Pluribus Creator Vince Gilligan Swore Off Test Screenings After X-Files Spin-Off Ordeal — He Still Doesn’t Know How Breaking Bad Scored With Test Audiences
I hate that stuff. Three words that turned a routine moment into the week’s biggest flashpoint, sparking backlash, applause, and a scramble to control the damage.
Test screenings are a special kind of public shaming. Ask Vince Gilligan. The Breaking Bad mastermind says one brutal pilot screening for his early-2000s The X-Files spin-off basically cured him of the whole process forever.
The Lone Gunmen test that broke him
In a Sony-hosted conversation, Gilligan looked back on the launch of The Lone Gunmen, his 2001 comedy set in the same universe as The X-Files. Instead of little green men and paranormal freakouts, the show chased conspiracies closer to Earth: government-sponsored terrorism, corporate crime, and other shadowy nonsense. Critics were kind, audiences not so much. It was canceled after 13 episodes.
The worst part for Gilligan wasn’t the cancellation; it was the testing. He sat in a room behind a two-way mirror while audience members held little dials: turn right if you like what you see, left if you don’t. Then came a scene where a character hurls into a golf bag. Every needle swung left. Afterward, a moderator asked if that gag was funny. One viewer stared straight at the mirror Gilligan was hiding behind and deadpanned: "Well, it’s no Will and Grace." That’ll leave a mark.
Gilligan walked out of that experience convinced he never wanted to sit through another test screening again.
"When Breaking Bad came along, I said, 'If you guys are going to test this, don’t tell me about it. I want the tree that fell in the forest. I don’t want to know anything about it.'"
Breaking Bad: tested in secret, became a phenomenon
He stuck to that stance. Before Breaking Bad premiered in 2008, Gilligan told the team to keep any testing far away from him. Apparently they did run tests, and they kept the results to themselves. It didn’t matter. Breaking Bad went five seasons, hauled in awards, and landed on just about every greatest TV series list you can name.
Now: Pluribus is off to a roaring start
Gilligan’s new series, Pluribus, is out now on Apple TV Plus and already picking up momentum. The mind-bending sci-fi show debuted to rave reviews and a spotless 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and early viewers seem to be all-in. New episodes roll out weekly.
Quick hits
- 2001: The Lone Gunmen launches as a comedic X-Files spin-off about conspiracies like government-sponsored terrorism and corporate crime; critics are positive, but the show is canceled after 13 episodes.
- Test screening horror story: audience dial test tanks during a golf-bag vomit gag; a viewer snarks "Well, it’s no Will and Grace" toward the two-way mirror Gilligan is behind.
- 2008: For Breaking Bad, Gilligan refuses to engage with testing; any results are kept away from him. The show becomes a cultural landmark with five seasons and multiple awards.
- Now: Pluribus on Apple TV Plus debuts to raves and a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score; episodes drop weekly.
It’s a tidy arc: one disastrous room full of dials, a hard boundary with testing, and then two shows that didn’t need a focus group to find their audience. Sometimes the gut is the data. And sometimes the only note you need is a stranger telling a two-way mirror your joke isn’t Will and Grace.