The Lone Gunmen made their "The X-Files" debut in a season one episode titled "E.B.E." This was supposed to be a one time gag by writers Glen Morgan and James Wong, who based the characters off of three conspiracy theorists they saw at a convention. However, there popularity with the fans at the time prompted the producers to bring them back, becoming recurring characers for the show. For the first three years they did little than give information to Mulder and Scully, however in the fourth season episode "Memento Mori," they were given time in the field helping Mulder. The next season, the leads of "The X-Files" were busy filming "The X-Files" movie and they needed to start producing episodes for the show. Thus, writer Vince Gilligan gave the Lone Gunmen their own episode, "Unusual Suspects", explaining how they met (and their real jobs!). The next year, a sequel to this episode was produced, "Thee of a Kind", from writers Vince Gilligan and John Shiban. This proved that these characters could carry a show by themselves. After that it was just a matter of finding the time to do a show based on them, and that time came with the abrupt cancellation of Chris Carter's "Harsh Realm." Then, the producers of "The X-Files" now had the time to develope the spin-off and soon it would become a reality. "The Lone Gunmen" debuted in spring 2001.