Why “The Lone Gunmen” got axed
We seem to have an unofficial theme of sorts today.
Fans of The X-Files remember the Lone Gunmen, the trio of brilliant but socially inept hackers and conspiracy experts that made comic book fans look socially un-inept. They were spun off into their own short-lived TV series, which recently became available on DVD.
But some wondered: How could a show featuring such popular characters get cancelled so quickly? Was it some sort of evil scheme? Who was to blame? Why was that guy in Fox’s programming division constantly smoking?
Finally, we have an answer – in comic book form, no less, which means that we can talk about it here and still remain within our theoretical charter.
Dean Haglund, better known as Richard "Ringo" Langly, has written and drawn an autobiographical story of what happened to the Lone Gunmen – how they found out about the series, how it lived, and how it died. The art is reminiscent of a cruder version of William Messner-Loebs, and the story reinforces every dumb story you’ve heard about Hollywood. He’s selling it on his web site for a pretty high price, but if you ask nicely, I’m sure he’ll autograph it directly to you.
So this show wasn't canceled because, oh, you know, almost no one actually watched it?
You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that series get cancelled for reasons other than small audiences. Sometimes the decision gets handed down before reliable numbers based on viewer reactions (you know: word of mouth) are even in. Heck, series even get cancelled before they make it on the air.But my actual reason for commenting is the comparison to Wm. Messner-Loebs' art… which I just don't see, even when I factor in "cruder". Loebs' doodles are elegant, and when you put a brush in his hand, he utterly rocks. Dean Haglund's cover (at least) looks nothing like that.