This October/November, we’re taking a trip back in time to review the eighth season of The X-Files and the first (and only) season of The Lone Gunmen.
It is meant to be a joke.
It is an episode known as The Pilot, because it is a proof of concept for a new series that can be shown to executives in the hopes that they might green-light it and give the production team a series order. That is, after all, what a television pilot is. It is the first episode of a television show to be filmed, usually with considerable space between it and the rest of the first season. There is time for network notes and feedback, to determine what works and what doesn’t. There is space for recasting and reshooting, which becomes more problematic on a weekly schedule.
Rocket man.
However, the fact that the first episode of The Lone Gunmen is called The Pilot is also a rather wry punchline. It is a self-aware reminder that the show takes itself considerably less seriously than Millennium or Harsh Realm. After all, even if this weren’t the very first episode of a new television show, it might be called The Pilot. Based purely on the plot, the episode might have been called The Pilot. It is an episode about a sinister plot to hijack planes using advanced technology. So calling the episode The Pilot is a cheesy and goofy bit of wordplay.
Of course, there is very little funny about it in hindsight.
Don’t leave us hanging…
Filed under: The Lone Gunmen | Tagged: 9/11, Byers, chris carter, conspiracy, Father, frank spotnitz, Frohike, Government, homophobia, idealism, john shiban, Langly, patriotism, sixties, the lone gunment, the pilot, vince gilligan, world trade centre | 2 Comments »
