Network: Fox; Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery; Content Rating: TV-PG; Available: DVD; Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);
Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the turn of the millennium was something of a creative renaissance at the Fox network. Amid the network's push toward cheap reality shows at all cost there was this frustratingly wonderful little glutton of 1-season wonders that barely saw the light of day. Some were knock-out brilliant (I'm looking at you on my DVD shelf, "Wonderfalls"), but even the ones that didn't quite work were unlike anything else on TV - and still are. Hard to categorize or quantify, "The Lone Gunmen" is such a show. Yes, it's an "X-Files" spin-off, but it's also a bizarre tonal hybrid (developed by 4 "X-Files" alumni Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, John Shiban and Vince Gilligan) that makes the show it's own animal.
While the stories are more, for lack of a better word, light and upbeat that those on "The X-Files", the show takes itself seriously enough not to breakdown into farcical wackiness that some of these conspiracy stories could easily dive into. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. For the lone gunmen of "The Lone Gunmen" deal with entirely earth-bound ridiculousness. Corporate and government conspiracies ranging from people being put in alternate virtual realities to super-intelligent chimps (by far my favorite episode) to government-sponsored terrorist attacks. Let's just say that the show's quasi-prophetic pilot episode plays very different now then when it aired.
Computer geeks Byers (Bruce Harwood), Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and Langley (Dean Hagland, sporting Garth Algar hair and glasses) reprise their roles as the authors of an underground newsletter that exposes the truths behind our world. And three more original and unlikely leads you couldn't ask for. Not only are they A-typical leading men and not only are they nerds, but they're jerks too. These aren't your cute romantic comedy sidekick nerds, but arrogant nerds who look down on those who aren't as smart. Despite the fact that they just as often don't actually solve the case or even bumble up someone else's. Case in point, an episode guest starring Stephen Tobolowsky as a pathetic, confused and pained man who the Gunmen treat with hostile, insulting contempt until his situation proves scientifically interesting to them.
Given and possibly because of that (thanks to network meddling I would assume), they spend an astonishing amount of time off camera or standing idly by while guest stars and two new characters tell the stories. "Gunmen" gives us Jimmy Bond (Stephen Snedden), the lunkhead, "but lovable" (that's network-speak) man-child and former football player who joins the Gunmen and winds up doing most of the stunts and undercover work. We've also got the mysterious "sultry" secret agent babe who is always one step ahead of the guys (Zuleikha Robinson). Both new characters are given better arcs and more intrigue than the Gunmen. On top of that, "The Lone Gunmen" is at core, just another client-based series in which the story of a guest starring character is unfolded through the eyes and with the help of our heroes. It got to the end of the season and felt I knew almost nothing about them. Would it be too much to ask for The Lone Gunmen to star in "The Lone Gunmen".
You have to give the show points for imagination and originality, even if the tone is often off the mark and execution disappointingly succumbing to a tired client-based formula. More episodes could have ironed this out.
* * ½ / 4
Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the turn of the millennium was something of a creative renaissance at the Fox network. Amid the network's push toward cheap reality shows at all cost there was this frustratingly wonderful little glutton of 1-season wonders that barely saw the light of day. Some were knock-out brilliant (I'm looking at you on my DVD shelf, "Wonderfalls"), but even the ones that didn't quite work were unlike anything else on TV - and still are. Hard to categorize or quantify, "The Lone Gunmen" is such a show. Yes, it's an "X-Files" spin-off, but it's also a bizarre tonal hybrid (developed by 4 "X-Files" alumni Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, John Shiban and Vince Gilligan) that makes the show it's own animal.
While the stories are more, for lack of a better word, light and upbeat that those on "The X-Files", the show takes itself seriously enough not to breakdown into farcical wackiness that some of these conspiracy stories could easily dive into. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. For the lone gunmen of "The Lone Gunmen" deal with entirely earth-bound ridiculousness. Corporate and government conspiracies ranging from people being put in alternate virtual realities to super-intelligent chimps (by far my favorite episode) to government-sponsored terrorist attacks. Let's just say that the show's quasi-prophetic pilot episode plays very different now then when it aired.
Computer geeks Byers (Bruce Harwood), Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and Langley (Dean Hagland, sporting Garth Algar hair and glasses) reprise their roles as the authors of an underground newsletter that exposes the truths behind our world. And three more original and unlikely leads you couldn't ask for. Not only are they A-typical leading men and not only are they nerds, but they're jerks too. These aren't your cute romantic comedy sidekick nerds, but arrogant nerds who look down on those who aren't as smart. Despite the fact that they just as often don't actually solve the case or even bumble up someone else's. Case in point, an episode guest starring Stephen Tobolowsky as a pathetic, confused and pained man who the Gunmen treat with hostile, insulting contempt until his situation proves scientifically interesting to them.
Given and possibly because of that (thanks to network meddling I would assume), they spend an astonishing amount of time off camera or standing idly by while guest stars and two new characters tell the stories. "Gunmen" gives us Jimmy Bond (Stephen Snedden), the lunkhead, "but lovable" (that's network-speak) man-child and former football player who joins the Gunmen and winds up doing most of the stunts and undercover work. We've also got the mysterious "sultry" secret agent babe who is always one step ahead of the guys (Zuleikha Robinson). Both new characters are given better arcs and more intrigue than the Gunmen. On top of that, "The Lone Gunmen" is at core, just another client-based series in which the story of a guest starring character is unfolded through the eyes and with the help of our heroes. It got to the end of the season and felt I knew almost nothing about them. Would it be too much to ask for The Lone Gunmen to star in "The Lone Gunmen".
You have to give the show points for imagination and originality, even if the tone is often off the mark and execution disappointingly succumbing to a tired client-based formula. More episodes could have ironed this out.
* * ½ / 4