Jump to content

AMC remakes "The Prisoner"


Recommended Posts

The Prisoner to this day is one of the oddest TV shows ever to be aired in prime time. CBS ran it Sundays in 1969. 17 episodes...I guess it would be called a mini-series today.

 

The series follows an unnamed British agent who abruptly resigns his job, and then finds himself held captive in a mysterious seaside "village" that is isolated from the mainland by mountains and sea. The Village is further secured by numerous monitoring systems and security forces, including a mysterious device called Rover that captures those that attempt escape. The agent encounters the Village's population, hundreds of people from all walks of life and cultures, all seeming to be tranquilly living out their lives; as they do not use names, they have each been assigned a number, related to their importance in the Village's power structure. The agent is told by the Village authority he is "Number Six", and they are seeking "information" as to why he resigned; the task of doing this is carried by the ever-changing "Number Two", acting as the Village' chief administrator and proxy to the unseen "Number One". Number Six, distrusting of anyone involved with the Village, refuses to give such answers while at the same time trying to learn for which side the Village works under, remaining defiant to authority while concocting his own plans to escape or learn more about the Village. Some of his schemes, while not resulting in an escape, do lead to the dismissal of a reigning Number Two on two occasions. At the end of the series, the administration becomes desperate for Number Six' information, and follow more drastic measures that threaten the lives of Number Six, Number Two, and the rest of the Village.

 

AMC is remaking the series. From the teaser promo it's obvious they are not re-doing the old show. I will definitely watch it but for someone whose young mind was turned inside out but the Patrick McGoohan original I don't know if I'll like it.

 

If you wish to see the original shows, AMC is streaming them on their website.

 

AMC site

 

Prisoner wiki

 

PTR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Prisoner to this day is one of the oddest TV shows ever to be aired in prime time. CBS ran it Sundays in 1969. 17 episodes...I guess it would be called a mini-series today.

 

The series follows an unnamed British agent who abruptly resigns his job, and then finds himself held captive in a mysterious seaside "village" that is isolated from the mainland by mountains and sea. The Village is further secured by numerous monitoring systems and security forces, including a mysterious device called Rover that captures those that attempt escape. The agent encounters the Village's population, hundreds of people from all walks of life and cultures, all seeming to be tranquilly living out their lives; as they do not use names, they have each been assigned a number, related to their importance in the Village's power structure. The agent is told by the Village authority he is "Number Six", and they are seeking "information" as to why he resigned; the task of doing this is carried by the ever-changing "Number Two", acting as the Village' chief administrator and proxy to the unseen "Number One". Number Six, distrusting of anyone involved with the Village, refuses to give such answers while at the same time trying to learn for which side the Village works under, remaining defiant to authority while concocting his own plans to escape or learn more about the Village. Some of his schemes, while not resulting in an escape, do lead to the dismissal of a reigning Number Two on two occasions. At the end of the series, the administration becomes desperate for Number Six' information, and follow more drastic measures that threaten the lives of Number Six, Number Two, and the rest of the Village.

 

AMC is remaking the series. From the teaser promo it's obvious they are not re-doing the old show. I will definitely watch it but for someone whose young mind was turned inside out but the Patrick McGoohan original I don't know if I'll like it.

 

If you wish to see the original shows, AMC is streaming them on their website.

 

AMC site

 

Prisoner wiki

 

PTR

Odd is probably the best way to describe that show. We used to watch it as kids and we enjoyed it although I don't know why. Maybe at that time James Bond was exploding and this show was kind of a weird offspring of that genre. I don't know if they can recapture the feel of it. Hollywood is so formulized now that i really doubt it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Prisoner was awesome....very relevant today! Given the quality of other AMC series ("Mad Men" great, "Breaking Bad" the best drama on television right now), I have high hopes for this show...even if it is a remake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...