12 Critically Reviled Sci-Fi TV Shows (That Weren't Actually That Bad)

12. The Lone Gunmen

Cancelled after a single season—and a brief one at that, with the series limited to a short 13 episode run—The X-Files lighter spin-off The Lone Gunmen followed the exploits of the titular trio. Often enlisted to assist Mulder in the show proper, the Gunmen were a triumvirate of conspiracy nuts who ran a magazine detailing various government plots and schemes whilst also foiling said shenanigans themselves.

The show was a fun ride met with little love when it debuted in 2001, and despite featuring the talents of future Breaking Bad scribe Vince Giligan in its writer’s room it was canned after a sole season. Now it’s mostly known for an episode which shockingly predicts the events of September 11 with uncanny accuracy, and for Giligan’s regret that he decided to kill of the three heroes when they returned to their home turf of The X-Files in season nine’s appropriately-titled “Jump the Shark”.

Revisit this one, but beware that like most conspiracy fiction, it’s a little less fun when half the zany theories seem to have come true.