The Lone Gunmen (TV series)

The Lone Gunmen
File:The Lone Gunmen logo.jpg
Genre	Drama Satire
Created by	Chris Carter Vince Gilligan John Shiban Frank Spotnitz
Starring	Bruce Harwood Tom Braidwood Dean Haglund Stephen Snedden Zuleikha Robinson
Country of origin	United States and Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	43 minutes
Production companies	Millennium Canadian Productions Ltd. Ten Thirteen Productions 20th Century Fox Television
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	March 4 – June 1, 2001 (2001-06-01)
Related
The X-Files Millennium

The Lone Gunmen is an American thriller dramatic television series created by Chris Carter and broadcast on Fox. It was a spin-off of Carter's science fiction television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and, despite positive reviews, its ratings dropped. The program was canceled after thirteen episodes. The last episode was broadcast in June 2001 and ended on a cliffhanger which was partially resolved in a ninth-season episode of The X-Files entitled "Jump the Shark".

The series revolved around the three characters of The Lone Gunmen: Melvin Frohike, John Fitzgerald Byers, and Richard Langly, a group of "geeky" investigators who ran a conspiracy theory magazine. They had often helped FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files.

Typical plots

Unlike The X-Files, whose storylines dealt mainly with supernatural events and alien abduction conspiracies, episodes of The Lone Gunmen generally featured more "plausible" plots, such as government-sponsored terrorism, a creeping "surveillance society" under the eye of the government, cheating husbands, corporate crime, arms dealers, and escaped Nazis. The show had a light atmosphere and focused heavily on physical comedy. The trio were often aided (and sometimes hindered) by a mysterious thief named Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson).

The plot of the first episode, which aired March 4, 2001, involves a US government conspiracy to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center and blame it on terrorists, thereby gaining support for a new profit-making war. Parallels of this plotted scenario of government conspiracy to revitalize its war industry to the events of 9/11 in this episode are noteworthy, if not uncanny, since the episode was aired six months prior to 9/11.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.

Parallel to events of September 11, 2001

The pilot episode depicted a plane being flown into the New York World Trade Center; it originally aired six months before 9/11 and on the day of the attacks as a re-run. Similar to a number of conspiracy theories which would arise in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the plot of the March 4, 2001 episode depicts a secret faction within the US government plotting to hijack a Boeing 727 and fly it into the World Trade Center by remote control. The conspiracy's stated motive within the episode is to increase the military defense budget by blaming the attack on foreign interests. In the episode, the plot is foiled by the protagonists, who board the doomed plane and deactivate the malicious autopilot system just seconds before the plane reaches the World Trade Center.

Chris Carter, the creator of The Lone Gunmen and The X-Files, was questioned about the pilot episode at WonderCon 2008 in San Diego. He passed the question to one of the show's producers, Frank Spotnitz. Spotnitz's response was critical of the government, asking why the show's creators had been able to predict such an event while the government could not. Spotnitz then dismissed the rest as merely a coincidence. Spotnitz also admitted initial remorse as to having possibly given the terrorists the idea to commit the attacks. Later, Spotnitz and other producers of the pilot episode participated in an interview concerning the similarities between the show's script and the later events of September 11th. Dean Haglund, part of the show's cast, was later interviewed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones regarding the pilot episode. Haglund stated during the interview that the show's creative team would listen to shows like Jones's to develop plots for the initial episodes of the series.

Octium Inside

A recurring theme throughout the first series of episodes involves a fictional computer company whose branding is similar to the Intel Inside branding by Intel Corporation the American multinational semiconductor chip maker. Pictures of the "Octium inside!" slogan can be seen throughout various clips of the pilot episode because the Octium 4 processor is used to take back control of the airliner. The second episode of the series brings the fictional computer company to the central plot involving a stolen Octium computer chip.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Rob Bowman	Chris Carter & Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	March 4, 2001 (2001-03-04)	1AEB79	13.23
While The Lone Gunmen are thwarted in their attempt to steal a computer chip by Yves Adele Harlow, John Fitzgerald Byers receives news of his father's death and the trio soon find themselves unravelling a government conspiracy concerning an attempt to fly a commercial aircraft into the Twin Towers, with increased arms sales for the United States as an intended result.
2	"Bond, Jimmy Bond"	Bryan Spicer	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	March 11, 2001 (2001-03-11)	1AEB01	9.0
While searching for the killer of an infamous hacker, the three Lone Gunmen find a fourth member when they stumble upon a practice of a football team for the blind.
3	"Eine Kleine Frohike"	David Jackson	John Shiban	March 16, 2001 (2001-03-16)	1AEB02	5.4
With help from Yves, Melvin Frohike attempts to convince a woman suspected of being a Nazi war criminal that he is her long-lost son - and survive to talk about it.
4	"Like Water for Octane"	Richard Compton	Collin Friesen	March 18, 2001 (2001-03-18)	1AEB03	N/A
While searching for a water-powered car, the Gunmen encounter missile silos, rude government clerks, and cows.
5	"Three Men and a Smoking Diaper"	Bryan Spicer	Chris Carter	March 23, 2001 (2001-03-23)	1AEB04	N/A
The Lone Gunmen turn into babysitters while working to expose the truth behind a murder linked to a Senator seeking re-election.
6	"Madam, I'm Adam"	Bryan Spicer	Thomas Schnauz	March 30, 2001 (2001-03-30)	1AEB05	N/A
A man contacts The Lone Gunmen, believing his life has been stolen after being abducted by aliens. They end up getting caught in a love triangle involving a one-eyed stereo salesman, brainwashing, and a wrestling dwarf.
7	"Planet of the Frohikes"	John T. Kretchmer	Vince Gilligan	April 6, 2001 (2001-04-06)	1AEB06	N/A
The Lone Gunmen receive an email from an ingenious chimp, a self-named Simon White-Thatch Potentloins, attempting to escape a government laboratory.
8	"Maximum Byers"	Vincent Misiano	Vince Gilligan & Frank Spotnitz	April 13, 2001 (2001-04-13)	1AEB07	N/A
At the behest of a man's mother, Byers and Jimmy Bond pose as prisoners on Death Row in a Texas penitentiary to prove the man's innocence.
9	"Diagnosis: Jimmy"	Bryan Spicer	John Shiban	April 20, 2001 (2001-04-20)	1AEB08	N/A
While recovering in a hospital, Jimmy begins to suspect that his doctor is a wanted killer. Meanwhile, the Gunmen attempt to stop a man who kills grizzly bears to sell their gallbladders.
10	"Tango de los Pistoleros"	Bryan Spicer	Thomas Schnauz	April 27, 2001 (2001-04-27)	1AEB09	N/A
Yves and Frohike go undercover as tango dancers to stop a man from selling government secrets.
11	"The Lying Game"	Richard Compton	Nandi Bowe	May 4, 2001 (2001-05-04)	1AEB10	N/A
While investigating the death of Byers' college roommate, The Lone Gunmen find evidence implicating FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner.
13	"All About Yves"	Bryan Spicer	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	May 11, 2001 (2001-05-11)	1AEB12	N/A
The Lone Gunmen team up with Man in Black agent Morris Fletcher to find Yves. What they uncover is Romeo-61, a secret government organization responsible for decades of major incidents.
12	"The Cap'n Toby Show"	Carol Banker	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	June 1, 2001 (2001-06-01)	1AEB11	N/A
The Lone Gunmen try to solve the murders of two FBI agents who were working undercover on Richard Langly's favorite TV show.

"Jump the Shark" (2002) (The X-Files episode)

No.	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
197	9.15	"Jump the Shark"	Cliff Bole	Vince Gilligan & John Shiban & Frank Spotnitz	April 21, 2002 (2002-04-21)	9ABX15
When Morris Fletcher approaches agents Scully, Dogget, and Reyes with information related to the super soldiers, they turn to the Lone Gunmen. But the Gunmen and Jimmy are already knee-deep in a bio-terrorist’s plot to release a deadly toxin, and his links to the mysterious Yves Adele Harlow.

DVD release

Fox Home Entertainment officially released the series (along with the episode of The X-Files titled "Jump the Shark" which finishes the cliffhanger that ended The Lone Gunmen as an additional episode) on a three-disc Region 1 DVD set on Tuesday March 29, 2005. In the UK, it was released on January 31, 2006.

External links

• The Lone Gunmen at IMDb
• Perenson, Melissa J. "Three Men and a conspiracy seek the truth solo in The Lone Gunmen". Sci Fi Channel. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004.
• Perenson, Melissa J. "Chris Carter taught us to trust no one, but wants us to trust The Lone Gunmen". Sci Fi Channel. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004.