Be Seeing Him

January 8, 2009 12:34 AM

As we anxiously/eagerly/fearfully await the premiere of the long-in-coming (previously) remake (previously) of that TV Cult Classic (previously) "The Prisoner" (previously), I am delighted that AMC has put all 17 full episodes of the original Patrick McGoohan series online for you to see, unedited, uninterrupted, also not pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed or debriefed but, yes, numbered.
posted by wendell (34 comments total)

"All that remains is...recognition of a man."
posted by Mr. Six at 1:07 AM on January 8 [3 favorites has favorites]

That Mr. Six was, in the wee small hours, the first commenter on the Webification of "The Prisoner" tells me that the world just might be alright and that I should just go back to bed.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 1:35 AM on January 8 [6 favorites has favorites]

As usual with this sort of think it looks like Americans only... so I won't be seeing you.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:54 AM on January 8

As usual with this sort of think it looks like Americans only... so I won't be seeing you.

If you're in the UK ITV4 just started showing it.
posted by vbfg at 2:04 AM on January 8

Bonjour chez vous!
posted by Wolof at 3:44 AM on January 8

THE VIDEO YOU ARE TRYING TO
WATCH CANNOT BE VIEWED FROM
YOUR CURRENT COUNTRY OR
LOCATION.
posted by salmacis at 4:02 AM on January 8

You are number six one.
posted by griphus at 4:03 AM on January 8

I am not a number, I am a free man!
posted by zengargoyle at 4:27 AM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am not a number, I am a free man!

MWAHAHA!
posted by unreason at 4:36 AM on January 8 [2 favorites has favorites]

I AM NOT A GEO-IP NUMBER, I AM A FREE ITV4 REPEAT!
posted by davemee at 5:56 AM on January 8 [2 favorites has favorites]

Considering how much impact that show has had, it's hard to believe there were only 17 episodes.
posted by tommasz at 6:27 AM on January 8

A remake? No. Noooo. You forget just how damn quirky the show is until you watch it again. Not all of the quirks work, but you accept them because it is what it is. A new version would either cut out some quirkiness, try to make it all make sense, or try to be bizarre for its own sake in a self-conscious way. No.

But this is great for those non-torrenty folks out there. Be seeing you.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:34 AM on January 8

The thought of a remake sends me into a blind panic.
posted by aramaic at 7:14 AM on January 8

My family on my mother's side is from Portmeirion. Anyone know if this is being filmed in the same location?

All my Mom's porcelain is from there. Very unique.
posted by teabag at 7:16 AM on January 8

Apparantly it's being made at Swakopmund in Namibia, which could be as strange a place as Portmeirion.
posted by Grangousier at 7:24 AM on January 8

It's kind of scary being chased by a super inflated condom.
posted by doctorschlock at 7:31 AM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

And I spent how much on the DVD box set?
posted by spamguy at 7:35 AM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

There were only 17 episodes? Wow. From the way people talked about this show, I just assumed it had about 50+ episodes. Interesting.
posted by grubi at 7:45 AM on January 8

I really couldn't make it through the original series. I mean every episode was the same thing. Guy tries some silly way of escaping, guy fails. Over and over and over. I get it was edgy and dystopian and whatever else in the 60s, but really, it's kind of tiresome to watch now.
posted by xmutex at 7:49 AM on January 8

>>> It's kind of scary being chased by a super inflated condom.

Better that than the original idea: "a driver-less Volkswagen with a blue light"
posted by grabbingsand at 8:12 AM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, I would be more worried about this remake, but for a few comforting things.

First, this is AMC, fresh off their successes with Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Second, the casting of Sir Ian McKellen as No. 2 -- he's been blogging the experience, by the way -- is a stroke of added brilliance.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:29 AM on January 8

I really couldn't make it through the original series. I mean every episode was the same thing. Guy tries some silly way of escaping, guy fails. Over and over and over.

There is kind of an arc, towards the end of the series #6 starts to mess with their heads more than they mess with his. Of course the finale...
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:58 AM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Boo, they already put the kibosh on the remake once, because they knew it would get fucked up. Why does someone have to try again? Lame.
posted by MrBobaFett at 10:49 AM on January 8

the casting of Sir Ian McKellen as No. 2 is a stroke of added brilliance.

I don't know about that. I love McKellen, but part of the genius of the original series was that No. 2 was always changing, and that different No. 2's had different personalities and approaches to breaking No. 6.

I'm most worried that they will dumb down the show by giving simple answers to those questions that we never quite knew in the original. Why did No. 6 resign? Whose side is No. 2 on? What exactly is the Rover? Who is a Prisoner and who a Guard?

I just hope they include that awesome game that No. 6 played in, I think, "Schizoid Man," where they are jumping on the trampolines trying to knock each other into a pool of water.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:50 AM on January 8

I don't care who they cast, this is a bad idea. I could go into all the reasons why 60's paranoia doesn't translate into the more up-front brutal post-guantanamo world, but let's just say it doesn't.

It was one of the most brilliant shows ever made. Please make your own and stop violating it's corpse.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:21 AM on January 8

When I first joined MetaFilter, a million web-years ago, I felt kind of cool that I was #206 (and if I make it to a 10th Anniversary MetaMeetup, I will wear an appropriate button with a pennyfarthing on it).

When you think about it, the fact that AMC is making the Original Series available suggests that the channel (wisely or not) is not afraid of getting the new version compared to the old.

Also the choice to make it a SIX part miniseries is a sign (at least to me) that the re-makers "get it".

But yes, having only one Number Two (even if it is McKellen) worries me.

And when you look at some of the 'tech' used in The Village in 1967 - it was the first I ever saw a CORDLESS telephone - the new version is going to have do some impressive stuff to be comparably Futuristic.

Still, between the show's very effectively paranoid mood and my own unpleasant memories of life as a 12-year-old kid when I first watched it, re-viewing it is a rather eerie experience (including realizing that the picture is better on my laptop screen than on my parents' old 21-inch console TV).
posted by wendell at 11:34 AM on January 8

Better that than the original idea: "a driver-less Volkswagen with a blue light"

You just blew my mind. Now I'm picturing exactly that, bringing back an unconscious number six, or holding him at bay on the beach with Rover's little "grrrrrrr..."
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:37 AM on January 8

And we just watched Fall Out last night, talk about timing!
posted by JHarris at 4:00 PM on January 8

THE VIDEO YOU ARE TRYING TO
WATCH CANNOT BE VIEWED FROM
YOUR CURRENT COUNTRY OR
LOCATION.

They should render that in the 'Prisoner' font, with the pennyfarthing bike logo just over it.

Oh, and the original ep "A, B, and C" is just so many different kinds of awesome.
posted by gimonca at 4:41 PM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

I don't understand how a remake of something "ruins" it. But on the other hand, I don't see the point of "remaking" something. Is there some flaw in the Prisoner that needs attending to? I mean, if they're bringing a completely new P.o.V., why not just do an original project? And if you're looking do mimic the original, well, the original is there (and on DVD!) for us to look at. I mean, not to be daft; the point is obviously financial. It's just that when you examine it, there doesn't really seem to be any other possible justification, no matter what the producers want you to think.
posted by Eideteker at 4:56 PM on January 8

On the other hand, I can understand the outrage in the case of film adaptations, where one feels robbed of their hard-earned cash by a sub-par adaptation. Maybe that spills over to TV by force of habit?
posted by Eideteker at 5:07 PM on January 8

Can't be any worse than the comic book sequel from the eighties.

(Fall Out was a drug induced hallucination, staged by Number two? Really, Dean Motter? Really?)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 5:24 PM on January 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thanks for posting this. I was too young to see the original; I always wanted to stay up late and watch it, but only got to see a couple of episodes. I have always wanted to see the series. It lives up to my expectations.
posted by RussHy at 2:30 PM on January 13

Number 6 won't have to see version 2 of his number 1 show; he passed away yesterday.
posted by davemee at 2:48 AM on January 15