FOX Broadcasting Company: Community: Chat: The Lone Gunmen Creators Transcript
Lone Gunmen Executive Producers - Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan &
John Shiban - March 1, 2001
Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan and John Shiban all serve as
executive producers on The X-Files, as well as on The Lone Gunmen.
For more on their careers, log on to
http://www.thexfiles.com/infobase/bios/crew/.
Mutato1121: Is writing and planning the story lines for The Lone
Gunmen any different then from when you do The X-Files scripts?
Vince: It's different in that it's a comedy. But we find the
plotting to be just as intricate as when we do an episode of The
X-Files.
John: In some ways it's more difficult than The X-Files because you
not only have to have a great story but it has to be funny too.
Frank: Let me put it this way, most weeks when we turn in the
scripts the crew in Vancouver wants to know what we were smoking. So
I'd say in many ways the scripts are even more out there than The
X-Files.
JNewton: I loved the episodes "Unusual Suspects" and "Three of a
Kind" on The X-Files. Is that basically what LG episodes are going
to be like?
Frank: Absolutely! If you like those shows, you'll love these.
Vince: Plus, with the new shows, we have two great new
characters...Yves Adele Harlow, who is a wonderful femme fatale, and
Jimmy Bond, who in some ways will become the fourth Lone Gunman.
SamanthaJ3: Will TLG be strictly comedy? Or will it have drama, too?
John: You'll laugh and you'll cry! We consider this show Mission
Impossible with geeks...so you'll have adventure, thrills, but also
some pretty wild humor because our three leads, the Lone Gunmen,
their world is upside down from The X-Files.
Frank: Hopefully you'll know when to laugh and when to cry.
Vince: It's definitely a comedy but we have a couple episodes coming
up that have some nice emotion to them. Actually they all have a
certain amount of emotion to themand we feel it balances nicely
with the comedy.
Oliver: Isn't it ironic to launch a spin-off comedy during this
gloomy season of TXF where desperation, adversity, boredom, and
ultimately (so far) tragedy prevail?
Frank: Good point. Uh-oh!
John: You mean to say alien babies aren't funny?
XPhreak: Alright, spill it: WHO'S THE FATHER OF SCULLY'S BABY?
Frank: We'll learn in The Lone Gunmen that Frohike is the father of
Scully's baby. Stay tuned!
jaybfox: Do you have a particular character you like to write more
than another? For instance, do you have a preference amongst the
Lone Gunmen?
Frank: We love them all!
Vince: The more we like them, the more we realize how unique each of
their voices is. Byers is the voice of reason, the moral center of
the show. Frohike is a curmudgeonly man of action. Langly is kind of
a smart aleck. And Jimmy is a big goofy guy with a lot of heart.
Yves, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery at first. But we
learn that underneath her hard shell there's something else going
on.
Frank: John relates best to Frohike. Because he knows what it's like
to be a sex symbol against your will.
John: Yay!
Sarah: What about Harlow, then? What voice is she?
Vince: Yves has many layers. She comes across as tough and sarcastic
and because of that she's fun to write. Sarcasm is always fun to
write. As the series progresses, we'll see whole new sides to her,
which I don't want to elaborate on too much here. It would spoil the
fun.
Frank: It involves dancing.
LauraCap: Byers got a crack at Suzanne Modeski. Will Langly and
Frohike ever get lucky in love?
Jewlz: Will there be any love interests for the gunmen?
John: Langly has a very interesting moment early in the season with
a cow.
Vince: Actually a bull.
Frank: That story is autobiographical.
Vince: But it didn't go on my permanent record. I was under 18 at
the time.
xfmegan: Are there any plans to correlate the X-Files mythology into
the Lone Gunmen?
Frank: The brain surgery required boggles the mind. However, there
will be crossovers in terms of characters and some storylines that
involved the Lone Gunmen when they were on The X-Files. So you'll
see some comic characters from The X-Files crossing over, as well as
some serious ones getting a chance to show how funny they can be.
jaybfox: Can you tell us anything about the LGM episode that Skinner
appears in?
Vince: Case in point. Mitch Pileggi, our own favorite assistant
director of the FBI, Walter Skinner. He'll be joining The Lone
Gunmen in an upcoming case.
Frank: It's top secret. But you get to see Skinner like you've never
seen him before.
Vince: That's for sure!
jaybfox: Are we going to get to find out more about the backgrounds
of each Lone Gunmen? Like...is Langly's name Richard and Ringo's a
nickname and why...that kind of thing?
John: We get glimpses of their past. Early on you get to see them as
children.
Frank: You also see their characters fleshed out in greater detail
than ever before.
John: You'll even get to see where they sleep at night.
Vince: By the way, Langly's first name, Ringo, doesn't come from
Ringo of the Beatles.
Frank: What??!
Vince: In my mind, he's named after the John Wayne character in
Stagecoach whose first name of course was Ringo.
John: Naturally, when you see Langly, you think John Wayne.
Vince: Either John Wayne or Fabio.
Erynn: So do they sleep in the same room?
Frank: You'll have to watch to see. Picture the three little bears.
Vince: We promise a scene in which at least two of the characters
spoon. Ratings will immediately drop afterward.
albinopigeon: Do we get to see frohike in his jammies??
Vince: We definitely get to see him in his Hugh Hefner bathrobe.
John: You get to see him in Leiderhosen.
Frank: You actually get to see him in the pink, taking a bath. With
a woman scrubbing his back. If that doesn't draw viewers...
Vince: Survivor, look out!
lizascorner: What are TLGM's cases gonna be like? Will they be
x-files weird or something more everyday-like?
Frank: They are definitely not "every day."
John: But they are not quite the cases Mulder investigates.
Vince: So far they are not paranormal. Instead they are real-world
cases involving big business and foreign espionage and evil
scientists....
Frank: And midget wrestlers and tango dancers and super-intelligent
chimpanzees.
Vince: Like I said, "real world."
maddict: Where do they get the money to pay for all the techo gear?
Do they have other jobs?
Frank: They trade for sexual favors.
Vince: Just kidding.
moonpunkie: What type of gadgets will the LGM be playing with?
Vince: In one episode, they've built themselves a pretty nifty MRI
machine out of spare TV parts.
Frank: Just about every week they've got cutting-edge technology
that's either where the real world is right now or where we will be
soon.
Vince: And Yves has some gadgets that make the Lone Gunmen pretty
jealous. She's got a few tricks up her sleeve that they don't have.
Mutato1121: Now that we have seen Chris Carter and Mark Snow in
front of the camera, are any of you guys planning on taking a little
role in The Lone Gunmen?
Frank: We are waiting for the right moment to spring ourselves on
the American public.
Courtney_fanofVinceG: Hey Vince, are you going to direct any
episodes of TLG? I love "Je Souhaite" and it would be a shame for
your talent to go to waste.
Vince: Thank you very much! I would love to. I think the three of us
in the future will all be directing Lone Gunmen episodes. At least I
hope so, but right now we are all busy with just the writing of the
show and the post-production, etc. But hopefully next season.
Provided there is a next season.
Tshe: Will all the LGM be stand-alone episodes? Or will you have a
continuing storyline?
Frank: Eventually we will have continuing storylines and mythology
separate to The Lone Gunmen. But having said that, I think there's a
great deal of continuity in The Lone Gunmen series, and you get to
see how the relationships, particularly with the new characters,
develop over time.
amyh: Is the plan for the Lone Gunmen series to be an alternate
universe type situation from TXF, where nothing from either show
dovetails, or are there some crossovers? If so, where should we be
looking?
Vince: I wouldn't call it an "alternate universe" -- these are the
same 3 guys who help Mulder and Scully. But in this show we see what
they do the other 99% of the time.
John: We like to think of The Lone Gunmen series as their day jobs
-- what they do when they are not helping Mulder, Scully or Doggett.
Vince: As you will see, they get by pretty well on their own, which
is why you won't see a lot of Mulder and Scully, because the Lone
Gunmen are heroes in their own right and they solve their own
problems themselves.
Frank: Plus, we can't afford Mulder and Scully.
Vince: That's the real reason!
sdana: Will we see John Gilnitz or will we hear about him...? We'd
love to put a face to the name!!
Frank: Oh, yes! He's an (expletive deleted)!
eire_scully: How much input (if any) has Chris Carter had?
Frank: Chris Carter loves the show and has been as involved as he
can be while doing two TV series at once. He wrote the fourth
episode, "Three Men and a Smoking Diaper," which should go a long
way toward destroying his reputation for quality television.
Charybdis: Hi guys. I'm really looking forward to the show, but I
worry about TXF losing 3 of its best writers! Will you all still
write eps for TXF if it continues?
Frank: We don't know about next year, if there is a next year. But
this past year we've all been killing ourselves trying to make both
shows as good as possible.
Vince: All three of us love both shows. But it's been awful hard to
do both simultaneously. But we really want this new series to get a
shot on the air. It's very close to our hearts.
ChiA_PeT_20o1: Wow, this is the coolest! When did the idea first hit
you to do a show on the TLG?
John: After the two X-Files episodes "Unusual Suspects" and "Three
of a Kind" that starred the LG, we all immediately saw -- especially
after "Three," which is a model for the series. When we saw how the
characters carried the show, all three of us thought they could be
stars and that this show would work.
mully23: Will there be an "antagonist" like the Cigarette-Smoking
Man on LGM?
Frank: You'll have to wait and see. As we said before, the mythology
of this series rolls out slowly.
bliss2001: Will the LGM travel around the US? (like Mulder and
Scully)
Vince: Yes, they will travel, but only as far as their 1972 VW
Microbus allows them.
John: Gone are the days of Mulder and Scully's expense accounts.
Vince: These guys have it tougher because they don't have guns. They
don't have power of arrest, and they run out of gas occasionally.
Frank: But they do have sex appeal to spare!
Vince: At least Frohike does.
Delmo456: Looking at the titles of the Lone Gunmen episodes, it
seems like you guys are doing parodies of a lot of movies (which
will be great). Is that a correct assumption?
Vince: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. One funny title we have, which
is "Like Water for Octane," is an episode about a water-powered car.
One of our staff writers came up with the name and we loved it when
we heard it, although it has nothing to do with the Mexican magic
realism or the plot of the movie Like Water for Chocolate.
Frank: Do expect to see a parody of a very popular one-hour drama on
the FOX network.
albinopigeon: Are you going to parody the x files?
Frank: Refer to the previous answer!
Dilby: Speaking of the 1972 VW microbus, just how
many...enhancements...are in that thing?
Vince: Well, I've been lobbying for nitrous oxide, a tank that would
boost its maximum speed to 160 mph, but so far Frank and John won't
let me put that in.
John: Let's just say their van is their home away from home. Imagine
the Lone Gunmen office on wheels.
Vince: So far, one thing we know about it is that it's got a pretty
cool periscope camera in the roof.
KATEDVM: A mattress in the back maybe? LOL
Frank: Ha ha ha. Season 2!
deedee77: Will there be time-stamps, and will time play an important
role, as it does in The X-Files?
Frank: Yes. We at Ten Thirteen don't know how to tell stories
without them.
Vince: We call them "legends."
Frank: In our own minds!
Chiller: How are the boys adjusting to having their own series?
Vince: There's an awful lot of squabbling over who has the biggest
trailer. Just kidding!
Frank: Actually, we've beaten up the most on Frohike, who is not
surprisingly called upon to do the most stunts. But I think they are
all having a good time and it's quickly become an ensemble of five
actors who enjoy working together.
Vince: All five are a pleasure to write for and to work with.
ak47deadly: Are they going to get to the bottom of the Florida
election crisis?
florence: Will the LG ever go back in time and try to uncover the
killer of JFK?
Frank: Very dead-on questions.
Vince: We do have a character named Chad. Does that count?
Jewlz: How many episodes will be in the seasons?
Frank: Only 13.
Vince: Lucky 13, we hope.
JTR555: Could we possibly see Frank Black appear? THAT interaction
would be a riot!!!
Vince: That would be great because, of course, Frank Black is a
hilarious character. Actually he would be a pretty good straight
man, come to think of it.
KATEDVM: When will you know if you get picked up for next season?
Frank: Probably not until May, officially. Although, if the show is
a massive hit, that's a foregone conclusion.
Mutato1121: Would you guys like to spill any juicy tid bits about
The X-Files to us Philes while we wait a month?
Frank: To all those online people who are furious at Ten Thirteen
for killing Mulder, please remember that David Duchovny is
contracted to appear in the rest of the episodes this season.
Vince: It's going to be a lot like Weekend at Bernie's. Mulder will
be dragged from investigation to investigation. Occasionally, Scully
will tie him to the roof of her van.
Frank: I've been touched by the love and support of those fans who
complained about us killing Mulder.
Madison: Is the X-File finale written yet?
Frank: We are in the process of writing them now.
John: We already told you that Frohike is the father.
mully23: Do you guys put personal notes into the story lines like
Chris Carter does with 11:21?
Frank: We often put the names of friends and loved ones into our
scripts.
Vince: I try to put some reference to my girlfriend Holly into every
episode I write. I do this because it makes everyone say "Awww!"
when they hear it. And also because it helps me get chicks. Just
kidding, Holly!
Jewlz: Like in XF, with episodes "Post-Modern Prometheus" and
"X-Cops," these were shown in a unique camera-style etc. Will there
be any in the LG show?
Frank: No. This show is pretty much hack work. Just kidding...we
have a superior DP (director of photography) and crew, almost all of
whom we have worked with before, on either X-Files, Millennium or
Harsh Realm. As with each of those shows, we are always trying to do
the best work possible and I think, visually, we are extremely
ambitious for what is primarily a comedy series.
Sarah: Any chance that Braidwood will get a chance to direct?
Frank: Did Braidwood ask that question?
John: Is that Tom Braidwood logging in?
Frank: We would love for him to direct one. We just don't know when
we can afford to lose him as an actor to make that happen.
KATEDVM: Does that mean that the Gunmen won't be in an X files movie
if there is one?
Frank: No way! We would love to have the Gunmen in the next X-Files
movie and they will continue to be in The X-Files TV series.
Oliver: Frank - you said in an interview that The X-Files' mythology
will be wrapped up by the end of the season. Can you confirm that?
Where does that leave you creatively - and us as fans - in the event
of a Season 9?
Frank: What was I thinking? Whatever I said, what I mean to say is
that 8 years of the series will come to a close this May, regardless
of whether there is an X-Files next season. I actually believe most
of the important questions about the mythology have already been
answered, believe it or not, and you will see some new ones asked in
upcoming shows.
StarlightM42: Can you talk about the scene where Doggett first meets
the LGM? It was a classic!
Frank: I wrote that scene and it was very long and I felt sure that
we'd end up having to cut it, but Doggett proved a great straight
man to the Gunmen. We ended up using almost every line.
Vince: Doggett would be a fun guy to get on The Lone Gunmen show.
Hopefully that will happen at some point.
Mutato1121: Are any of you working on anything other than The
X-Files or Lone Gunmen series?
albinopigeon: How many hours do you work a week??
John: How many hours are there?
Frank: I figure each of us works at least 70-80 hours a week, which
leaves very little time for doing anything else.
Max42: Will we be getting any closure for Byers and Susanne Modeski
in the new series?
XPhreak: Will Susanne Modeski make an appearance?
Vince: I'd like to see Susanne Modeski come back at some point.
She's a fun character and Byers' unrequited love for her would be
interesting to address. Look for it in an upcoming episode. Provided
we go past this first season.
Adamrs: Will Morris Fletcher be on "The Lone Gunmen"?
Frank: I wouldn't be surprised!
Vince: I wouldn't be surprised either too!
John: I wouldn't be surprised either too!
Erynn: What's the most evil thing you've done to the gunmen so far?
Frank: There are so many....
Vince: But it's done with love.
John: Each week we try to top ourselves.
Vince: But not to give anyone the wrong idea. We don't want to
torture them. It's just that we find ourselves putting them into
increasingly bizarre situations in the hopes of it being funny.
Frank: One thing you will realize about the Lone Gunmen in their own
series is that as smart as they may be behind a computer, they are
extremely inept at many other things in life.
Vince: Just like the three of us are.
John: Speak for yourself!
Vince: This is the first real power any of us have had in our lives,
and we're using it, baby!
Erynn: What has been your favorite episode so far to write?
Frank: I have truly loved every episode we've done. They've all been
funny and sweet and exciting. I particularly like two we did
recently, one involving death row and the other involving the tango.
Vince: I have to agree. Every episode that we've worked on becomes
more and more fun. One thing I should say, too, is that this show is
really sweet at its core, meaning that we love and respect the
characters even though we get them into some odd situations. But in
our minds, at least, it's never mean-spirited.
John: Each episode is different in so many ways that it's impossible
for me to pick a favorite. They are all great for different reasons.
Scully7: How long does it take you guys to come up with a kick ass
script?
CRSJ: Does it take the same number of days to create a LGM episode
as an XFiles episode? I heard you work very long hours to make an
XFiles episode.
John: In TV production, you write as long as you can before
shooting, so as the season goes on, you have less time to make as
good a script. It's not how long it takes, it's how long we have.
Vince: That's why as the season progresses, the episodes get
crappier.
John: Vince is very tired. It's time for his medication.
florence: Did you ever write something that the actor refused to do?
Frank: No, but I'm still trying.
florence: How did you come up with each Lone Gunmen's name?
Vince: Glen Morgan and Jim Wong initially created the characters and
gave them the last names Frohike, Byers and Langly. For "Unusual
Suspects," we gave them first names. John Fitzgerald Byers is named
for JFK, of course. That was part of the plot for that episode. He
was born the day after JFK was assassinated, hence the name. And the
names Ringo and Melvin we just kind of pulled out of a hat.
Courtney_fanofVinceG: I skipped my calculus homework just to spend
the evening with you three. What do you think of how devoted we
x-philes are?
Vince: God bless you! Now, DO your homework... No, seriously, we
love all the fans because we wouldn't be sitting here doing this
chat without them. We wouldn't be employed! I'd be spraying Windex
on the sneeze-plate at the salad bar at Wendy's. Frank would be
selling shotguns at Walmart, and John....
John: I'd go back to male modeling.
Vince: Yes, the underwear section of the Sears catalog. Your work is
quite good.
Max42: How'd you guys come up with the idea to make the show so
"interactive," with the e-com-con site and what not?
Frank: We have a brilliant Internet producer named Robin Benty. She
comes up with all these great ideas and then we pretend like they
are ours.
Chiller: Do you ever have trouble keeping all the pieces of the
conspiracy together in your heads (and scripts)?
John: It's easy because it's all true!
Frank: Yes, are you kidding? Who doesn't? I am amazed and confounded
that people have been willing to follow The X-Files conspiracy for 8
years now, not only willing, but still very interested. I can't
believe such a large audience is interested in such a complicated,
even convoluted, storyline. It's been so rewarding.
FOXcom_Host: Thanks to Vince, John and Frank! Say goodbye to them!
John: Tune in Sunday night!
Vince: Watch our show! We don't want it to die a horrible death like
Harsh Realm did.
Frank: It's been wonderful chatting with you. We love this show and
we hope you do, too!
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