By MARISA GUTHRIE

A few weeks ago, Fox finally put to rest the speculation surrounding the fate of one of its best shows, when it announced that "The X-Files" would return for an eighth season. This may have seemed like good news to the show's incredibly loyal fans, but the future of "The X-Files" is far from certain.

In unveiling its fall 2000 primetime schedule, the network declared that it had reached an eleventh-hour deal with outspoken star David Duchovny, whose desire to be free of the show in order to pursue a movie career had been making frequent headlines.

Duchovny's deal includes a hefty raise (he'll reportedly get $ 400,000 per episode next season), less work and, finally, a settlement in his law suit with 20th Century Fox, which produces "The X-Files." Duchovny filed suit against 20th Century Fox last year claiming he was cheated out of millions in syndication royalties when the company sold the show on the cheap to in-house networks FX and Fox. It is likely this reportedly multi-million dollar settlement clinched the Duchovny deal. After all, what's a mere $ 400,000 per episode to an artiste?

Duchovny's co-star Gillian Anderson was already contracted through the eighth season -- she'll reportedly pull in about half of what Duchovny will get per episode. And the show's creator, Chris Carter, reached his own last-minute deal with the network. All of this rankling left the show flat and predictable most of last season and the problem is sure to intensify when the cameras start rolling again.

With Duchovny appearing in only half of the 22 episodes, the entire tone of the show is certain to shift. Indeed the dynamic between television's most intense platonic couple has already become unhinged.

April's "All Things" episode that Anderson wrote and directed IMPLIED that Scully and Mulder slept together. She was dressing in his apartment the morning after, he was lying asleep -- naked. Scully's revelation in the season finale that she is pregnant is further proof that the partners' fervent relationship is no longer platonic.

Although the season finale returned the show to its alien abduction-government conspiracy roots (a storyline fans have seen little of lately), it was also conveniently open-ended in the face of Duchovny's hold-out. Mulder's been abducted by aliens. Scully's pregnant. So now what? Is Scully to spend next season playing the single-mother-to-be-FBI-agent to Mulder's deadbeat dad?

Aliens, quirky sidekicks and sinister government operatives aside, it is the relationship between its two main characters that has made "The X-Files" so successful and enduring. Her logic tempers his fantasies. She looks for answers in science. He looks to the stars. It was a relationship built on mutual respect and affection that quickly evolved into unrequited love, giving the show its intriguing sexual tension.

Sure, "Spooky" Mulder is a "fine looking man," but he's just a sci-fi geek at heart. He makes his bed on a ragged living room couch where he watches porn and dreams of alternate universes. With reckless abandon he rushes after every lead, knowing that his practical partner will invariably come to his rescue.

And while Scully's scientific background dictates an unflinching adherence to provable fact, she cannot deny all that she's seen. With Scully's disclosure in the season ender, all that wonderful, carefully wrought chemistry could be sacrificed. Consummation has meant the kiss of death for lesser shows.

After seven years, Duchovny and Anderson can hardly be blamed for wanting to try on different personas. But Duchovny can be faulted for his sloppy execution. His incessant whining to the press has aliented many fans.

Television will always be the bastard step-child to film. There may be precious little art on the big screen these days, but movies still carry a certain cachet. That mark of distinction and respectability is what Duchovny and many other TV stars (Rob Morrow, Sherry Stringfield, David Caruso and most recently "ER's" Julianna Margulies) hunger for.

Although Duchovny has shown much talent for physical comedy and self-deprecating humor, his choice of films so far has been less than stellar -- the atrocious "Playing God" and the warmed-over "Return to Me." Anderson has had more success taking supporting roles in small, quirky films. But then, the need to be a headliner is predominantly a guy thing.

Time will tell if Duchovny has the fortitude to make it in the movies. If the fortunes of those who went before him are any indication, the outlook is grim. In the meantime, he is tampering with the very foundations of the show that, no matter how much he would rather deny it, has made him famous enough to get film roles in the first place.

Duchovny has said that he welcomes the opportunity to play Mulder in an "X-Files" movie franchise, perhaps revealing a shallow desire for superficial stardom.

But the off-screen antics are in danger of overwhelming the on-screen intrigue. After next season, Duchovny may find that he's just another star without a vehicle.