Why Fox Cancelled The X-Files Spin-Off The Lone Gunmen

Richard Langley (Dean Haglund), Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood), and John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood) — collectively known as the Lone Gunmen — first appeared in the episode of "The X-Files" called "E.B.E." (February 18, 1994). They were a trio of very, very intense nerds who spent their days looking into conspiracy theories, often finding (specious) evidence for their existence. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) also investigated conspiracies, and would occasionally turn to the Lone Gunmen to give his investigations credibility. The Gunmen, however, were comic relief characters, presented as an over-the-top counterpart to Mulder. No matter how wild Mulder got with his talk of aliens, monsters, and government cover-ups, the Gunmen outstripped him in paranoia and conspiratorial hypotheses. 

The Gunmen appeared in 40 episodes of "The X-Files" overall (including in the weird latter-day revival seasons), and many fans loved them. They were a whimsical warning of what Fox Mulder might become, if he allowed to lose himself in conspiracy theories. The Gunmen had actual espionage skills, of course, but no actual cool. They were capable and awkward at the same time. They provided a marvelous break to the usual funereal tone of "The X-Files." 

They also had their own spinoff TV series in 2001, and it was a gigantic flop. "The Lone Gunmen" ran on Fox from March 4 to June 1, lasting only 13 episodes before being canceled. Some "X-Files" fans tuned in, of course — there were certainly enough X-Philes in 2001 — but a "sillier" version of a sci-fi series best known for its foggy-skies earnestness wasn't well-received. The show was canceled merely because no one was tuning in. Show co-creator Vince Gilligan has been asked about "The Lone Gunmen" several times over the years, and he chalks up the show's failure to bad timing; he's actually very proud of the show. 

In a 2015 with the "X-Files" fan page "The X-Files Lexicon," Gilligan was asked what lessons he might have taken from the short-lived nature of "The Lone Gunmen," and he said that there were no lessons to learn. He loved what he did, and felt that he nailed the series from episode one. He said: 

"I have such fondness for 'The Lone Gunmen.' I think it ended way too soon. I was crushed when 'The Lone Gunmen' got canceled after its first season. What did I learn from doing that program? I get a fair number of people asking 'What are you going to do differently?' and the answer is I wouldn't do anything differently. 'The Lone Gunmen' to this day is a show I'm still proud of, and I will always be proud of." 

He then posited that "you can't really tell in advance whether a show is going to work for an audience," saying that the timing was bad. But he didn't think, for a second, that "The Lone Gunmen" was a bad show. He reiterated his viewpoint in a Time Magazine interview from that same year. In that interview, he said timing TV is like timing the stock market: it can't be done. 

If anything, the tone was off. "The Lone Gunmen" was, overall, a comedy series. The three lead characters (Haglund, Braidwood, and Harwood all returned) were awkward and funny, and investigated conspiracies, often with a strange, whimsical bent. Unlike "The X-Files," there wasn't a supernatural element to "The Lone Gunmen," sticking closer to terrorist conspiracies, government cover-ups, and illegal surveillance. They were joined by a none-too-bright, handsome "hero" type named Jimmy Bond (Stephen Snedden), and a wiser, graceful Carmen Sandiego-like rival named Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson). Note that "Yves Adele Harlow" is an anagram for "Lee Harvey Oswald." 

"The Lone Gunmen" wasn't a bit hit in its time, sadly, but it was released on DVD. Sadly, the show ended up being somewhat cursed by an especially bad bit of timing. In the show's pilot episode — which aired in March of 2001 — the titular trio find a conspiracy involving rogue members of the U.S. government attempting to hijack an airplane. The rogue terrorists then planned on flying the plane into the World Trade Center towers in New York. The idea was, once the Towers were knocked down, unaffiliated terrorist groups would be blamed, and a brand-new War on Terror would henceforth be initiated, allowing the government to retain the war apparatuses they built during the Cold War. 

The climax of the pilot episode involved the Gunmen sitting on one of the planes as it barrelled toward a World Trade Tower. They were able to change the plane's course at the last minute. 

"The Lone Gunmen" proved to be weirdly prescient, of course. Only six months after the episode aired, the World Trade Towers were destroyed by actual hijackers. Then, in the following months, the George W. Bush administration did indeed initiate a War on Terror that raged for decades. Not only was "The Lone Gunmen" a flop in its initial run, but the odd, violent coincidences of its pilot episode left the series stained for the better part of a decade; surely no network would want to run a 9/11 episode for at least a decade. 

In 2025, however, maybe enough time has passed, and audiences will be ready to discover the series again. "The Lone Gunmen" was a strange footnote to "The X-Files," but it was a quality series with a tone all its own.