L.A. Is (Almost) the Place for "X-Files"
By: Joal Ryan

Call the real estate agent, David Duchovny. Looks like you're about to get your wish.

The X-Files star who has calmly, firmly and repeatedly made it known that he wants to relocate to Los Angeles this year seems to have won over boss Chris Carter. The creator of the spooky drama series confirms to today's Los Angeles Times that staffers are checking out L.A. locales for a possible production move from the show's longtime home in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Everyone is doing homework and research on this," Carter tells the newspaper. "It's not something that you would want to do at the last minute."

Duchovny started making noises about wanting out of the Canadian-based set last summer. The 37-year-old actor said he was tired of the long commute to be with wife Tea Leoni, who lives in L.A., where she films the NBC sitcom, The Naked Truth.

"I'm moving to L.A. next year--[the X-Files staff] can join me if they want," Duchovny told E! Online.

It now sounds like they want. Carter says both Duchovny and co-star Gillian Anderson have given up their "home lives" to work on the series, now in its fifth season. And making them happy is key to the show's continued success, he says.

"If David and Gillian want to be down here [in L.A.], their wishes are part of the equation," Carter says, in the Times. "They're the ones we're listening to. They've been filming abroad for five years."

A decision on the L.A. issue will likely be finalized by the end of next month, Carter says. But insiders tell the Times that the deal is all but done--and L.A. is the place.

Executives on the show have reportedly been scouting sound stages near the 20th Century Fox lot in Century City.

While this is good news for Casa Duchovny-Leoni, it's bad news for the show's Canadian behind-the-scenes crew. And it's bad news for some die-hard fans, too, who worry that agents Mulder and Scully won't look right scouting out the E.T.s in the placid L.A. climate, as opposed to the gray, rainy murk of Vancouver.

Meanwhile, in other X-Files news Friday, Fox honcho Peter Roth says his network has committed to two more seasons of The X-Files. There was some speculation that, pending the success of The X-Files movie this summer, Carter and crew would opt out of their TV deal and create a movie franchise, a la Star Trek.