The Lone Gunmen (TV series)

The Lone Gunmen
Created by	Chris Carter
Starring	Tom Braidwood, Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund
Country of origin	Canada United States
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	45 min (per episode)
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	March 4, 2001 – June 1, 2001
Related
The X-Files

The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It is a spin off of Carter's popular long running The X-Files, starring several of the show's characters. The show was first broadcast in March 2001 and, despite positive reviews, it was cancelled because of a drop in ratings. The last episode was broadcast in June 2001 and ended on a cliffhanger which was 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 creatures and government alien conspiracies, episodes of The Lone Gunmen generally featured more "plausible" plots, such as 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 series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

9/11 Conspiracy Theory Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing the September 11, 2001 attacks, the plot of the March 4, 2001 pilot episode of the series depicts a secret U.S. government agency plotting to crash a Boeing 727 headed for Boston into the World Trade Center via remote control for the purpose of increasing the military defense budget and blaming the attack on foreign "tin-pot dictators" who are "begging to be smart-bombed."

Episode list

1. Pilot (March 4 2001)
2. Bond, Jimmy Bond (March 11 2001)
3. Eine Kleine Frohike (March 16 2001)
4. Like Water for Octane (March 18 2001)
5. Three Men and a Smoking Diaper (March 23 2001)
6. Madam, I'm Adam (March 30 2001)
7. Planet of the Frohikes: A Short History of My Demeaning Captivity (April 6 2001)
8. Maximum Byers (April 13 2001)
9. Diagnosis: Jimmy (April 20 2001)
10. Tango de los Pistoleros (April 27 2001)
11. Lying Game (May 4 2001)
12. All About Yves (May 11 2001), Season Finale
13. Cap'n Toby Show (June 1 2001), "Lost Episode"

Characters and cast

• Tom Braidwood - Melvin Frohike
• Dean Haglund - Richard "Ringo" Langly
• Bruce Harwood - John Fitzgerald Byers
• Stephen Snedden - Jimmy Bond

Yves Adele Harlow is the alias for a fictional character who sometimes works with the Lone Gunmen (though she's sometimes at odds with them, as her goals are rarely as selfless as theirs) and often employs various disguises. Her actual name is Lois Runce, and she is the daughter of an arms dealer. Jimmy Bond is emotionally attached to her, although his feelings are unrequited. The alias is an anagram for Lee Harvey Oswald. She is played by British actress Zuleikha Robinson.

David Duchovny (Fox Mulder), Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner) and Michael McKean (Morris Fletcher) from The X-Files made guest appearances on the show.

Crew

• Executive Producer - Chris Carter, Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz
• Creators - Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, Frank Spotnitz
• Frohike, Langly and Byers characters originally created by Glen Morgan and James Wong

DVD release

Fox Home Entertainment officially released the series (along with the episode of The X-Files entitled 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 29 March, 2005. In the UK, it was released on the 31st January 2006.

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