Make sure you saw last update for the 7X07 info. Now it's catch-up time. "Home" will be rerun for the first time ever on Fox Oct. 31 at 9/8 central (Halloween)!! "The Unnatural" is not being rerun next week. In the official magazine, William B. Davis gave away three possible spoilers for this season if they're true: Mulder accepts the necessity of the alien coverup, Scully leaves the FBI to become a surgeon, and Fowley runs away to Tunisia with CSM. The FX Secret Ballot Marathon Sweepstakes begin Nov. 1 at the FX Web site. Check out the prizes in the official magazine's feature on it, they're incredible!! Now here's another thing that it turns out I was RIGHT about; of course a "knowledgeable" person earlier posted to SpoilerVille saying I was wrong. George Clooney, if he shows up on XF this season, will NOT be in the premiere at all, but in a standalone written by CC and DD. Confirm that Albert Hosteen will be back (which I speculated since the Indian hut set was still in the Fox stage). The main theory about the return of the "bees" is that they are actually locusts or something similar attacking in some sort of religious wrath, nothing to do with the bees carrying the black oil virus (or smallpox--see the Mythology section for more info). Here's the kicker, that I predict will make this season the most controversial yet: not only do writings from ALL major religions (Islam, and I assume more) appear on the underwater spacecraft (in addition to the Bible as seen in "Biogenesis"), implying that aliens created religion possibly to pacify the population, but Jesus was a Bounty Hunter-type shapeshifter (healing powers...)! Watch "Talitha Cumi" and "Herrenvolk"; you can clearly see that CSM already feared that people would think the shapeshifters are divine. Wow. The man holding a long stick we saw in the promo ad last Friday was a "vanishing man" who warns Scully to keep away from the ship and its power. Scully thinks that a rubbing she finds in Africa will cure Mulder somehow.

"Hungry" is now being aired Nov. 21, and "Millennium" the week after. What happened to our New Year's episode?? I'd think that maybe the New Year's stuff was put into 7X08, but CC specifically said that the "special" M&S moment would be in "Millennium." BTW the official summary says that "former FBI agent Frank Black...is called in to aid Mulder and Scully in an investigation of a series of ritualistic killings, which have been linked to the Millennium Group." Check Season 7 Spoilers for the revised schedule. Now thanks a TON to SpookyShanahan, I have two summaries of episodes which could possibly be made. These are the 2 scripts by Robert Williams that I posted a few months ago. One episode is about "Gypsies, and [Williams] originally planned for Mulder to be killed off, but they are not going to do that." The killing-off part was actually an alternate ending that 1013 could use if they wanted. The other episode is about "this town where the roles are in reversal, like the men take on the women's habits and vice-versa for the women. It's funny, because Mulder starts taking bubble baths, and Scully gets addicted to sunflower seeds." Also according to this source, Chris Carter fought Fox to have the season premiere on Halloween but lost. Well at least we know who's on our side.... Rob Bowman is apparently still a producer (at least up to 7X07). Remember I posted this in my transcript of the Fox memo, but I figured it was outdated. Dennis X confirmed that it is true for now at least. We now have the address of the official Japanese X-Files (TV) Web site: www.fox-japan.com/x-files/index.html.

HR news.... We will learn soon that Pinocchio was injured back in the real world, and he has a few secrets.... Santiago has taken over a certain geographic area of Harsh Realm and plans to take over the real world too. "Manus Domini" means "Hand of God" (thanks Dennis X!). The pilot last Friday, although it had overall disappointing ratings, got #1 for its timeslot in the "demos" according to the co-creator of the comic-book series, James Hudnall on the XF newsgroup. That means that it had the highest ratings in viewers ages 18-49, the most important target to networks. Speaking of Hudnall, he and Andrew Paquette are suing Fox (not another lawsuit!!) and the publishing company, Harris Comics, because they are not credited in the opening sequence, and the company didn't handle the contract well. Also, a newsgroup for the show has been created, alt.tv.harsh-realm. Ask your ISP to add it to their news server. Anyway, in "Manus Domini" "Hobbes and Pinocchio are lured into and stranded in a mine field with deadly results, but they encounter a group of women who have the power to heal their wounds." Another "Three Percenters" summary says that "Hobbes, Pinocchio, and Florence discover that a computer virus in the Harsh Realm program is producing clones of people and threatening to wipe out all the virtual characters." And a "Reunion" summary: "Hobbes is captured and incarcerated in a concentration camp where he finds a virtual version of his mother." On Nov. 26 there will be no episode. BTW the official site (new address again) has added a mailing list. Back to general XF news, here's info on some people who used to be on staff:

"One of the most unforgettable talents ever to turn his attention to a Chris Carter production is that of scribe Darin Morgan. An award and fan winner he's often the subject of speculation when the subject of his next bit of work is concerned. For a good span of time now he's been holed up in his apartment developing his own series concepts. Will he ever return to the realm of the paranormal? The answer it turns out, is yes.

"Darin Morgan is currently at work scribbling down a script based on a traditional folk tale (known as "Gef, the Talking Mongoose") from The Isle Of Man. The subject deals with a poltergeist with abandonment issues. Sound strange? Well, that's Morgan's trademark!

"This latest adventure in the paranormal is for the new series The Others, a supernatural thriller from NBC Studios and DreamWorks Television. X-Files alums Glen Morgan and James Wong are the creators. They're also going to be prolific writers here as well.

"The show stars Julianne Nicholson (One True Thing) as Marian Kitt, who meets up with a secret society known as The Others. The group is a body of people who possess something called The Gift which manifests in a variety of ways such as telekinetic abilities, future-sight, past-sight, putting them in touch with the spirit plane.

"Darin Morgan's doing at least one of the 13 episodes ordered, and has also signed an overall development deal with DreamWorks. Other Ten Thirteen Productions graduates will be scripting for The Others as well. The creatively charged team of Maher & Reindl (of Millennium fame and recently late of Manchester Prep) are also on tap as freelancers for at least one episode. With these three alone this is going to be one Hell of a series.

"Bye for now, TomBli"

To wrap up, first I'll post a link to a cool site, Duchovny'd, Incorporated. Finally, this magazine issue came in 3 instead of 2 covers. One for the fan club, one for the stands, and one for comic/specialty shops. The fan club cover is Mulder and Scully from "Arcadia," the normal one is of M&S, and the third cover is the one which I posted a picture of months before the magazine came out--the baseball alien.

REST OF UPDATE: Good news, James Hudnall himself posted to alt.tv.x-files to give his opinions on Harsh Realm. He said in his message that the show was already contracted to 24 episodes. He liked the pilot but was angry about not getting enough credit. So there we are. You can now download the first season 7 promo here. Unfortunately there was no rerun of the pilot yesterday because of a record-breaking baseball game. I was hoping it would make up for Friday's ratings. Still, Ryan Caulfield: Year One premieres next Friday at 8, so let's hope it will increase the ratings. Hudnall wasn't worried about the ratings either. In his radio interview with Kevin and Bean, Chris Carter said that Terry O'Quinn will be on XF this season. I assume he'll be Watts and not his character from "Aubrey." And I heard a rumor that Rob Bowman is directing 7X07 instead of Cliff Bole. I don't think this is true but we'll see. Maybe a last directing effort for TV? In "Hungry," Gilligan wanted the viewers to be rooting for the bad guy by the end of the episode. It should be so fun! Also the teaser has a guy pulled out of his car by Roberts in the drive-thru. Kim Manners said that he wants to do more episodes in the style of "Home" this season--to really affect people by the end of the episode. I can't wait!! Anyway, according to official Fox summaries Fowley and CSM "play a mysterious part" in Mulder's illness. Hmm. Check out these two official sites: Larold's Web Site and Scott Bairstow's Official Web Page. The former is the site of the mixer for Mark Snow's music on XF.

Finally some Harsh Realm news. This was updated. 1H06 is called "Manus Domini." Florence and Hobbes get captured by bounty hunters and try to help a wounded soldier. It is directed by Daniel Sackheim and will air out of order, before "Three Percenters" on Nov. 5.

I'm sure you all caught the season 7 promo last night. Only a few seconds, but very cool. The text: 11 * 7 * 99 The Wait is Over. Check out this page at the Haven for pictures and a transcript. The video is on alt.binaries.x-files to download. What I've been able to get out of the promo: It looks like the bees are back, and Scully gets attacked by them. Scully is shown next to a propane lamp, implying that she camps out in Africa. And she talks to some kind of native man, possibly a source of information, who freaks her out. Barnes admits that the alien artifact has power. In fact, he says, "It is power." Mulder tries to escape from the hospital. Finally, I've been thinking. Skinner obviously disobeys Krycek's orders or goes against him (although we won't see Krycek himself), because his nanorobots act up. Now what if his act of defiance is telling the Navajo Indians to expose the secrets of the digital tape? How cool that would be!

Other news. David Duchovny didn't write a standalone episode other than the premiere with Chris Carter. I said previously that he co-wrote "Amor Fati" and another unrelated script with Chris Carter. The facts are that he didn't do another script, but that he seems to have co-written both "The Sixth Extinction" (the premiere) and "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" with Chris Carter, and, as the Fox memo said, Frank Spotnitz. So where does George Clooney fit into this? That's right, he's the scientist who helps Scully find a cure for Mulder! All right! Sorry if I got your hopes up about another DD/CC standalone script though--but remember there's a possibility of DD writing and directing another episode. Also Chris Carter said yesterday that they'd know by Jan. 1 whether this is the last season.

More movie news from CC himself: "We have an idea. We want to do a standalone, just a really good scary movie, not something that's tied into the mythology of the show." OK then. He also said that Frank Black's character would be wrapped up in 7X05, and that the Samantha storyline would be resolved this season. Title info: "Amor Fati" means "Love of Fate." Aldous Huxley wrote an essay on religion with that title, which is Latin. Nietzsche also wrote about "Amor Fati." Now, just to clear things up, "Rush" is 7X06. People have been saying that it's 7X09, but that is not true. But what 7X09 is about could be true--the rumor is that it's the William Gibson episode, directed by Michael Watkins. That would make sense, since if it was 7X08 it would have to be directed by Thomas J. Wright (from the Fox memo). And in sad but also happy news, according to the official magazine Rob Bowman left the series after season 6 to pursue movies. If you want to see a funny but true news story check out this address. It's about an actual PAC lobbying Congress to disclose secrets about alien life. It says things about XF too so check it out. Finally, Jason sent me this really cool-looking McFarlane movie action figures magazine ad.

Yeeeeha! Not only is today the premiere of Harsh Realm, but I've got some great info too. First off, episode titles. 7X03 is exactly: "The Sixth Extinction." FINALLY we find out 7X04's title, and we're back to the cool old foreign titles: "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" ("Love [something]"). A new style of title too. 7X06 is called "Rush." That's not all, in "Amor Fati" Skinner's nanorobots will be addressed again; he will even come down with the illness induced by them, meaning he goes against Krycek. See 3 pictures of the premiere episodes here! Here's some info from that address on 7X04: "As Mulder's condition worsens, Assistant Director Skinner tries to restrain him. Plus, Skinner, struck down by his recurring illness, tries to get an urgent message to Agent Scully in part two of the season opener." Anyway, looking beyond tonight's premiere, here's more info on "Leviathan": "Sophie attends Hobbes' funeral, while Inga Fossa gives Sophie hints about Hobbes and what has happened to him. All the men who enter Harsh Realm are said to have been killed on missions, but they're really alive." More general info: At a recent conference, Frank Spotnitz was asked if Hobbes is the one who is meant to save all the virtual characters, how can he do this if they can't exist outside the virtual world? He said that this will be the theme discussed throughout the first season. And, Florence has the mysterious ability to heal people of their wounds, but she pays a price for this and her power is limited. Wondering what the heck that hand image is in the opening sequence? Look at this page.

Now then, thanks to Jason who scanned me yet more awesome images, we have pictures of pages from the McFarlane catalog, with the X-Files movie figures. Here are pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

The PlayStation version of the X-Files game is coming soon...it's started advertising in magazines apparently, even in Australia! On to HR news. Here's the official summary of "Leviathan": "As he comes to grips with both the gravity and permanence of his virtual reality situation, Thomas Hobbes is thrust into the fray when Mike Pinocchio is lured into a trap and captured by a mercenary bounty hunter. Aided by the mute and mysterious Florence, Hobbes goes in search of Pinocchio but winds up captured himself. As Florence works to free our heroes, the bounty hunter, unbeknownst to his female partner (May), cuts a deal with Omar Santiago. In lieu of cash the bounty hunter wants access to the mythological (though real) 'portals' that allow individuals to move between Harsh Realm and the real world. Sensing a deal being made behind her back, the female bounty hunter hides Hobbes and Pinocchio in an abandoned tanker truck." And "Inga Fossa": "Hobbes' fiancée, Sophie, continues her investigation into his disappearance. Santiago's shadowy associate Inga Fossa arrives in Harsh Realm. She is apparently able to transport herself into and out of the game at will. Hobbes meanwhile, anxious to find a way out of his virtual nightmare, enlists a reluctant Pinocchio in his quest to find the mysterious 'portals' that will take him back to the real world." This is a description of an untitled episode: "Hobbes and Pinocchio go to a village where they are searching for a man named Freddy that can help them in their search. They get into a den of inequity where patrons bet on virtual fighters. The game is raided and they fight to survive from Santiago's men." Another episode will be about "digital facial makeovers." More on William Gibson: He wants to get in on Harsh Realm "early enough to affect what he calls 'the architecture of the world.'" Anyway, the Lone Gunmen and members of the Harsh Realm cast will be in upcoming chats at TV Guide Online Chat. Click here for the schedule.

Chris Carter is hoping that HR will build its own audience on Fridays then move to Sundays. Here's a cool tidbit on the virtual scenario: "In Harsh Realm, a nuclear bomb went off in 1995 in New York City, leading to the chaos that Santiago has now capitalized upon to build his dictatorship." Finally, this is interesting: "People's faces [are in flux], which can be digitally captured by virtual technology and then altered or erased." 1013 has said that this quirk could be used for cast changes for the same character.

"George Clooney is returning to the world of television, but it won't be the same show that launched him into super stardom. Clooney left NBC's blockbuster ER in February to focus on his movie career. His latest film, Three Kings--the story of three Gulf War soldiers seeking to find the spoils of war--debuted at number two at the box office this weekend and is being highly acclaimed by critics everywhere. Despite this, it looks like Clooney is heading over to the set of The X-Files. Star David Duchovny recently played the ER hunk in a game of basketball and convinced him to play a role in a script that Duchovny wrote with creator Chris Carter. The sci-fi show is reportedly in its last season."

Wowee. Thanks a TON to PeanutBax for that info! In other news, there will be a Chris Carter chat at Yahoo! Chat after the Harsh Realm premiere apparently, but the details aren't posted on the site yet. Also we will know for sure whether this is the last season by February or March. In an interesting sidenote (thanks Dennis X), "Triangle" was dubbed in German for German viewers, even for the actors who spoke German in the English version! That must be confusing for them. Now, check out this picture. That could possibly be a scene from "Millennium," because I don't remember that from any other episode. The episode will have "a very special moment for Mulder and Scully. They do a very traditional act for New Year's Eve! [Possibly a reference to singing Auld Lang Syne or a toast to the new year.]" And, thanks to Jason we have another print ad for the HR premiere! Finally, TomBli sent me two cool pictures of preproduction art for "Grotesque" and "Never Again", which I will add to the Archive section.

Which brings us to Harsh Realm news. The official summary of "Leviathan" (which is written by Chris Carter) is: "Hobbes and Pinocchio are captured by bounty hunters while, in the real world, Sophie questions the military's account of Tom's death." Other tidbits are that Florence and Hobbes have to rescue Pinocchio, and all 3 are on the run from Santiago and try to track him down.

There's a new official X-Files site: Fox Home's X-Files Video Arena. It links to all the Fox Home XF sites, including a brand-new one: X-Files movie e-mail postcards! There are 6 postcards: Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Mulder and Scully, M&S, and yet another M&S. Notice the Mulder and the Scully postcard images are taken from 2 of the 4 never-released commercial movie posters. I also pulled a new background picture from the Arena--I've put that in the Movie Pictures page. Now, get ready ladies and gentlemen. Did you not get the chance to download the 14-MB screensaver from the U.K. movie site before it went offline? Well you have another chance. Get the official salvapantallas--I mean, screensaver--from this address. That's right, it's located on the official Spanish X-Files movie Web site--www.fox.es/expedientex/! Why haven't I heard about this until now? Who knows. The site also has the Spanish version of TV spot B, in QuickTime and AVI/Windows Media formats. Finally, I got another merchandise picture, of an item already listed. The 7x10" Japanese poster E promo sheet has a backside full of pictures and info, like I already had listed. Now I have a picture of it including the back.

"X-Files Composer Mark Snow Joins Chinatown Cinematographer John A. Alonzo on Short Film Comedy The Dancing Cow

"LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 29, 1999--Ten-time Emmy-nominated composer Mark Snow joins Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director of photography John A. Alonzo on The Dancing Cow, a short film comedy directed by Taz Goldstein and produced by Robert Moniot for their company, Built-d Media.

"The announcement was jointly made Wednesday by Moniot and Goldstein.

"The Dancing Cow tells the story of indie filmmaker Evan Lepsow, whose first movie has all of Hollywood's top brass in a feeding frenzy. The only problem is they've been watching the wrong film. Evan's movie is Kisses for Eleanor, but everyone's crediting him as director of The Dancing Cow. Having gained instant access to Hollywood's most powerful moguls, Evan struggles with ethics versus opportunity as he secretly begins his comedic quest to discover who really directed The Dancing Cow.

"The script was written by Goldstein from a story by Goldstein and Moniot, and the film was executive produced by Ric Wolfe. Byrne Offutt, Butch Hammett, David Finkel and Otto Coelho star.

"Snow, who decided to join the project after seeing a rough cut of the film, said: 'Their movie is brilliant--and dark--and I laughed out loud a lot. I'd never met Taz and Rob before, but it was clear to me that we shared the same sense of humor. After getting me to say yes to working with them, they sent over this mock contract that was so funny that my music editor read it and volunteered his services for free.'"

Back to the rest of the update.

In the Season 7 Spoilers page I will try to have filming dates/times/locations at least one day ahead of time in addition to the current day. Anyway, Three Kings came out today, it looks so good. David Duchovny attended the premiere Monday. Dennis X tells me that there is a possibility that the series would continue after season 7 without the leads, filmed in Vancouver. That would be bad. No, Fox, no! There's been some sort of confirmation that the rumors of DD leaving before the last 4 episodes are false. 7X06's location has been moved to Virginia from a "small Midwestern town." And Dean Haglund's new appearances are being sponsored by the X-Files fan club:

"By special arrangement with The X-Files star Dean Haglund we're pleased to announce his new ONE-MAN show entitled 'PARANOIA WILL DESTROY YA!' This is the same show that Dean does at conventions but in an 82-seat theater. If you're in Los Angeles in October come see the show which Entertainment Weekly called an 'Avalanche of Laughs'! 4 SHOWS ONLY!

"Zephyr Theater - 7456 Melrose - Los Angeles
Tuesdays, October 5, 12, 19, 26 @ 8 p.m.
Tickets: $8.00
For Reservations Call: 323.852.9111"

In Chris Carter news, he is still trying to find time to start a genre novel. He has a contract to write two. And, he has expressed the desire (still) to do a Millennium movie. Ten Thirteen Productions apparently has some new series and movies in the works, also. Carter will not direct X-Files or HR this year. Here's a quote:

"Looking back at season six, Carter chooses some personal highlights. 'I liked "Triangle." I liked David's episode very much,' he says, referring to 'The Unnatural,' a baseball-themed outing written and directed by Duchovny. 'I liked the "Dreamland" two-parter and "Arcadia," too, but those were very light episodes were kind of comical. [sic] "Monday" was a great episode. The mythology shows worked well and I particularly liked the season finale ["Biogenesis"]. I've written the first two episodes of this season and they, with the sixth season finale, make a three-episode arc.'"

Check this out, from a Fox press release:

"Specifically, expanding News Corp.'s online entertainment options will be a high priority. Richmond said Web sites for Fox television programs like The X-Files and The Simpsons will likely undergo changes.

"'There's a really vital market out there, in particular for entertainment content. We'll be doing lots of work in enhanced television,' Richmond said."

NOW Fox has a Web budget. A new book, The Real Science Behind the X-Files: Microbes, Meteorites, and Mutants by Anne Simon, Ph.D., scientific adviser to XF, is out or will come out soon. Chris Carter wrote the foreword. And, FINALLY! it's official, from Fox's Harsh Realm site:

"Carter wrote and served as a producer on the series' first feature film, The X-Files, which was released the summer of 1998 and has made over $185 million worldwide. The second installment of the feature film series is currently in the planning stages."

The HR site has undergone some new changes (including a new address--the old one still is the old version of the site), including background info on the show, where we learn that Inga Fossa is a character; a bio on Chris Carter; and a cool bulletin board. A recent article described the show as involving "an imposed pseudo-utopia with militarized gated communities and characters who rotely walk through life playing their parts." The official fan club's site now has a nice advertising picture of the Mulder and Scully busts together on the front page. Finally, Mephisto has cut a deal with Fox to have Mulder wear their shoes on XF this season (or part of it).

Yesterday was Tom Braidwood's 51st birthday! That ol' Frohike. Anyway, there was an interesting article in the New York Times with some cool info in it from CC:

"'[We will be] crafting episodes as if it's a sprint to the finish line.' He says that the show will deliver on promises made by the show 7 years ago concerning Mulder's sister and the M&S relationship. There will be an episode for Mulder and Scully which will deeply affect their relationship. 'Beyond that, we're going to do really good, scary shows this season. Last year, after the movie, I think we decided to do something different with the show. It was as imaginative as it has ever been, but it was also fanciful and somewhat whimsical. I was very proud of year six, but for year seven we want to see if we can get back to scaring the pants off people and maybe take a bit of a break from last year's light episodes.'"

In "6th Extinction," the doctor who helps Scully is actually a medical student. Ready for another quote? This one's from the Cancer Man himself.

"'It seems reasonable that Veronica Cartwright will be back, not just because she's a terrific actress, but because her character undoubtedly survived,' Davis says. 'The rebel aliens took her and they needed her. So, she's still alive. I don’t know if "alive" is quite the right word, but she's probably still out there in outer space.'"

In other season 7 news, it appears that David Duchovny may (may) write/direct another episode (in addition to the one he's writing with Chris Carter). "He certainly has a lot of story ideas involving mythology that we've actually been discussing or we're going to use," is what Frank Spotnitz has to say about DD in season 7. Uninterested in the show? I don't think so! William Gibson's new episode will be co-written with Tom Maddox, as in "Kill Switch." Two other season 7 items: the Navajo hut set is still in the studio, meaning that it will probably reappear in the premiere. Which means more Hosteen. Which means maybe he wasn't killed off after all (earlier drafts of the script had him killed onscreen). And, I have a description of a scene from "Hungry" from SpoilerVille. Roberts (who shows remorse after killing people) goes after Mulder, and Mulder uses his gun to hurt (kill?) him. Scully witnesses this, but neither gets hurt.

Here's the print ad for the Harsh Realm series premiere, from TV Guide! Thanks Jason! Here's some interesting info on the origins of some character names:

"Fun facts soon to be cult facts: Carter likes to give his characters unusual names. The X-Files' Scully, for instance, is a salute to Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully. Harsh Realm offers people named Hobbes, Pinocchio and Sophie. Carter explained: He went to school with a friend named Mike Pinocchio. Carter loves the philosophy of Hobbes, and The Leviathan inspired some aspects of the show. And about Sophie: 'I lost someone by that name.'"

A correction (thanks Olavi!): XF season 6 starts Oct. 28 in Finland. Two other merchandise items: First, I don't know why anyone would care, but the young adult novel Dark Matter (based on "Soft Light") was canceled this month because it arrived late to suppliers. So you'll have to wait to buy that. And, here is the official word on the canceled action figures (from xfiles.about.com):

"I am unsure of the original source of this message, but it appears to be genuine. In it, the Communications Director of McFarlane Toys explains what happened with the planned second series of action figures.

'The figures sold very well, we just made too many. That's why you still see some of them around. We figured more TV fans would buy the figures, but we were wrong. Many toy collectors bought them and that was it.

'Part of the problem was, the licensors wouldn't let us advertise the figures the way we wanted to. They had that stealth advertising campaign going on, and it killed us. The reason the second line was canceled had nothing to do with the first. After making 6 figures that the licensors wanted to do [Skinner, Krycek, etc.], they changed their minds and told us to do the 6 figures we wanted to do originally [Conundrum, Flukeman, etc.]. 6 figures down the drain! After 1/3 of the way through the second 6 figures, they decided to dump two of those. 8 figures down the drain. We were doing 2 nine-inch figures for a TV special. They decided to dump those after they were finished. 10 figures down the drain. Let's see, there were about 5 figures from the first line they wanted done and changed their minds also. That brings the total to 15 worthless pieces of clay, 1000s of man-hours down the drain.

'The clincher was, when the final line was shown to the licensors, they decided they wanted to change the poses on most of the figures. Approvals had to go through more than a half a dozen people and it just took way too long. Todd (McFarlane) felt we spent enough time on the project and weren't getting anywhere. So, he decided to halt the project and move on to bigger and better things.'"

Continuing the last update.... The official magazine's release date has changed. It will be sent out to members on Sept. 30, and it will hit newsstands on 10/13. Check out this site for cool pictures of David Duchovny in a charity triathlon. Gillian Anderson did some charity herself, appearing at a PETA auction. Duchovny will be visiting Australia soon incidentally, for the grand opening of Fox there. The official fan club site was down for a while, but it is back up again now. Check out Dean Haglund's site--the Appearances and Calendar sections are updated. Thanks to Dennis X, we have this Frank Spotnitz quote:

"On Millennium, for the last two years, my involvement and Chris's involvement was minimal. The 2nd year was totally Morgan and Wong, and last year I contributed three scripts and consulted on several others, but it was essentially Chip Johannessen and Ken Horton that ran the show. Harsh Realm is a totally different situation, as it's very much hands-on by the same people who make The X-Files. I can't imagine a bigger year for us--we've got the last year of The X-Files and the first year of a new show. And the stakes are enormous for both. Harsh Realm is much more a pure science fiction-type show than The X-Files ever was. The premise of it is that there is a virtual reality computer game that is so perfect that it looks exactly like our world except that things have gone terribly wrong. And you play this game and everyone that you know in this world is also there in a virtual character. It's a double of the people you know in this world, except they don't have the consciousness that there is another world. They don't understand that they are part of a game. So it's wide open because it's a computer game [and] you can do anything. Anything is possible and you can break the laws of physics and it's very exciting actually for all of us because it's such a huge landscape in which to tell stories."

Get ready for the first non-set picture ever for season 7. Click here (from "Hungry"). XF starts running again on Oct. 5 in Finland, and has started already in Holland (DR2). Here is a portion of an interesting article about the writers of "Trevor," one of whom played himself in "Unusual Suspects" and was the XF and MM props man in Vancouver and is writing a book on the XF props and sets (I mentioned this a long time ago). The other is a world-class composer.

"VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1999--MCB Investments Corp. (VSE:MBC - news) has named Jim Guttridge and Ken Hawryliw to the board of directors.

"This expansion, which takes place immediately, is intended, according to MCB President Robert Bennett, 'to help MCB and its subsidiary, Ferocious Fish Productions, compete in the lucrative Vancouver post-production market and be positioned for future expansion.'

"Guttridge is one of the founders of Ferocious Fish Studios, the audio and music composition post-production company that is central to MCB Investments' business. He is considered a world-class musician and sought-after composer for both record artists and film and television scores. As an award-winning composer Guttridge has scored more than 200 feature films and television programs.

"Hawryliw is an authority of television and film production with 15 years' experience and has directed and produced for film and television. He sometimes joins Guttridge as a screenwriting team. Together they wrote X-Files episode, 'Trevor,' considered the season's most successful, and have several television and feature film projects in development."

Now some tidbits from Dennis X: "Chris Owens recently left for Canada to do a film and a TV show. CC asked him to drop by and see him before he left. I don't think anything came of that because nothing has been said about it by Owens' people." "By the way, Darin Morgan will NEVER write for 1013 again. In fact he probably won't even do any work on his brother's new series The Others. He's shut up in his apartment I understand working on his OWN material. What that is I have no idea. But what that entails--we both know--NO HR SCRIPT! :-(" And he also gave me the text from the opening credits of HR:

IN THE WORLD
WITHIN OUR WORLD
A LONE MAN
HIS FIRST CHANCE
OUR LAST HOPE
H A R S H R E A L M
IT'S JUST A GAME (the tagline)

More HR stuff: Jefery Levy has been added to the directing staff and will direct at least 1 episode this season. For those wondering, Fox is being more strict about violence and gore etc. on its shows, but the HR pilot will not be edited at all. However, other episodes will be toned down in violence. Now here is the final word on the different Australian Special Edition versions:

"After getting really confused about the different versions of the FTF video, I ended up contacting Fox's home entertainment section to find out what was going on.

"According to the person I spoke to, there are 2 versions of the video:

"1 - With the 30-min. The Making of The X-Files Movie Special (this is the one that was screened here [on Channel 10] prior to FTF's cinema release last year). This version is available at K-Mart, Target, and Fossey's.

"2 - With the Gillian Anderson and Chris Carter exclusive interview (which is around 10 minutes long). This version is available everywhere else.

"When I asked why this had happened, the answer was to give the publicity/promotion department 'something to do.'" It seems to me like the stickers on the front of the videos were probably put on mistakenly also, according to previous reports posted here. (I.e. a sticker advertising the interview but the video doesn't include it.)

Finally, yesterday was Piper Anderson's 5th birthday!

"The impact and implications of DS's findings will reverberate throughout the remainder of the series--not to mention affect DS's own outlook, which historically has been that of the staunch skeptic.

"'The effects of that discovery and what has happened to Mulder will drive all the mythology episodes into the series finale,' elaborates FS. 'The series will be continuous with everything that preceded it. It's really continuing the mythology that's been going on since the beginning, but without the conspiracy. And I think people will begin to see how it all reconnects heading towards the end point of the series, assuming the end point of the series is this year.'

"'I can tell you that this is a series where, when we write that final episode, it will be the final episode, because there are things that are going to happen so that you will know it's the final episode,' promises FS.

'We've all been thinking about, in anticipation of this being the last year, what's the best way to send off Skinner, Krycek, Marita Covarrubias, the Cigarette-Smoking Man, and all of these characters that we have come to care so much about. You can expect to see all the major characters involved in the resolution of the series. And we'll deal very directly with Mulder's sister and with the relationship between Mulder and Scully. So we are working out the storylines that will lead to the series finale, and to the place where we leave all these characters as the TV series ends. That's very exciting, while also a huge responsibility, because it's a farewell, and we want to do it just right.'"

Oh god. The anticipation begins.... Other season 7 news: Gibson is returning, and Gibson (William, not the boy) is writing another episode--not a sequel to "Kill Switch" though. In "The Goldberg Variation," the "luck" that is central to the story will be experienced by everyone, including Mulder and Scully, which should make it unique and interesting. "Hungry" will be just about entirely from the point of view of the "monster," Rob Roberts. So we see Scully and Mulder from another person's eyes. Cool! Remember that it's Scully lite, the excuse probably being that she is doing a rather lengthy autopsy.

Finally some info on 7X05. Gilligan and Spotnitz wrote it, and it has to do with raising the dead. It takes place in Frederick, Maryland, and started filming yesterday. One member of the cast is a widow whose husband just committed suicide. The apparent title of the episode is "Millennium," and most people are assuming that it's the crossover (not 7X08). But I disagree, and I will until I see some concrete info. First of all, Dec. 26 (7X08--thanks Paul for catching the typo!!) is the most likely airdate for the crossover, for obvious reasons. Second, I am almost positive that Carter (possibly along with Spotnitz) is writing it. Would CC really leave the end of his 2nd series to two other writers?? And third, the plot seems to have nothing to do with the millennium. I've heard from Dennis X that M&S possibly meet Frank Black while on the case, but what about the previous rumors about a group of ex-FBI agents? I will call 7X05 "Millennium" for now in the Season 7 Spoilers page, but under 7X08 I will keep all the old rumors on the crossover. I'm thinking either the title is unrelated to the crossover, or the title is actually that of 7X08 (most likely). If I'm completely wrong in my hunch I'll fix the info as soon as I come across something new.

Get ready for this tidbit from 7X04: Deep Throat will be in Mulder's dream, acting as a guide through his vision. Reminiscent of Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life.

On to HR news. This is the plot of "Three Percenters": "The error, as it were, is actually a lake which, when a person gets near enough to see his reflection, replicates the person digitaly. That replicant is a virtual zombie called a shadowperson. They have no thoughts like the original person. The original is then captured, killed and fed to the others as a horrible soup. Waters is still searching for Hobbes and his missing men while Hobbes and Pinocchio are trying to extricate themselves from the replicant prison before Waters finds them or worse, they get eaten themselves." The episode was written by Frank Spotnitz and will be directed by Daniel Sackheim. In "Inga Fossa" we will find out how actions in the virtual world will affect the real world. And Hobbes and Pinocchio will try to find a portal back to the real world. "Leviathan" will have a lot to do with bounty hunters! And we have info on 1.05: Written by Greg Walker, directed by Kim Manners, and called "Reunion." It involves Hobbes' reunion with his mother Katherine, and takes place in a work camp with no escape. In addition to the episodes I've already mentioned that he's doing, Daniel Sackheim will direct episodes 1.06, 1.08, 1.10, and 1.12. He has a lot of work ahead of him!

"More than 2,000 athletes, celebrities, musicians and weekend warriors will hit the beach in a triathlon that includes a half-mile ocean swim, an 18-mile bike ride along Pacific Coast Highway and a four-mile run along Zuma Beach. All net proceeds benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. This will take place at Zuma Beach, Malibu, Calif. Sunday, Sept. 19 at 7:15 a.m. The leaders will finish approximately 8:30 a.m."

David Duchovny participated. Day-old news, but oh well. More news:

"Two years ago, Fox was asking $275,000 for a 30-second commercial spot on XF. Last year, the price jumped to $330,000. This year, advertisers can buy 30 seconds of ad time for a bargain--only $300,000, 9% less than last year. Still, XF remains the 10th most expensive purchase for advertisers (tied with Ally McBeal). And keep in mind it's part of an overall trend--many of primetime's most lucrative programs (including ER and Frasier) were forced to cut ad rates for the coming season."

That was posted to the newsgroup by ALFORNOS. Anyway, the next rerun to be shown (Oct. 3) will be "Trevor." And the Bochco lawsuit was apparently filed in part because of Duchovny's suit. He opened the opportunity for others to claim losses against Fox too, so there was a connection. ALFORNOS also posted that. Finally, the first Internet banner for Harsh Realm is on the Net. Pretty cool!

"While sniffing around the Fox lot, The Pitbull has learned that David Duchovny won't be in the last four X-Files episodes this season. It's not finalized, but the talk is that he will be replaced by Stephen Rea of The Crying Game. Fox hopes to continue the series for another season with Rea as the male lead."

"As word has it basically [the episode with] Frank Black is to be a testing ground, so to speak, and is designed not only to wrap up some of those loose plot ends but also to see a) how well the Frank Black character fits into the X-Files universe, and b) how well his character is received by the X-Files public and fans, with more appearances to follow should everything work out as expected with Frank becoming a semi-regular on the show (a la Skinner, Krycek et al.). And now this is where the rumor gets really wild: Word has it that should his character take off in his new surroundings and if indeed Fox is still enthusiastic about pushing XF into an 8th season (as they appear to be) and Chris Carter and Fox can reach an agreement (and once again word has it that they already have reached at least some sort of a verbal agreement to this end) then toward the end of the seventh season Frank Black would become Scully's new partner on the show and continue along this line into the proposed 8th season with the show taking on a sort of 'in search of Mulder' component, possibly culminating in the second feature film where Mulder is found and everything is explained (yeah...explained...right). In the meantime XF would become a sort of amalgam of the best parts of XF with a healthy dose of MM's finer (and darker) points, which would hopefully inject the franchise (God I hate that word) with some fresh life. Should all this happen they would discover, of course, that everything in both shows is inexplicably linked...but you already knew that didn't you?"

"Stephen Rea is being asked to guest star in an undetermined number of episodes in what the production is assuming will be the final episodes of the series. Other name actors are being asked to appear, including Armin Mueller-Stahl who appeared in the movie as the Consortium's commander-in-chief (remember, he didn't appear in the episode in which the old guys and their families got torched by the aliens). And if this does turn out to be the final season, Fox is toying with the idea of a spinoff--with or without Carter's approval or involvement (he's not at all cool with the idea). One idea is based around the Lone Gunmen, adding more members to the original three guys. The second idea would be a prequel that's set during the J. Edgar Hoover years with Arthur Dales as the only FBI agent investigating X-File cases but assisted by his secretary, who's the X-Files' record keeper. (This scenario was presented in the season 5 episode "Travelers.") If X-Files doesn't return for another season, you can bet one of these spinoff ideas will be greenlighted as a midseason tryout series. Really, the more interesting rumor to investigate is whether there is any truth to the speculation that Fox will pull Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which is produced by 20th Television) from the WB after this season and put it in X-Files' timeslot, should X-Files vacate it. Supposedly, Buffy's broadcast contract with the WB expires at the end of this season."

All I can say is: Wow. I hope the show ends after this season. But I trust Chris Carter (not Fox though). Finally, check out the official site. Something fishy's going on there (as a result of the apparent overhaul? I don't know), but so far there is nothing new in What's New and the episode guide.

Here is an amusing game from TV Guide Online: X-Files FotoFlip. Anyway, the rumor about Frank Black only interacting with Scully could be based on what Chris Carter said in a chat, about an idea for the crossover involving mainly those two characters. On to HR news. D.B. Sweeney said this about his character: "Pinocchio's meant to be a little mysterious, but some of his background gets revealed in the first few episodes. He's a top special forces-type soldier who's been badly injured. In the real world, he's in a coma like all the other soldiers [who are playing] Harsh Realm. Plus, he's got some dark secrets back in the real world." Finally, 1.04 is called "Three Percenters."

"To commemorate the success of the X-Files movie, Legends in 3 Dimensions created these hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain busts of Agents Scully and Mulder sculpted by Hollywood artist Greg Aronowitz. Both busts are Limited Editions of only 5,000 pieces and come with a numbered certificate of authenticity with the reproduced signatures of the actors, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.

"Exclusively for those purchasing these sculptures from The Official X-Files Fan Club, each bust will be hand signed by the artist, Greg Aronowitz.

"With a suggested retail price of $169.00 each, The Official X-Files Fan Club has teamed up with Legends in 3 Dimensions to present this unprecedented offer: For a limited time, the set of two busts can be purchased for only $219.95--that's $118.00 off of the suggested retail price! And Fan Club members get their usual 10% discount for a price of $197.95.

"Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to own these beautiful pieces of official X-Files art.

"See them at http://www.totalfan.com/products/XFI20900.phtml."

The fan club now seems to be run off the www.totalfan.com server, which currently says "COMING SOON." Interesting. Also check out this U.K. movie phone card. Back to your regularly scheduled update.

Here's more on Hobbes' dog, thanks to Dennis X:

"Dexter the Dog helps Thomas take out a guard. Tom, Sophie, and Dexter pass through a glitch in a fence (I mean software); meanwhile, the trio sets off a series of spotlights and an alarm...so that makes Dexter a *useful* member of the virtual gang...."

Although season 6 has been shown on Sky One in the U.K. (here's the new address for the Sky XF Web site, which at the moment has nothing: www.skyone.co.uk/xfiles/), it will take a while longer for it to reach the BBC:

"The BBC is apparently holding back transmission of season six until the end of the year. This is from the host of the BBC message board: 'I spoke to the Programme Executive for The X-Files last week and this is what he said: There is no date yet for the transmission of season 6 on the BBC. There are no plans "at present" to show it this year, and he is currently looking for a suitable slot. The season will definitely be shown on BBC1 and he intends to show it in widescreen. You are of course very welcome to discuss all this on the forum but you might find it more fruitful if you send your comments to http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/contact/feedback.shtml. This way you'll be making an official comment to the BBC. In the meantime, I can only say I'm sorry I can't bring you more positive news. I thought it was better that you knew than that you were kept in suspense needlessly.' If you want to write or call: BBC Information, P.O. Box 1116, Belfast BT2 7AJ, U.K. (it's the national centre); phone 0870 010 0222. You can voice your concern to get the show on the road, as it were."

Here is a generic picture of the Screendragon CDs (probably not how they actually look), from the official site. Finally, one more tidbit on Mulder's vision: He kisses Fowley.

"The rumored plot for the crossover (which has yet to be written or even outlined) focuses on Mulder and Scully investigating some weird crime or incident that, at first, seems to be tied into the series' own mytharc, but the two learn of a mysterious millennium cult made up of former and present FBI agents that is really behind it. [The Millennium Group is involved.] Frank Black is consulted by them, and our intrepid agents see the arrival of the new millennium through his eyes--literally or figuratively, I don't know. There's a major plot point about these cult members and their families convening together in some forest, "sacred ground" area in some kind of creepy Y2K survivalist and Jonestown means. That's the basic idea CC has in mind. It will be a bona-fide X-Files episode concerning the new millennium set against New Year's Eve but all the guest stars and characters will be from Millennium. This is what I've been told through the prelim story sessions for the series' upcoming episodes thus far."

Other rumors on the episode are: Jordan and Catherine Black (in a flashback) and possibly Peter Watts will be in it (as I said before). Scully may be the only one interacting with Frank. And the episode may also be the first 2-hour installment! Finally, on the heels of DD's lawsuit, NYPD Blue creator Steven Bochco sued Fox for similar reasons. It's not just Duchovny.