The X-Files

David Duchovny had been unhappy with his geographical separation from his wife Téa Leoni, as well as with climatic conditions in Vancouver.[81] Gillian Anderson also wanted to return home to the United States,[28] and Carter decided to move production to Los Angeles following the fifth season. The season ended in May 1998 with "The End", the final episode shot in Vancouver and the final episode with the involvement of many of the original crew members who had worked on the show for its previous five years, including director and producer R. W. Goodwin and his wife Sheila Larken (who played Margaret Scully and would later return briefly). "The End" introduced Diana Fowley, a new character who had apparently once worked with Mulder on early X-Files, but it focused largely on the efforts of the Syndicate to get control of mind-reading chess prodigy Gibson Praise.

The X-Files were closed for a second time in this episode (following season 2). This set up the events of the movie, The X-Files, which had just completed post-production and was to open in theatres one month later. The show finished its fifth season with a season Nielsen average of 12.1, its all time peak viewership,[4] and an X-Files record of 16 Emmy nominations (winning two), in addition to winning the Golden Globe for best drama series for the third year. Overall, seasons three to five appear to have marked the show's most popular and acclaimed period.