The show extracts three very likable but slightly shallow characters from The X Files, and sets them up with a show of their own.
That's all that was preserved in this transplant, and that was a poor decision. "The X Files" works because it takes itself seriously, and doesn't insult the intelligence of its viewers; "The Lone Gunmen" fails because this spin off breaks away from that tradition.
"The Lone Gunmen" is written for a crowd of morons: the sort of juvenile viewers who like "Get Smart", "Laugh In", and "H. R. Puffinstuff".
The makers decided that TV didn't have room for another serious "Twilight Zone / Outer Limits / Night Stalker / X-Files" TV show, so they turned these fine characters into The Three Stooges. It was a mistake that was painful to watch.
I'm saddened that the show was cancelled in mid-season, rather than gutted and reconfigured with a more "X-Files" formula. I'm glad that the show's producers realized that its stoopid dumbed-down scooby doo humor was a mistake, but the characters and the show could have recovered from this poor start. The Lone Gunmen could have gone through a makeover to produce a sort of 'Sneakers' / 'Hackers' / 'Night Stalker' show to rival The X Files.
That's all that was preserved in this transplant, and that was a poor decision. "The X Files" works because it takes itself seriously, and doesn't insult the intelligence of its viewers; "The Lone Gunmen" fails because this spin off breaks away from that tradition.
"The Lone Gunmen" is written for a crowd of morons: the sort of juvenile viewers who like "Get Smart", "Laugh In", and "H. R. Puffinstuff".
The makers decided that TV didn't have room for another serious "Twilight Zone / Outer Limits / Night Stalker / X-Files" TV show, so they turned these fine characters into The Three Stooges. It was a mistake that was painful to watch.
I'm saddened that the show was cancelled in mid-season, rather than gutted and reconfigured with a more "X-Files" formula. I'm glad that the show's producers realized that its stoopid dumbed-down scooby doo humor was a mistake, but the characters and the show could have recovered from this poor start. The Lone Gunmen could have gone through a makeover to produce a sort of 'Sneakers' / 'Hackers' / 'Night Stalker' show to rival The X Files.