X Files

Joking that their passion is to develop innovative original programming or obtain shows from the rival WB network, UPN executives unveiled a fall lineup Thursday anchored by its acquisitions of two WB dramas: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Roswell."

Fox is playing out yet another behind-the-scenes cliffhanger regarding "The X-Files": The network is preparing to announce a revised prime-time lineup that includes a ninth season of the series but as of press time had yet to close a deal with the program's creator, producer Chris Carter. Moreover, star David Duchovny--who has appeared sparingly this season--won't return to the show, though the actor's representatives have not ruled out cameo appearances.

Sunday's was the "X-Files" episode fans had waited all year for: finally, the long-advertised official return of their beloved character, FBI Agent Fox Mulder. Then he shows up in the final moments as a corpse, dumped from a UFO like a mob snitch from a Coupe De Ville. "Could it get worse?" wrote one fan, setting the tone of the irate messages on the official Web site of the Fox network series that began streaming in as soon as the show was over. "PLEASE! OH PLEASE!

The catch phrases are familiar to any viewers of "The X-Files": "Mulder, where are you?" and "Trust no one." But lately for many fans, the lines apply not to "Files' " fictional world, but to the real-life creative forces behind their beloved series.

Beverly Hills' Museum of Television & Radio will screen the two initial episodes of the forthcoming "X-Files" spinoff series, "The Lone Gunmen," at the museum, 465 N. Beverly Drive, tonight at 6. The series will premiere March 4 on Fox in "The X-Files' " 9 p.m. Sunday time slot. Series co-creator Chris Carter and series stars Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood and Tom Braidwood will speak after the event.

With the recent news of producer Harry Thomason pitching a Bill Clinton interview show to NBC (Morning Report, Dec. 20), I imagine a phone being answered in Washington, D.C. . . . "Hello?" "Bill, hi, it's Harry, out here on the left coast. How's life treatin' ya?" "Not too bad. They love me over there in Ireland. Maybe I should call up Terry McAuliffe and see if he can snag me a sweetheart mortgage deal on some castle over there, eh?"

Deception and intrigue. Hidden agendas. Powerful forces outside your control. Gillian Anderson deals with these issues every week as "The X-Files" FBI Agent Dana Scully. Now the actress is confronting them in a different--yet no less dangerous way--as Lily Bart in "The House of Mirth," based on Edith Wharton's classic novel of early 20th century social wars amid the rarefied world of New York's posh upper class.

A member of a preproduction crew working on the season premiere of the hit series "The X-Files" was electrocuted and six others were injured Monday when a power line sent 4,800 volts through a scaffolding. "It charged the entire scaffolding," Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. Six of the victims were standing 15 feet up and one person was on the ground, he said.