Following the eighth season of "The X-Files", David Duchovny announced that he would be completely leaving the show. As such, the future of the show was up in the air. Before greenlighting a ninth season, neither the Fox Network nor any of the Ten Thirteen Productions members knew if creator Chris Carter would return for another season. With this being said, he encouraged the other members of the crew to continue the series without him. Eventually, however, several crew members began to develop new scripts ideas for the ninth season, many of which excited Carter. This new-found enthusiasm eventually caused Carter to sign a contract with Fox for another year. Likewise, Anderson signed on at the last minute, with her contract extension only lasting until the end of 2002; she specifically stated that she would leave the show following the conclusion of the season. Due to the changes in the cast, during the ninth season Doggett and Reyes became the series' new leads. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz speculated that the show could extend into a tenth and possibly eleventh season, if the show was able to attract an audience. However, the show lost viewers and was eventually cancelled by Fox.