This kind of thing never happens to Agen Mulder... Before the credits even come up on the pilot of the new X-Files spin-off, The Lone GUnmen, a teaser flawlessly re-creates the famous "vault" scene from Million: Impossible. Except here, the infiltrators are the titular conspiracy-obsessed trio, and their bungled attempt to abscond with a priceless new computer chip leaves one of them flailing helplessly in the air while the high-tech treasure is filched from right under his nose. Not humiliating enough for ya? The scene ends with the Gunmen - Messrs. Langly, Frohike, and Byers - apprehended by a clutch of thick-necked security guards, who proceed with a through cavity search.

"It's a flipped X-Files," says creator Chris Carter of the new series, which will debut in X's time slot on March 4 before settling in on Fridays at 9 p.m. "A comedy with some drama in it, rather than a drama with some comdy in it." But while Gunmen was inspired by X, its sould derives from and handful of other action classics like I Spy, the aforementioned M:I, and The Wild, Wild West. Adds Carter, "It's all of those things meets the Three Stooges or the Farrelly brothers."

The creation of ex-X producers Glen Morgan and James Wong, the Gunmen debuted in a 1994 episode called "EBE" (which found agents Mulder and Scully on a cross-country chase after a downed alien - make that Extraterrestrial Biological Entity). It was meant to be a one-off appearance, but the Gunmen proved so popular that by the following year they'd become recurring comic relief, usually in X's heady "mythology" episodes. "They were inspired by the kind of guys you'd meet at UFO conventions," says Carter. "They became a good way to get information [to Mulder and Scully] without having to go to X or Deep Throat [the agents' usual informants], and everybody liked them. We thought they were funny, wonderful geeks."

In 1997 they starred in "Unusual Suspects," a flashback episode documenting the formation of the group and the conspiracy-busting newsletter they publish in their warehouse lair. But it was their starring performance in the action-packed 1999 ep "Three of a Kind" (wherein the Gunmen try to infiltrate a confab of defense contractors in Las Vegas) that proved the bumbling crusaders ready for prime time. "We'd heard for years from fans that we should do a Lone Gunmen spin-off, but we couldn't figure out how," recalls creator and executive producer Frank Spotnitz. "Then we saw this episode and it was so successful and so much fun, we [realized] these guys don't just have to work behind their computers; they know all kinds of high-tech gizmos and gadgets." At the time, Carter's Ten Thirteen Productions was preoccupied with X and the ill-fated 1999 series Harsh Realm, but when the latter met "an untimely and unfortunate death," says Spotnitz, the Gunmen were a go.

"I think that we were there to show that there are people more paranoid than Mulder," says Bruce Harwood, who plays dapper Gunman John Fitzgerald Byers, a disenchanted former FCC suit who left that gig to embark on a Superman-like quest for "truth, justice, and the American way." He's joined by Dean Haglund's loose-cannon computer hacker, Richard "Ringo" Langly, who claims to be forsaking a dotcom fortune to take up the cause; and Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood), a grizzled crank who boasts a wealth of tactical experience (and attitude) honed from his fight-the-power struggles of the 1960's. Braidwood, who came over to the other side of the camera after a stint as an assistant director on X, says of his alter ego, "He lived through that whole period, [so] he serves as a kind of grouchy guide." He adds, rolling his eyes, "Not that they listen..."

Although the Gunmen are a kookier, more alienated variation on ulder and Scully, their targets are considerably more earthbound. "I think of our series as being in aparallel 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. (Note Harwood, "Three guys hiding in a [warehouse] - you could see a potential thinness there." Enter pretty woman Zuleikah Robinson and even prettier man Stephen Snedden. Robinson plays mercenary spy Yves Adele Harlow (whose name is an anagrammatic tribute to Lee Harvey Oswald, whome 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," ways 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 fanbase, 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 ontto their turf, but I think the fact that I'm not will make everyone more accepting." That said, he adds, "[Because] Jimmy's really easey 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, investing a "pretty extreme" talke 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 alot of people's favorite."

And although crossover guest spots from X-Files regulars would seem a no-brainer, thus far only Mitch Pileggi (aAssistant 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 villlains? 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."

For all their perils and paranoia, The Lone Gunmen ahve already had one amazing real-life bit of luck: By holding the series' debut until March, Fox departed from its original plan to give them the Thursday at 8 p.m. slot, pitting them against the mighty Friends and Survivor. "That would not have been a good thing," Spotnitz deadpans. Talk about dodging a bullet.
(Note from Rachael: I think not having it on the original Thursday timeslot means that Fox actually has hope for this series.)


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