Vince Gilligan explained "everything in Los Angeles is more expensive across the board. […] It became apparent very quickly to me that we were no longer going to have things such as nuclear submarines descending through the ice and trains exploding in the middle of the woods". Crew Series creator Chris Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote five episodes. Spotnitz was promoted to executive producer and wrote five episodes, and wrote the story for a further two episodes. Vince Gilligan was promoted to co-executive producer and wrote seven episodes. John Shiban was promoted to producer and wrote six episodes, and wrote the story for one other episode. New writers in the sixth season included David Amann who joined as executive story editor and wrote two episodes, and Jeffrey Bell who also wrote two episodes. Freelance episodes were written by Daniel Arkin and Jim Guttridge, and a further episode was written by Ken Hawryliw, who was the series' property master from 1993 to 1998. Duchovny also wrote his first episode solo, as he previously collaborated with various writers, including Chris Carter, on three other episodes. Other producers included producer Paul Rabwin, co-producer Lori Jo Nemhauser, and Bernadette Caulfield who joined as producer. Producing-directors for the show included producer Rob Bowman, producer Manners, co-executive producer Michael Watkins, and consulting producer Daniel Sackheim, who together directed the bulk of the season's episodes. Manners directed seven episodes, Bowman directed six, Watkins directed three, and Sackheim directed one. Series creator Chris Carter directed two episodes, while cast member David Duchovny directed his first episode of the series. The remaining two episodes were directed by Peter Markle and Bryan Spicer. Cast Main cast Starring David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully a Duchovny only contributes his voice to "Three of a Kind". Also starring Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek Recurring cast Guest cast Episodes Episodes marked with a double dagger () are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc. Reception Ratings The sixth season of The X-Files debuted with "The Beginning" on November 8, 1998. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 11.9, with a 17 share, meaning that roughly 11.9 percent of all television-equipped households, and 17 percent of households watching television, were tuned in