Although the Gunmen are a kookier, more alienated variation on Mulder and Scully, their targets are considerably more earthbound. ''I think of our series as being in a parallel universe to the X-Files,'' says Harwood. To that end, Gunmen will eschew aliens and the paranormal to pursue other kinds of monsters--covert government operatives, Nazi war criminals, corporate tycoons, and diabolical scientists, to name a few. For his part, Haglund's happy that the trio will avoid some of X's icky excesses. ''We won't see anything coming out of anybody's neck or stomach,'' he says. ''Everything's been fairly dry. I'm thankful for that.''
Given the boys' scant experience at carrying an hour of television, Carter felt the ensemble of Gunmen needed to be expanded--not to mention sexed up a tad. (Notes Harwood, ''Three guys hiding in a [warehouse]--you could see a potential thinness there.'') Enter pretty woman Zuleikha Robinson and even prettier man Stephen Snedden. Robinson plays mercenary spy Yves Adele Harlow (whose name is an anagrammatic tribute to Lee Harvey Oswald, whom some might view as the show's namesake), a lithe, mysterious stunner designed to contribute a bit of femininity and danger. ''Yves is the serious undercurrent of the show, the mystery,'' says Robinson. ''She kind of hops in and hops out, delivers them their information, gives them their stories.''
If Yves is like a cross between Dark Angel and Emma Peel, Snedden's character, the effusive Jimmy Bond, is equal parts Jay Gatsby and Jim J. Bullock. A dim, patriotic stud with a heart of gold and a head full of hay, Bond uses his life savings to bankroll the Gunmen's newspaper and tags along with them on their escapades. Cognizant of X's highly skeptical fan base, Snedden hopes that portraying a himbo will smooth his way into their hearts: ''I think X-Files fans would hate me if I were this cool, suave guy who just walks onto their turf, but I think the fact that I'm not will make everyone more accepting.'' That said, he adds, ''[Because] Jimmy's really easy to look at, you might say, 'Oh, he's just a meathead,' but that's selling him way short--sometimes by seeing the simple things he sees clearer than everybody else.''
With femme fatale and puppy-dog acolyte in tow, the Gunmen will find themselves tangling with superintelligent government-engineered chimpanzees, searching for a car that runs on water (''Like Water for Octane''), divining a connection between the tango and arms smuggling, and, says Spotnitz, investigating a ''pretty extreme'' tale of a man who loses his identity with a little help from some midget wrestlers and a ''crazy'' electronics-chain pitchman. ''I think that one will be a lot of people's favorite.''
And although crossover guest spots from X-Files regulars would seem a no-brainer, thus far only Mitch Pileggi (Assistant Director Skinner) has contracted to appear on Gunmen. As for David Duchovny (with whom the Gunmen have shared most of their X screen time) and Gillian Anderson, Harwood says, ''At this point, I don't know if we'd be able to afford them.'' And what about the prospect of Gunmen outliving X (if, say, Anderson decided to pack it in after next season, the series' ninth) and usurping its stellar supporting cast of conspirators and villains? That, says Carter, is an unlikely scenario. ''I would imagine that characters could pop up, but I'd hope that we could lead [The X-Files] to a series of movies, so I think we would save that fuel for that venture.''
You Might Also Like
- News Summary Destiny's Child survives Paul McCartney's chart attack | Gary Susman
- Television News Sting's guest role on ''Ally'' tops the week's TV picks | Sandra P. Angulo
- On the Air The TV strikes explained | Lynette Rice
- Television News ''Lone Gunmen'' debuts on Fox | Mike Flaherty
