The Prisoner (1967) was ahead of its time. The entire two episode finale was literally the greatest, most bold thing ever to be put on television, pretty much exactly four decades prior to The Sopranos finale and five decades before Twin Peaks The Return.
For anyone whose enjoyed shows like Twin Peaks, Sopranos, Mad Men, or the like, let this be your excuse to finally go and watch The Prisoner. It's worth it (except for the three filler episodes right before the final two).
I just ate breakfast.
But how would you feel if you didn't?
Breakfast on wheels?
the penultimate episode is kino
the final episode is dumb
I'm guessing you're not a fan of monkeys
>he watches broadcast order
>not the "McGoohan's Essential 7" order
>He doesn't watch it in the KTEH order queue up the bumpers and with our boy Soctt Apel
ngmi
I will put this next in queue to watch, it seems interesting.
>At the beginning of this episode Number 6 walks down a corridor to the sound of All You Need Is Love. What does it mean? It can mean whatever you want it to mean.
It should be noted that J. Michael Straczynzki (of Babylon 5 fame) essentially "solved" the Prisoner, and verified it with the cast and producers.
Do not read this link until you have seen the show, it spoils absolutely everything.
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/1466628593673392136
But did he verify it with Patrick McGoohan before his passing? You know, the co-creator who wrote and directed the final two episodes, and starred in them...
He's wrong though
Okay actually I clicked your link. He only claims it was confirmed by one "cast member" not producers. And McGoohan himself gave interviews you can watch on youtube (there isn't a lot of them, so they're easy to find) where he denies Number 6 is John Drake. And he also confirms that the monkey mask + number 6's face as Number 1 was an allegory for humans coming from monkeys, and thus being their own worst enemy when directly asked in one of the interviews.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1466628593673392136.html
less gay version
Very interesting. Quite the tangled web of deceit. Nowhere Man was definitely the spiritual successor. Prisoner is in my top 10 but I think Nowhere Man outdoes it with the mindfrickery.
whats the rest of your top10
>Seated at the amphitheatre are robed figures with white/black masks. They're sinister, in a Ku Klux Klan type of way, all waiting for their Jerry Springer moment. And that's what this episode is - an episode of Jerry Springer.
>It has it all. Surprise reunions. A chanting audience. Some staged fighting. An Enigmatic Fat Midget. There's even a message for those at home...
>Yes, there is a message. I think it's supposed to sum up The Prisoner in one pithy phrase:
>'Number 6... you have vindicated the right of the individual to be an individual!'
>Well, of course he has. That's because he's SO DAMN HARD.
no, it's dull shit
Maybe play Call of Duty or watch an episode of Desperate Housewives if that's more your sorta thing.
>ahead of its time
nobody fricking looks like any of those ai generated faces you fricking chud
>except for the three filler episodes right before the final two
only the western one was boring (and i like westerns), the other two were comfy
if you're a Patrick McGoohan fan, I can recommend the four Columbo episodes he starred in. One of them was shot a few years after The Prisoner and he dyed his hair gray for it to look different. The next one came out soon after, back to his regular number 6 look, even throwing in "Be seeing you" a few times. The final two are from the 90s. Apparently him and Peter Falk were friends.
>The final two are from the 90s.
I wish these were more easily available. Prime Video has the "older" Columbo episodes, but not the ones that aired on ABC.
The BBC's adaptation of Ibsen's Brand is also a must see.
Correct.
>I am not a number, I am a free man
If you really enjoy the Prisoner and wanted more of that kind of thing, check out Nowhere Man (1995). I can't recommend it highly enough. Highly inspired by the Prisoner. A highly successful photographer shows off a new exhibition, one particular photo, and then some nefarious group erases his entire life with the snap of a finger. But it's serious not campy, and vibes strongly with X-Files/Millennium, kind of like a perfect mid-90's TV trilogy.
This is such a good show.
It predicted a lot of the brainwashing and other tactics they've been using large scale. Probably why it remains obscure and hasn't been released again.
Loved The Prisoner, will check out Nowhere Man, thanks.
How is Danger Man?
>How is Danger Man?
Exactly how it sounds. 60s TV thriller. Reminiscent of Bond, but does it's own thing.
if I like Bond, Columbo and the Prisoner, is Danger Man worth watching for McGoohan?
Probably. Depends if you can handle the vintage.
It is. It's moreso Mission Impossible but early on it's just a ripoff of James Bond.
Won't watch this, I'm already redpilled to the maximum.
Thanks for the rec.
QRD?
>an agent angrily resigns from his job
>goes home
>gets gassed
>wakes up in a strange village where everything is being monitored
>every episode centers around him either trying to break out, or trying to outsmart Number 2
>everyone in the village is numbered
>no names
>our protagonist is Number 6
>every episode features a different actor as Number 2, who serves as the antagonist trying to figure out why Number 6 resigned, using various torture and manipulation methods
>there is a midget
>there is an evil balloon
>the final two episodes are batshit insane
Mother of kino, I'm watching this right away. If it can give me that kino sensation like Twin Peaks, i'm game.
>sensation like Twin Peaks
The final two episodes (Once Upon A Time & Fall Out) definitely. There is only 17 episodes total, so it's a great binge.
Mark Frost (Twin Peaks co-creator) even said he was inspired by The Prisoner, so there is that
I liked the new one, too. It nailed the paranoia really well.
>filler episodes before the final two
Those are some of the best. My favorite is when it turns out he's telling a story to children.
that was a rejected Danger Man script
I am not a number
im a free man!
TARA DADA DA
Twin Peaks is nothing like The Sopranos or Mad Men
>Sopranos is nothing like Mad Men
>Mad Men is nothing like the Prisoner
>The Prisoner is nothing like Twin Peaks
>Twin Peaks is nothing like Sopranos
>after 17 episodes, it turns out
>a comma is a spoiler
>hence awkward intonation
Great show, now I have to watch it again.
Any thoughts on the 2019 remake?
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Extras from the 40th Anniversary Special Edition
Don't Knock Yourself Out - A brand new and quite superb 95 minute documentary
Alternative Episodes - The beautifully restored alternative Version of 'Arrival' (with Wilfred Josephs' alternative soundtrack on 2nd audio track) and the alternative version of 'The Chimes of Big Ben' (with the 'POP!')
Patrick McGoohan Interviews - A short TV clip with Mike Smith, and the rare recording of Roger Goodman's 1979 interview (unavailable since its original release - 256kbps version)
Rare Footage - Mute hand-held camera footage of the location filming - including the only footage of the original 'Rover' - and production crew recce films of Portmeirion
Stock Films - Raw lava lamp and Rover beach footage, No.6's photo history from 'Arrival', Textless Opening and Closing Titles (with 3 different versions of the theme music on 3 audio tracks), Commercial Bumpers and Foreign Filing Cabinet footage
The Tally Ho - 2 hi-res images of the issues used in the episodes 'Free For All' and 'Hammer into Anvil'
Music Gallery - A collection of over 1000 images, accompanied by previously unreleased original music from the series
Photo Galleries (converted to CBR format): Exposure Strips, Film Prints, Jack Shampan's Original Design Art, Merchandising, Portmeirion, ITC Promotional Material, Original Promo Photo Shoot, Rare Production Photos and DVD Cover Art
Original Scripts (PDF) - For all episodes in all their drafts (usually 3)
Unused Scripts and Story Treatments (PDF) - 2 scripts and 2 story ideas
Production Paperwork (PDF) - 13 production documents from the series
Trailers - American trailers for all episodes (and 2 generic series trailers)
was wondering about the 2019 remake too, any place to stream it online? couldn't find it
>By hook or by crook we will
Mcgoohan was a really admirable person. I wish I had his moral fortitude.
There really are no modern actors who capture the essence of McGoohan
>Reading CDAN
>See some old McGoohan gossip
>It's about him doing some good deed and being discrete about it
>AGAIN
God bless him
I remember watching this entire series forever ago but I don't remember the ending very much. Didn't he just escape and then went about his live or some shit like that?
You must've been high while watching it
>The Prisoner (1967) was ahead of its time
No it wasn't. Like almost every film and television enterprise, it lagged behind literature that explored similar concepts, and in significantly greater, more nuanced detail, by years.
In these middle years of my life I have come to have an increasing contempt for the weakness and timidity of visual media to properly convey philosophical, moral, or sociologically predictive ideas compared to sublime works that have been explored and accomplished within the written word decades or more prior to such ideas emerging on celluloid.
To put it "tldr" as the youth say: Movies suck, books are better. If you're trying to experience something thoughtful, introspective, and challenging, at least.
Sir, this is Cinemaphile
>t. misses the point of art
You're barking up the wrong tree even if you're right. However ,can you recommend any literature that's in any way similar to the show?
the frick's a mcgoohan?
it's the guy from scotty
any of you guys has read the script for the never made movie sequel by mcgoohan? you can find it on the internet
link?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mfwqwackb7cqk72/The%20Prisoner%20%28unproduced%20feature%20by%20Patrick%20McGoohan%29.pdf
thanks
google: "[RESOURCE] The Prisoner: the complete screenplays for the cult sixties TV show"
there is several unproduced scripts for the original series too
Which of the episodes are the McGoohan 7 that he deemed the only important episodes? I know the network forced him to do 17 and I enjoy most of them, but did he ever say?
“Arrival,”
“Dance of the Dead,”
“Free for All,”
“The Chimes of Big Ben,”
“Checkmate,”
“Once Upon a Time,”
and “Fall Out.”
>"That was deliberate. I think there were 52 frames or something. Of the shot where he pulls off the monkey mask and Number 1's a monkey and then Number 1's himself. It was deliberate. I mean, I could have held it there for a good two minutes and put a subtitle on it, saying "It's him," you know. But I thought that I wasn't going to pander to a mentality so low that it couldn't perceive what I was trying to say. So you had to be a little quick to pick it up."
-Patrick McGoohan, 1977
9:50 into this interview:
Who was best Number 2?