The original series finale, "The Truth", attracted 13.25 million viewers, the series' lowest rated season finale. The ninth season was the 63rd most-watched show for the 200102 season, tying its season two rank. On May 19, 2002, the finale aired and the Fox network confirmed that "The X-Files" was over. When talking about the beginning of the ninth season, Carter said "We lost our audience on the first episode. It's like the audience had gone away and I didn't know how to find them. I didn't want to work to get them back because I believed what we are doing deserved to have them back." While news outlets cited declining ratings because of lackluster stories and poor writing, "The X-Files" production crew blamed September 11 terrorist attacks as the main factor. At the end of 2002, "The X-Files" had become the longest-running consecutive science fiction series ever on U.S. broadcast television. This record was later surpassed by "Stargate SG-1" in 2007 and "Smallville" in 2011.