AMC Releasing a New "The Prisoner" In November

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."

Comments

Link to the series

[Tensor]

Was putting the link to the actual place you can stream the videos too much work ?

http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/

Apple 2 video game

[fdicostanzo]

I remember the old Prisoner 2 video game for the Apple II. They gave you a secret number and all you had to do was not give it to them when they asked. Sounds easy. Just don't type the number.

Well, they got me! Applesoft programs would sometimes crash into prompt with an error and line. One would almost instinctually list out the line to see what the error was. So when the video game seemed to crash I listed out the line..... You lose!

I have never enjoyed losing a game so much.

Anyone bet that they don't totally ruin it?

[khasim]

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.

Re:Anyone bet that they don't totally ruin it?

[shawnap]

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.

I pity them

[PCM2]

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.

Re:I pity them

[Hurricane78]

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.

Re:I pity them

[dbIII]

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.

Alternative running order

[TastelessGarbage]

The PBS station in San Jose reran the series about 20 or so years ago. Scott Apel hosted bumpers before and after the series, which greatly enhanced the viewing. The biggest move was his re-ordering of the episodes into a sequence that made more sense than the CBS original run, in particular. The re-ordering went as follows:

Arrival

Dance of the Dead

Checkmate

Free for All

The Chimes of Big Ben

Many Happy Returns

The Schizoid Man

The General

A, B and C

It's Your Funeral

Living in Harmony

Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling

A Change of Mind

Hammer Into Anvil (my favorite ep)

The Girl Who Was Death

Once Upon a Time

Fall Out

In this order, the series consists of three cycles. Cycle one (ending with Many Happy Returns) focuses on #6 trying to escape. Cycle two (ending with Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling) focuses on 'intrigue in The Village' as #6 adjusts to his captivity. The final cycle consists of #6 taking charge and subverting The Village from within. Continuity is also improved in this sequencing.

And yes, #6 does have a name: Carl (his fiancee would know his name, after all).

Re:If the link worked...

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.mininova.com/tor/1322108 - The.Prisoner.Series.1967 (8.45 gigabytes).

I guess that means I'll...

[Darinbob]

Be seeing it.