The Prisoner To Be Remade On U.K. TV

An anonymous reader writes "Various UK news sites are reporting that Sky One is to commission a remake of the cult 60s UK TV series, The Prisoner. See u.tv and This is London." From the This Is London story: "The series, which made its debut 1967, is today credited by its fans as being ahead of its time. Featuring McGoohan as a former secret agent trapped in an isolated seaside village, it was shown in more than 60 countries. The new version will not be placed in the original setting, the north Wales village of Portmeirion, or have the arty, 'pop' feel of the original, according to the magazine Broadcast. Damien Timmer, who has been lined up to executive produce the show, told the television and radio industry magazine that the new series 'takes liberties with the original'."

Comments

Why do we need a remake?

[ericdano]

Why do we constantly need a remake of everything? Battlestar Galactica is about the only good remake to come in a long line of them.

I can see maybe another series LIKE the Prisoner, but not a complete remake of the series. The series is a classic. The way it uses music, and of course the mannerisms of No. 6.....

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[ericdano]

Seriously. The Prisoner is a classic. It would be like remaking Citizen Kane. Of course, they did remake Psycho.......another classic. And look at the results there. Terrible remake.

A petition should be started to prevent this remake from happening.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Doktor Memory]

The important difference is that the original Battlestar Galactica was very, very, very, very bad. Not good. Terrible, in fact. Unwatchable. Occasionally downright embarrassing. Anyone who has fond memories of the original Galactica probably last watched it as a hyperactive 7-year-old. Changing the original series could only improve it.

The Prisoner, to put it mildly, does not suffer from this problem.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Bobzibub]

Like Dr. Who, much of the Prisoner is not simply the theme-park theme... It was a show that explored freedom the limits of individual freedom. Like us, you are allowed to do what you want and live freely, but only on the fixed limits of an island. And I think that the ra-ra "sandbox" that the protagonist lived in is more relevant to our sandbox now, than back in the 60s.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Doktor Memory]

Mmmmph. I won't make a blanket defense of "Fall Out" -- it's certainly not flawless, and doesn't necessarily hold up that well today -- but I tend to think of its flaws as artifacts of its era, rather than as outright artistic failures.

The series always wavered in between straight-up cold war spy thriller and existential parable of individuality and liberty; I can't fault McGoohan for coming down hard on the latter side for the finale, even if it did skirt the edge of "psychadelic nonsense" as a result. If he'd gone the other way, we'd probably barely remember the show at all. ("Aha, Number Two is... A Soviet agent!" Snore.)

And even at its worst, The Prisoner had neither a Space Disco nor a Cute Robot Dog...

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[crucini]

For all the political grandstanding people are putting in shows these days, I seriously doubt that a remake would be able to maintain enough aloofness as to preserve an elusive point.

Exactly. McGoohan was so zealously independent and iconoclastic that The Prisoner remains accessible to any individual feeling at odds with a totalist environment, whether that environment is liberal, conservative commercial or whatever. The TV makers of today couldn't resist mixing in their dislike of Bush, Christians, etc. That would prevent the new show from enjoying the wide-ranging and long-lasting appeal of the old.

Of course there's also the inevitable addition of sex, sticky sentimentality, bogus ethical dilemmas, and cheap laffs.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[stienman]

Why do we constantly need a remake of everything?

To renew copyright.

You see, if a company owns the rights to a copyrighted script/movie/show/etc then by making another one with essentially the same script/plot/etc they can effectively prevent others from doing the same even though the copyright for the originals ran out. Once you change enough so that the big media conglomerates can't go after you for copyright infringment, you've created an essentially different story.

Of course the originals can be distributed after their copyright runs out. This is fixed by releasing a 'newly mastered' or 'digitally enhanced' version. They can copyright the new release of the old work, and one has to find an old copy to get the non-copyright version from - which can be difficult, if not impossible, to do since the studios controlled the masters and any original copies that legally left posession of the owner may be poor quality, damaged, and usually form an incomplete set if it was a series.

-Adam

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

You missed a huge reason why the Prisoner was so shocking. The last two episodes were a bare-naked call for violent overthrow of the government. If that didn't leave an impression on you, but the rest of the series did, then I wonder what else in life and the literary and performance arts you are missing.

Re:Why do we need a remake?

[eglamkowski]

Liberal in the US has no single definition. In fact, those who would consider themselves liberal in the historical sense now call themselves libertarian, but even that word is becoming twisted. Conservative also has no fixed meaning.

Republicans and democrats have flip-flopped completely SEVERAL times over the past 150 years.

Left-wing and right-wing have no connection to their historical usages.

Political nomenclature in the USA is worse then useless, it's used deceptively as a means to attack people. The nominal descriptive power of these words is long gone.

The Best Show of All Time

[gadlaw]

My favorite show of all time. Ahead of it's time and gave me a view into reality when I was growing up. I remember when it was on PBS stations and after the show there would be a panel discussion about what it all meant. Classic. And of course, they'll totally screw it up. God, I hate remakes.

Gah.

[solios]

The Prisoner is absolutely one of my favorite shows of all time. I really don't see why a remake is necessary - the original was just fine, thank you. If we're talking "liberties" I can only assume it'll be in the "sex sells" department as opposed to the allegory department, or the Iconic Representation department.

Sorry, I just don't see The Prisoner working without McGoohan or that 60s Bond-esque Secret Agent flavor.

Re:Gah.

[kfg]

I really don't see why a remake is necessary. . .

Because the "creative" people don't actually have any "ideas."

KFG

Turkey Number 6

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." - Albert Einstein

This is not and never will be The Prisoner. In taking its name it's getting attention, but not on its own merits. Unless it totally blows people away, they're going to have a turkey on their hands. It would've been better to have taken the original creative inspiration and made something new. You may copy a master, but you never be a master, unless you learn to stand up on your two feet and create something of yourself.

"Never confuse movement with action." - Ernest Hemingway

Re:Will this one make sense?

[Scrameustache]

the original fun will be downright annoying to the reality-tv generation.

Sweet! Payback.

Another Re-imagining

[blueZhift]

I'm guessing that they're going for a Battlestar Galactica style re-imagining. So maybe Number 6 will be a woman this time! I must say though that the new Battlestar Galactica has become one of my favorite shows, so there is a chance that something good can come from a Prisoner remake.

Be seeing y....oh never mind...

Re:Sixth post

[Johnny Mnemonic]

You are #827305. I am the new #176043.

Will the new Prisoner have a /. episode, where the prisioner has a plan for escape, but it invovles the use of Windows so he's modded to -1 and no one hears about it?

But seriously--this is an interesting time for this to be discussed. I believe it comes from a desire to challenge the group-mind attitude that has led to our current state of politics, just as the first one did. Hopefully the massive suckage of this remake won't obscure that message, but that'll be pretty hard to do.

How to make a mockery of the Prisoner

[crucini]

In case the producers of the new show are reading, here are my suggestions:

1. Add a sultry female co-star, #7. Initially, she and #6 suspect each other of being spies for #2. Develop inevitable romantic plot. She tends to bail out #6 when he screws up his plans. Optionally, wrap in black leather.
   
2. Use monumental, fascist-inspired sets with towering spires, grim tunnels and riveted doors. Light dramatically. Every footstep must echo loudly and every slamming door must sound like a dumpster being dropped by the garbage truck.
   
3. Make each #2 a caricature of utter, unsympathetic evil, ala Voldemort in Harry Potter. Optionally, monsterize #2's face with latex appliances.
   
4. Replace Rover with a hi-tech CGI robot that floats around firing laser beams.
   
5. Highlight #6's human side via friendships with other inmates. Feature sticky scenes of sentiment in which #6 exchanges a manly hug with his buddy before one of them heads off to near-certain death.
   
6. Use the show as a megaphone for the political issue du jour. Frex, have #2 refuse to sign the Kyoto treaty, whereupon the island becomes choked with pollution until #6 persuads him to sign. Of course, there must be a "vote fraud" episode.
   
7. Add montages with hip-hop and rock.
   
8. Replace the ironic distance of McGoohan with someone more meaty, sweaty, earthy and hunky. Let him bellow from the diaphragm, "Like, it's so lame being a number! I'm an individual!".
   

OT: South Park

[David Rolfe]

I find South Park quite watchable, although (or because) it's often a thinly disguised swipe at liberals.

What a weird thing to say. I find that South Park is often a thinly veiled swipe at conservatives. I think this is why they still enjoy such a large audience. Matt and Trey are equal opportunity 'haters'. I guess the genius is that we all see it through our own colored glasses.

E.g., when a stupid liberal watches this all they see is a hilarious parody of ham-fisted American colonialism; but when a stupid conservative watches it all they see is hilarious caricatures of elitest left-wing Hollywood.

I find both sides hilarious, which is probably why I hate politics so much.