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AMC Releasing a New "The Prisoner" In November

Posted by kdawson on from the that's-number-six-to-you dept.

DynaSoar writes "The Prisoner is one of the most influential and enduring TV shows to have appeared during the 1960s. This single-season (1967-68), 17-episode series, starring its co-writing, co-directing executive producer Patrick McGoohan, maintains a steady fan base and gains more with each syndication re-release. For over 40 years there have been announced intentions and projects to resurrect this surreal psychodrama combining science fiction, allegory, and spy thriller in a new series or movie (but always without McGoohan, who adamantly refused, saying 'he'd done it'). Finally, since December 2008 a remake has been in the can. In November 2009, AMC will begin airing an original six-part mini-series of The Prisoner starring James Caviezal as the spy who resigns only to find himself abducted and transported to 'The Village,' where he is renamed (or rather renumbered) Number Six, and where the minds behind his incarceration attempt to pry and/or trick secrets from his brain. Chief among those minds is the visible face of the administration, Number Two, played by Ian McKellen. Unlike the original, with a new Number Two in each episode, McKellen appears throughout. To promote the upcoming release, AMC is presenting (along with a ton of 'additional material') the entire original 17 episodes, free for the streaming."

9 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Inside of Me by Philip+K+Dickhead · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Something small and quiet just died...

    --
    "Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
  2. Anyone bet that they don't totally ruin it? by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the comic pdf, it looks like they've completely missed the original point.

    He had resigned because ... that is never stated ... and then he is kidnapped but he doesn't know which side kidnapped him.

    The guards didn't use guns. Aside from Rover, it was purely psychological. Even the times he escaped, he was betrayed by people he thought he could trust who turned out to be working for The Village.

    Psychological. That's the key.

    1. Re:Anyone bet that they don't totally ruin it? by shawnap · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We don't have attention spans long enough for story ideas that cannot be swiftly resolved with guns. Let's try an jive thing up a bit, eh? You know, like 24, with brainwashing!

      I know this is a joke, but the thought of tv moving so smoothly from a show about a villainous agency who kidnaps and tortures the hero, to a show about a heroic agency who kidnaps and tortures the villain has left me too wistful to laugh.

    2. Re:Anyone bet that they don't totally ruin it? by Atrox666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
      -- H. L. Mencken

  3. I pity them by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't imagine what it must be like to work on a production like this. The actors, the writers, the directors... everybody. Imagine knowing, every day you go in to work, that you're working on inane, pointless crap that's nothing more than the result of an endless negotiation between lawyers for the sake of earning a few bucks. Imagine knowing that out there, somewhere, is a truly classic work of art that you had absolutely nothing to do with. Knowing that somewhere inside you there might be a person who's just as intelligent and creative as Patrick McGoohan, but instead you're stuck making some senseless drivel that borrows the name of his vision. What a horrible, sad, soulless existence that must be. Truly, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
    1. Re:I pity them by Hurricane78 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sadly that form of existence, called "living your life in a walking daze", is the state of nearly all people in this society.

      They work for someone who is no bit better than them, has some crappy ideas, but has the money to make others with much better ideas, work for him to make them real.
      They fall into a passive state of not thinking for yourself. Not leading. And when they come home, they do the same, by watching TV.

      I don't think it's actually life anymore. You are just a material that gets used up. A human resource.

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    2. Re:I pity them by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Some episodes were brilliant. Others were pointless crap. Some had incredibly bad and stupid dialogue which were saved by Leo McKearn and Patrick McGoohan looking and sounding very intense about it. Some actors and cinematographers can take rubbish and turn it into gold.

  4. What's the point ? by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yet another regurg of something that was once original and worthwhile. Am i really supposed to believe they're doing this for some other reason than to milk some of their 'property' until it's dry ? Give me back my culture already.

    --
    If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
  5. So while the media industry complains about... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... "Knock-off Nigel" buying knock-off DVDs, they're busily pumping out knock-offs and "remakes" and "sequels" of stuff from the 1960s?

    Dear film producers,

    I will start buying DVDs again when you start producing original content. No, adding an Audi R8 and some explosions doesn't count as original.