10 Great Sci-Fi TV Shows (That Died Too Soon)
8. The Lone Gunmen (2001)
When it was originally on the air, The X-Files was an absolute phenomenon. The Lone Gunmen, the spin off series featuring the fan favorite characters of the same name, was not.
The Lone Gunmen first appeared on The X-Files. The trio of hackers and conspiracy theorists published a newsletter about what was really happening in the world. Naturally, Mulder was a fan and they helped him with his search for the truth. They became an important resource to both Mulder and Scully.
The short lived spin off didn't capture fans' interest in the same way The X-Files did, possibly because it focused on a different kind of conspiracy unrelated to aliens or the supernatural. Oddly, The Lone Gunmen pilot, which aired six months before 9/11, actually had the leads stop the hijacking of a commuter plane that was going to be used to take down the World Trade Center.
That was a creepy coincidence.
Like so many other sci-fi series that got cancelled too early, The Lone Gunmen ended on a cliffhanger. Since The X-Files was still on the air, there was something of a resolution to that finale in a season nine episode.