Number of seasons: 9 Number of seasons it should have had: 7 Much like The Office, The X-Files suffered from the loss of one of its stars, but David Duchovnys departure from the series at the end of season seven deprived it of its bedrock: the chemistry between Mulder and Scully. The lively dynamic between the believer and the sceptic has been mined by other genre shows since The X-Files pushed it to the forefront, and the loss of that core relationship shook the shows confidence in its storytelling. The X-Files also relied upon the unsolved mysteries of its complex mythology, but seasons eight and nine offered only murky answers and several muddled arcs which left fans exasperated rather than intrigued. Even Duchovnys return to the cast as a recurring character couldnt revive the flagging franchise, which has since limped through two unspectacular films as well. Apparently Chris Carter has yet to learn the meaning of the phrase quit while youre ahead.
