MovieChat Forums > The Lone Gunmen (2001) Discussion > Sad this series didn't last longer

Sad this series didn't last longer

posted 15 years ago by MovieWatcher2009
19 replies | jump to latest

I just watched the first disc of TLG and while the pilot was a bit slow, by the end of the disc I was enjoying TLG. The last 2 discs are on the way.

It's sad this didn't last longer than it did. It should have lasted a good 4-5 seasons at least. I guess my question is why? Did Fox not give it enough time to create its own identity, instead of just being "those 3 geeks from X Files?" Since it was cancelled for ratings, why didn't X Files fans support the show more, considering TLG were popular characters. Did the comedic slant of the show turn off XF fans; or was it bad timing? Would this series had survived if perhaps it was released 3 years or so earlier, when the XF popularity was at its peak? It's no secret XF lost a lot of steam in the last 3 seasons, especially the last 2 with hardly any Mulder, so I'm wondering if by then it was too late for a spinoff. In fact I guess one could argue TLG was an attempt to increase more interest back in the XF.

Anyway, I wish this series would have gotten at least another season and best case it would have run about 5 seasons through 2006.

[–] flashesbeforeyoureyes 14 years ago

I do too, the end of the Lone gunmen didn't match up to the show at all, they should have gone on longer with it.

[–] Lokisgodhi 13 years ago

I think is was the comic slant. It's kind of mocking and disrespectful of those who took the X-Files conspiracy theory storyline seriously.

[–] persen1 13 years ago

Byers: "That's what we like about you, Mulder. Your ideas are even weirder than ours."
Said in the X-Files, so the guys were planned from the beginning not to be as conspiracy crazy as Mulder was.
If you notice a few of the headlines from their newspaper on the X-Files, then you will also spot, that they did meny other things than helping Mulder with his government and alien conspiracies.

One of their headlines said: TELETUBBIES = MINDCONTROL ?

Already that headline on one of their papers kinda tells how unserious they also could be and the show The Lone Gunmen also tells that story.

[–] skiop 11 years ago

The Lone Gunmen were always comic relief. What else could fans have expected?

[–] GigabyteMe 11 years ago

Better acting and writing?
They are 3 nice guys by the sound of it but you have to get real and see they were never more than some extras who got crazy lucky.
Not a one of them could carry a show and not even the 3 together could do it.
Plus the show needed comedy writers but it didn't have any.

[–] sabbath1013 12 years ago

I thought the series was good, I think it would have got better if they kept it going. They probably would have found a good balance between being funny and being serious if they had another season.

[–] GigabyteMe 12 years ago

Yeah I wanted this to go the distance but it just didn't have the legs.

Hate to say it but I don't think the lead actors had it in them. Also by trying to make it funny and dramatic it wasn't either. If they'd stuck to drama they'd have been fine and then brought in Darin Morgan to write funny episodes.

Imagine that. Instant cult classic.

[–] slade4ever 12 years ago

I liked it too.

I'm hoping to pick up the whole series soon on dvd.

Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things: Jack and sh*t and Jack left town

[–] GigabyteMe 11 years ago

I liked the 3 guys a lot but they just didn't have what it takes to carry a show on their own.
Also I just don't think the writers had the comic chops.
I know Gilligan did some pretty amusing stuff on the X-F but that was comic relief in a serious show while TLG was the exact opposite.
Maybe if they'd only got even one more season, who knows?

[–] pryd-tom 10 years ago

That's probably a good point. The three of them were fine - And given a little longer could've pulled it off.

But they were dragged down by a pointlessly bufoonish sidekick and a femme fatale that was so ridiculously unrealistic that viewers are ripped out of the moment.

The comedy was fine, and seemed like the same Lone Gunmen schtick from their appearances on the X-Files. But the addition of Jimmy and Yves made it farcical.

Perhaps they could reboot it? Those inexplicably realistic facial masks that Yves uses? Perhaps it was She, Jimmy and Morris Fletcher, using those masks, who died in "Jump the Shark" (Don't worry, they were infected with a deadly virus, who'd want to autopsy that? So no, it still holds together just about...)

The Lone Gunmen, fearing the increasing popularity of their publication after some high profile headlines, use the tragedy as a means of getting back to their roots and going to ground.

There's obviously some appetite for reintroducing well-loved characters from these series (X-Files and Lone Gunmen), but doing it without some side-stepping would be difficult. And they'd need to do it soon, the window of opportunity is closing, and its era is passing.

[–] GigabyteMe 10 years ago

Honestly , I still don't believe those guys can carry a show alone.
Also the story I got told was they asked big boy money and that is the main reason for the cancellation.

[–] pryd-tom 10 years ago

Maybe you're right. I'm just thinking back to the early series of The X-Files, and how "green" both Anderson and Duchovny were themselves back then. With enough time and promotion, they managed it.

Another reason I didn't mention, but suspected, was the lack of budget - Or 'big boy money' as you said. Their ratings may not have been huge, but they were definitely above average, and so they had at least a right to ask for more. Fox didn't have to pull the plug over something so childish.

Given time and decent finance, and some "tragic" accident killing off both Yves and Jimmy(!), then this could've been a success. An unlikely success, yes. But all the same...

I doubt it would've been an amazing, major cult TV show of course. But it certainly deserved more than just over a dozen episodes.

[–] GigabyteMe 10 years ago

Yeah I'm with you on wishing it got more than just a handful of eps.

[–] MovieKnut 12 years ago

Regarding the ratings. I have read that 'The Lone Gunmen' ratings were comparable with 'The X-Files' early ratings.

You can't palm off a second-rater on me. You gotta remember I was in the pink!

[–] mcgill_j 12 years ago

I think crazy funny was the only way to go for the show.. But hour long comedies are an almost non existent breed. Now a serious show can have the occasional funny episode but the almost entirety of hour longs are a bit more serious. I LOVED LG and MillenniuM.. Although Millennium I preferred season 1 before the more supernatural elements came in to play.. But they were very different and unusual shows still sharing the same odd orbit.

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[–] megoobee 10 years ago

Adding the dipstick and eye candy characters just took away from what could have been a great series. While The Lone Gunmen were eccentric and naive in many ways, they were not idiots as seen during the series.

Chris Carter has a way of destroying good programs. Look what happen to Millennium.

[–] AdmiralTugBenson 10 years ago

I'm only about 4 episodes in, but I'm really enjoying it. I love them on X-Files, and I love the more comedic X-Files episodes, so the lighter tone of this series doesn't bother me at all.

See you guys at the 10 year prison reunion - Ben Richards