In Short:	Well, it's not entirely a waste of an X-Philes' time...
Recommended:	Kind of...

LANGLY:	This game isn't about violence. It's about empire building. I spent two solid weeks creating this medival civilization from the ground up.
FROHIKE:	Yet you're still a 32 year old virgin. The irony!
	-- "Like Water for Octane" (01.04)

I suppose it wasn’t the worst idea in the world to attempt a TV show based on the quintessential nerds that were The X-Files’ conspiracy theorist hackers and Mulder-informants, Langly, Frohike and Byers -- known collectively as The Lone Gunmen. No, not the worst idea in the world.

But not the best either.

Originally conceived by scribes Glen Morgan and James Wong for the first season episode “E. B. E.” (01.17), the boys of the independently produced “news” paper The Lone Gunman each represented a facet of then-popular geek archetypes: Langly (Bruce Harwood), a besuited, bearded pedant; Frohike (Tom Braidwood), a balding, rotund would-be ladies’ man; Langly (Dean Haglund), a long-haired, ill-kempt computer whiz. They, like Clyde Bruckman and Dr. Blockhead, were given to us as comic relief, and without a doubt, a relief they assuredly were. In their further appearances on The X-Files, the trio became beloved of fans for their snarky wit, sincere tenacity and dogged belief that the Government was Up to No Good -- they made Mulder, even at his most outlandish, look perfectly reasonable. And they were funny!

But the reason the comedy episodes and comedic characters worked so well in The X-Files (especially in the early days) was that they were so unexpected. In the midst of all the shadowy spookiness and encounters with evildoers of sinister intent, the appearance of kooky characters like Langly, Frohike and Byers was the ultimate juxtaposition between darkness and light. What started out as moments of leavening humor, often dark but always clever, became full-out comedy episodes as the seasons progressed, and The X-Files was really the first drama series of its kind to pioneer the self-referential fourth window break; the characters of Langly, Frohike and Byers were without a doubt a big part of what made this such a pleasure to watch unfold.

But in a show of their own, all kind-of humor and little-to-no horror, the Gunmen became little more than caricatures, with all the slapstick comedy of an X-Files episode like the brilliant “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” (or, at least, an attempt at such) but without the undercurrent of danger, or the context of a bigger, more elaborate arc.

Not that The Lone Gunmen doesn’t have its moments. Re-watching the series pilot, the first thing that strikes you is that the plot is eerily, creepily life-imitating-art-y; there’s a terrorist scheme to crash a plane into the World Trade Center, and it’s all to drive arms sales up. This, six months before 9/11. <shudder>. There’s also a great episode in which a children’s entertainer is accused of spying for the Chinese because he happens to be married to a Chinese national, and a few other decent outings: notably, a find-the-Nazi caper and one with a kick-ass talking monkey and an awesome title: “Planet of the Frohikes: A Short History of My Demeaning Captivity” (01.07).

The addition to the crew of one Jimmy Bond (Stephen Sneddon), All-American doofus, was an interesting choice -- he is the meathead quarterback to the Lone Gunmen’s captains of the chess team, computer and AV Clubs, and Sneddon is very convincing in the role -- and the sporadic appearances of the elusive and mysterious Yves Adele Harlow (Zuleikha Robinson) -- think a combination of Claudia Black’s Aeryn Sun from Farscape and Claudia Black’s Vala from Stargate SG-1 -- gave the show more scope for drama, romance and… well, sex-appeal than its main leads could offer. But in the end, The Lone Gunmen fails not in its concept, but in its execution. While trying to be something its parent was not, all it managed to be was a one-joke (maybe two-joke, if you could “Boy, that Jimmy is dumb”) premise that never fully lived up to even its limited potential.

The storyline explored in the final episode was a winner, though, and the series was showing definite signs of improvement, even before its cancelation by the trigger-happy FOX. A cliff-hanger, “All About Yves”, in which the lecherous and double-dealing Man in Black Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean) -- first seen in The X-Files’ “Dreamland” (06.04) -- helps/hinders the boys was finally resolved two years later in the parent show’s final season. The episode is called “Jump the Shark” (09.15), it brings back all the The Lone Gunmen cast, and… does not end well. Let’s just leave it at that.

In the final analysis, this spinoff was a failed experiment, and one that perhaps shouldn’t have made it out of the treatment stage. However, the 12-episode season does provide a not unwelcome insight into three of The X-Files’ most entertaining recurring characters, and is a decent enough companion piece to the main show itself.

And, hey! At least Carter didn’t decide to go with The Stupendous Yappi.