Comments on: AMC's The Prisoner Debut Draws 2.2 Million Viewers; Nearly Equals Mad Men Finale

By: Leonato

Leonato — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:03:12 +0000

First of all, I’m a huge fan of the original “Prisoner” series, and have every episode on tape. I also watched McGoohan’s preceding series “Secret Agent Man” religiously right from it’s B&W days. I waited years for the rumored new series or movie which never materialized. When I heard about AMC’s miniseries I was very excited. The ads looked good so I couldn’t wait. I realized that no one could imitate McGoohan, and that these days, his type of character might not be accepted or even relevant, so I knew the show would by necessity be somewhat different. It was, and vivre la difference. I thought the series was very fresh and really spooky with good acting and a very interesting story. You can’t really compare it with the original and why should you have to. The only thing that bugged me, was intermittently, AMC’s satellite signal kept breaking up and blanking out (Searching for satellite signal). It took me two days to tape the last segment and even still I lost the signal during the last 20 critical minutes. I’m very suspicious, since every single other channel coming from the satellite worked just fine. I thought this was even more mysterious than the show, especially since AMC is already peddling the DVD set. Really pissed me off.

By: traderrob

traderrob — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:23:22 +0000

“The Prisoner” Reviewed

I rarely comment on such things as mundane as a television miniseries. Let me make the exception to offer my two sense worth on the the “updated” version of “The Prisoner”…. IT SUCKS! Despite top notch casting and a premise with tons of potential it fell flatter than a 2000 lb. pancake dropped from the Sears Tower….

http://exposingtheleft.blogspot.com/2009/11/prisoner.html

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:50:16 +0000

I would like to see these episode cause i missed them . How can I see them all. please email me instruction on how to do this?

Yvonne Plata
yvaca@aol.com

By: Richard Steven Hack

Richard Steven Hack — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:13:48 +0000

I have to agree that this doesn’t compare favorably to McGoohan’s effort – remember, he was the creator and producer of the original and it had meaning for him personally.

So far the show is mostly a showcase for Ian McKellan’s talents. I really don’t like the guy playing the prisoner, he’s far too bland. McGoohan was a bundle of energy and intensity and watching him was far more interesting.

For those unfamiliar with the original, McGoohan played a resigned spy (the implication was that his character was actually John Drake, the character he played in two earlier series, “Danger Man” and “Secret Agent”) who was gassed in his London apartment and woke up in The Village, where the various “Number Two” characters (who changed regularly) tried to worm information out of him about why he resigned while he tried to outwit them and escape. He actually did “escape” – twice – but was returned to the Village each time.

In the current version, the prisoner is a former employee of some sort of corporation which did some sort of nebulous “evaluation” of people, perhaps some sort of marketing firm. Thus the show is much more nebulous and is less clear about the motivations and backgrounds of everybody involved. It’s as if the producers wanted to make the show more surreal. The use of the “twin towers” gimmick (wherein ghostly images of the Twin Towers” appear in the distance) appears to be part of that.

As long as it’s a mini-series, it may be adequate. But it will never compete with the original.

My favorite line from the original: “Every man votes for a dictator.”

And the final episode, wherein the unknown “Number One” is revealed to be both an ape and Number Six himself, is classic. And his return to London is clearly shown to be merely a re-insertion into the wider “Village” that is the world.

By: Jam

Jam — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:18:56 +0000

The Acting is God Awful and the directing stinks. The writing is way too simple and the music makes it all the more bland. Wow, I absolutely cannot believe the producers allowed it to come to this. what a waste of talent. What an utter disappointment. Long Live The original series!

By: Don

Don — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:12:41 +0000

You could say that the original Prisnor was a mini-series too. Hey look at Rich Man, Poor Man Book 1 and 2.

By: spotupj

spotupj — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:44:11 +0000

Can’t wait to see demos on this one. I predicted it would do better (a lot better, actually) in P2+ but skew ancient. We shall see.

By: ryan

ryan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:34:19 +0000

what is this show about? is it worth a watch?

By: Fringefan

Fringefan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:29:31 +0000

I never watched the original so I went into this with a fresh perspective, and it blew me away. It was everything I hoped it would be. At first I thought the directing was awful but by the time it was over the Beach scene stands as one of the most breathtaking moments on tv that I’ve ever seen. I hope it holds it’s viewers

By: Robo

Robo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:29:33 +0000

I agree that it had stiff compitition and it kept me watching.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:54:41 +0000

The show was very exciting. And these ratings are a good sign for AMC as this show was up against some very stiff competition including Desperate Housewives, Sunday Night Football w/ Brady vs. Manning, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter, Family Guy, The Simpsons, WWII in HD and The Amazing Race.

By: Patrice

Patrice — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:05:15 +0000

I THOUGHT IT started out slowly but I really got into the show
and am really enjoying it.

By: preair

preair — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:25:55 +0000

I sucks that this is only mini-series. I would really like if it was a full season show.

By: John

John — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:05:24 +0000

Be interesting to see how the numbers hold up. I found Sunday night’s episode damn near unwatchable. I’ll probably DVR the episodes tonight and Tuesday, but they may sit in the queue for a while. I really wanted to like this, but it just isn’t working for me.

By: AppleStinx

AppleStinx — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:12:58 +0000

I wish the series good luck. Having watched the original series religiously as a kid and having missed the final episode then (I didn’t know that it was going to be the last), Patrick McGoohan will always be THE Prisoner and as far as I’m concerned, he’s still trying to escape.

By: Brian Fahrlander

Brian Fahrlander — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:42:48 +0000

Can’t argue with the draw, though- even if part of it is to see if it was done well:

9,000 seeders, 10,000 leechers. (One of them me: I want to see if I missed anything.)

By: Brian Fahrlander

Brian Fahrlander — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:40:52 +0000

Are we dragging this ole thing out again? Well, ok!

Next: I dream of Jeanie, Petticoat Junction, The Waltons, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and dare I say it? Gilligan’s Island.

Why not? It’s more likely to get an audience than any of these can’t-be-hero plots that come out anymore.

By: Lilie

Lilie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:36:53 +0000

AMC is the new Bravo…I give it two years to have series 24/7 and no more movies….

By: Junior G.

Junior G. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:10:01 +0000

Yeah I was surprised too, everybody makes mistakes, but this one’s pretty big. I was also wondering why I never heard of a show called The Prisoner on ABC. Lots of people are going to be confused of course….

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:08:49 +0000

Eduardo, yikes, what a difference a letter makes! Fixed.

By: Eduardo Fonseca

Eduardo Fonseca — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:05:23 +0000

Hey,

Love the site.
Just wanted to say the title has ABC instead of AMC.