'X' Tension?

David Duchovny says ''The X-Files'' may be out of gas. But will the star be coming back for an eighth year anyway?

by Liane Bonin

''The X-Files'' may still be ratings gold for Fox TV, but Fox Mulder himself is giving the series a thumbs down these days. ''Have you seen the show the last two weeks? Man, we should stop,'' David Duchovny said last weekend while promoting his new film, ''Return to Me'' (opening April 7 in the US). ''They're getting pretty bad sometimes. It's getting a little thin.''

Duchovny says that seven years may already be one year too many for the hour-long drama. ''It's not like "L.A. Law" where they've got new cases coming in all the time. We've got to have a good plot, and with 170 plots, that's not easy,'' he explains. Still, the actor insists that at least one upcoming story line is fresh: The April 30 episode, ''Hollywood A.D.,'' which features cameos from his wife, Téa Leoni, and friend Garry Shandling, was written and directed by Duchovny. The plot follows Mulder and Scully after their characters become the basis for a Hollywood movie. ''Mine happens to be really good,'' Duchovny jokes. ''But those other guys' [episodes], they're tired.''

Still, no one's joking about Duchovny's ongoing negotiations to return for an eighth season. ''I'm not under contract [now],'' he says, ''but something could happen. I honestly can't tell you whether there will be an eighth year, or whether I'll be in it. There's a very good chance there will be an eighth year and I won't be in it." (Fox declined to comment on Duchovny's or the show's future.)

But even if Duchovny does leave the show to concentrate on a film career, he says he's not worried about pulling a David Caruso: ''I would hope if people were fans of my work they would be interested in what I was doing and not what they wanted me to do. I would never try to tell the Beatles, 'You're going to have to make more songs like ''Hey Jude'' and not that crazy stuff you did on the White Album.' I think of that song, 'Garden Party,' which is kind of a silly song, but it's true. You can't please anyone if you don't please yourself.''

No reason to keep X-Files open: Star

By: Jamie Portman

BEVERLY HILLS, California -- David Duchovny thinks it's hard to make a case for continuing The X-Files beyond the current year.

Duchovny, whose contract ends this season, said on the weekend he has no idea what the future has in store for the hit series. And he still hasn't made up his mind as to whether he would want to remain in the role of Agent Fox Mulder should it continue.

''I don't know what's happening. It's all up in the air. I'm not lying to you. I haven't made my own decision. There could be an eighth year with me. There could be an eighth year without me. I really have to sit down and think about what I'm willing to do.

''People can do what they do. I'm not going to try and get in their way, but I don't see any reason, aside from making money, for the show to go on. There's really no creative talent that's left.''

He said the big lure for him this X-Files season has been the chance to write and direct a couple of episodes. One has already aired and the next one -- which guest stars his wife Tea Leoni and comic Garry Shandling -- is scheduled for the end of April.

Duchovny said if he was lured back for another season, the opportunity to direct more episodes would be his main reason for accepting. He thinks the best route now would be to shut down the series and do X-Files movies.