15 Sci-fi TV Shows That Ended Too Soon

4. The Lone Gunmen

Firefly Nathan Fillion
Fox

The Beginning:

Those lovable nerds over at The Lone Gunmen were hardly the likeliest candidates for being given their own spin-off show; Ringo, Frohike and Byers seemed pretty content unpicking conspiracy theories in their dingy apartment, their portal to the outside world being a visit from Mulder.

But that’s precisely what made this show such an achingly good piece of television. Created by X-Files’ Chris Carter and unveiled in 2001, it hit that perfect balance of shadowy plot lines – no aliens here, just rogue Nazis and some war-mongering crime – and was also damn funny to boot.

The End:

Bit of a pattern forming here, The Lone Gunmen didn’t garner the audience it deserved, therefore, Fox put an end to it. Worse still, not content with lowering the dimmer on the trio’s time in the limelight, Fox decided that it was spin-off or nothing – the Gunmen had to go.

With the series ending early 2001, season nine of the X-Files followed later in the year giving Frohike and co their swansong in divisive episode ‘Jump The Shark’. Only the coldest of fish didn’t get a chill when that security door was brought down on their time on screens

Their sacrifice may have earned them a resting place at Arlington, but the void left by their passing was so great that their deaths were retconned shortly after and they lived on in X-Files season ten, the comic series.

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Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.