files' core audience and on the season 1 finale

Chapter 2
On what made The X-Files scary; on the process of collaborating with other writers and producers on The X-Files; on The X-Files' themes of government conspiracy theories
On various The X-Files storylines; on putting humor into the mix on The X-Files; on how they handled Gillian Anderson's pregnancy on season 2 of The X-Files
On the "Alex Krycek" character on The X-Files; on those episodes of The X-Files that he labeled "monster of the week" and the alien mythology of the series; on how the early episodes of The X-Files impacted television at the time, including the cinematography of the show
On The X-Files' following and the impact of the internet and new media on the show; on getting "Mulder" and "Scully" romantically involved on The X-Files; on the "Mulder" and "Scully" relationship as the show and feature films progressed
On the importance of Emmy Award nominations and other awards for The X-Files team and himself; on the season 5 finale of The X-Files, and on the first feature film based on the series; on the decision to move The X-Files from Canada to Los Angeles, and on season 6 of the series
On having stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson direct episodes for season 7 of The X-Files, and on the major plot points of that season; on David Duchovny leaving The X-Files and on replacing him with Robert Patrick as "John Doggett"; on his decision to end the first run of The X-Files and how 9/11 impacted the show

Chapter 3
On his favorite season of The X-Files, and on leaving some storylines and questions open; on The X-Files documentary "The Threads of Mythology"; on the legacy of The X-Files, and on the feature films
On the series Millennium, and on running two shows at once; on the series The Lone Gunmen, and it having predicted some aspects of 9/11; on the series Harsh Realm
On the then-future of television; on how fame has changed his life; on career achievements and regrets; on advice to aspiring television writers and show creators; on how he would like to be remembered
Shows

Harsh Realm

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Chris Carter on the series Harsh Realm
00:58

Lone Gunmen, The

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Chris Carter on the series The Lone Gunmen and it having predicted some aspects of 9/11
02:29

Millennium

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Chris Carter on the series Millennium, and on running two shows at once
04:36

Outer Limits, The (1963-65)

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Chris Carter on The Outer Limits' influence on The X-Files
00:38

X-Files, The

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Chris Carter on coming up with The X-Files characters "Mulder" and "Scully"
01:15
Chris Carter on the premise of The X-Files, and on his thoughts on area abduction
02:07
Chris Carter on pitching The X-Files to Fox executives and on their reaction to the pilot
04:00
Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:03
Chris Carter on the filming the pilot of The X-Files, and on the audience reaction to it and the mythology arc
09:08
Chris Carter on The X-Files main theme and title
03:03
Chris Carter on the characters' motivation in the first season of The X-Files, and on the romance, themes, and goals of the show
06:22
Chris Carter on "Fox Mulder's" shooting on The X-Files, and on coming up with story ideas
05:25
Chris Carter on The X-Files' core audience
01:50
Chris Carter on the first season finale of The X-Files
02:14
Chris Carter on what made The X-Files scary
01:48
Chris Carter on the process of collaborating with other writers and producers on The X-Files
06:20
Chris Carter on The X-Files' themes of government conspiracy theories
02:15
Chris Carter on various The X-Files storylines, including the disapearance of "Mulder's" sister and the "Cigarette Smoking Man"
04:31
Chris Carter on putting humor into the mix on The X-Files
01:52
Chris Carter on on how they handled Gillian Anderson's pregnancy on season 2 of The X-Files, which led the the "Scully abducted" storyline
01:52
Chris Carter on the "Alex Krycek" character on The X-Files, and on getting an Emmy nomination for the episode "Duane Barry" which he directed
02:28
Chris Carter on those episodes of The X-Files that he labeled "monster of the week" and the alien mythology of the series
01:23
Chris Carter on how the early episodes of The X-Files impacted television at the time, including the cinematography of the show
02:55
Chris Carter on The X-Files' following, and the impact of the internet and new media on the show
01:45
Chris Carter on getting "Mulder" and "Scully" romantically involved on The X-Files
02:18
Chris Carter on the "Mulder" and "Scully" relationship as the show and feature films progressed on The X-Files
05:28
Chris Carter on the importance of Emmy Award nominations and other awards to The X-Files team and himself
01:01
Chris Carter on Cher guest-starring on The X-Files
00:48
Chris Carter on the season 5 finale of The X-Files, and on the first feature film based on the series
03:29
Chris Carter on the decision to move The X-Files from Canada to Los Angeles starting with season 6
01:31
Chris Carter on responding to fan criticism of season 6 of The X-Files
01:07
Chris Carter on Vince Gilligan writing for The X-Files season six, and on the plot points of that year
02:39
Chris Carter on having stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson direct episodes for season 7 of The X-Files and the major plot points of that season
03:17
Chris Carter on David Duchovny leaving The X-Files and on replacing him with Robert Patrick as "John Doggett"
04:13
Chris Carter on his decision to end the first run of The X-Files
01:08
Chris Carter on how 9/11 impacted The X-Files
01:03
Chris Carter on the fate of "The Lone Gunman" on The X-Files, and on tying up loose ends at the end of the series
02:13
Chris Carter on The Outer Limits' influence on The X-Files
00:38
Chris Carter on his favorite season of The X-Files, and on leaving some storylines and questions open
01:06
Chris Carter on The X-Files documentary "The Threads of Mythology"
01:00
Chris Carter on the legacy of The X-Files
00:51
Chris Carter on the feature film X-Files spin-off "I Want to Believe"
03:00
Topics

9/11

View Topic
Chris Carter on how 9/11 impacted The X-Files
01:03
Chris Carter on the series The Lone Gunmen and it having predicted some aspects of 9/11
02:29

Advice

View Topic
Chris Carter on advice to aspiring television writers and show creators
00:54

Characters & Catchphrases

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Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:04

Creative Influences and Inspiration

View Topic
Chris Carter on The Outer Limits' influence on The X-Files
00:39

Emmy Awards

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Chris Carter on the "Alex Krycek" character on The X-Files, and on getting an Emmy nomination for the episode "Duane Barry" which he directed
02:26
Chris Carter on the importance of Emmy nominations and other awards for The X-Files team and himself
01:01

Fame and Celebrity

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Chris Carter on how fame has changed his life
00:49

Historic Events and Social Change

View Topic
Chris Carter on how 9/11 impacted The X-Files
01:03
Chris Carter on the series The Lone Gunmen and it having predicted some aspects of 9/11
02:29

New Media

View Topic
Chris Carter on The X-Files' following and the impact of the internet and new media on the show
01:45

Pivotal Career Moments

View Topic
Chris Carter on The Outer Limits' influence on The X-Files
00:39

Pop Culture

View Topic
Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:04
Chris Carter on The X-Files main theme and title
03:03
Chris Carter on how fame has changed his life
00:49

TV Theme Songs

View Topic
Chris Carter on The X-Files main theme and title
03:03

Television Industry

View Topic
Chris Carter on The X-Files' following and the impact of the internet and new media on the show
01:45
Chris Carter on the then-future of television
01:04
Chris Carter on advice to aspiring television writers and show creators
00:54
Professions

Show Creators

View Profession
Chris Carter on the characters' motivation in the first season of The X-Files
06:26
Chris Carter on keeping track of the story arc on The X-Files
05:28
Chris Carter on the process of collaborating with other writers and producers on The X-Files
06:20
Chris Carter on how they handled Gillian Anderson's pregnancy on season 2 of The X-Files, which led the the "Scully abducted" storyline
01:52
Chris Carter on the decision to move The X-Files from Canada to Los Angeles starting with season 6
01:31
Chris Carter on advice to aspiring television writers and show creators
00:54
Genres

Sci-Fi/Supernatural Series

View Genre
Chris Carter on creating The X-Files
41:27
Chris Carter on The X-Files
58:08
Chris Carter on The X-Files
05:58
Chris Carter on Millennium
04:36
Chris Carter on The Lone Gunmen
02:29
Chris Carter on Harsh Realm
01:00
People

Cher

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Chris Carter on Cher guest-starring on The X-Files
00:48

David Duchovny

View Person Page
Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:03
Chris Carter on having stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson direct episodes for season 7 of The X-Files and the major plot points of that season
03:16
Chris Carter on David Duchovny leaving The X-Files and on replacing him with Robert Patrick as "John Doggett"
04:13

Gillian Anderson

View Person Page
Chris Carter on casting Gillian Anderson as "Dana Scully" and David Duchovny as "Fox Mulder" on The X-Files
06:03
Chris Carter on how they handled Gillian Anderson's pregnancy on season 2 of The X-Files, which led the the "Scully abducted" storyline
01:52
Chris Carter on having stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson direct episodes for season 7 of The X-Files and the major plot points of that season
03:16

Jeffrey Katzenberg

View Person Page
Chris Carter on getting his screenplay noticed by Jeffrey Katzenberg
04:26

Vince Gilligan

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Chris Carter on Vince Gilligan writing for The X-Files season six and on the plot points of that year
02:39

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