The Prisoner TV series

[egospark]

The library has all of the Prisoner on tape and I've spent the better part of three weeks forcing my childhood memories upon my kids.

But apart from that, what an excellent show. Just saw the last ep "Fall Out" for the umpteenth time and while parts remain slightly soft focus in story telling, there's no denying the crystal clarity of the over all message: "We're Prisoners Because We Want To Be."

Well, back to my cell. And, of course,
<center>Be Seeing You!

[Ringo]

6 here, just checking for mail...

[Persephone]

I've never seen the entire series, but I did see a few, recently aired on TV Land. That last episode was by far one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. Held my interest, though, in that "passing by a car wreck" kind of way...

[Babar714]

I've heard so much about The Prisoner! I've never seen it, or even had a chance to. How can I find it? Do any video rental stores have it? I feel so left out!

[egospark]

There's several good web sites on the Prisoner out there and the tapes show up on eBay for frightfully high prices every now and then. I think the Sci-Fi channel airs it. Don't know. I'm against turning my tv into a utility, so I don't have cable. And if the Pensacola library has them on tape, maybe yours does too. Check it out.
[b]Be seeing you!

[Guy Propski]

Man, I loved that show in high school! It was on Saturday nights on PBS (no commercials!), and every Monday morning my friends and I would have to get together and talk about it. "Fall Out" had us totally baffled.

[Lumpy]

"Fall Out", the final episode of The Prisoner, was a cop-out in my opinion. Don't have an ending for your story? Go allegorical! It worked in "They Might be Giants", with George C. Scott.

[gary horaczek]

Since the series ended exactly the same way it began I always thought the entire series took place within his own mind. He had either been given a drug to break him or else he had cracked.

[egospark]

As mentioned, I've just seen the entire series again recently so I might have slightly fresher memories. But it's clear from episode one "Arrival" that the story is allegorical.
The Village is most certainly the Global Village and everything from the endless parade around the city square to the 'private' signs outside of number 6's dwelling to the very sinister salute of "Be seeing you!" was fairly well though out.

"Fall Out" being the second part of two part story starting with "Once Upon a Time" where 6, 2 and the butler recreate event that may or may not have happened in 6's life. It's "Waiting for Godot" on speed with nursery school props. Fairly intense and very strange.

"Fall Out" presents a couple of possiblities depending on one's point of view.
1)Yes, it's all some sort of bizzare dream along the lines of Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday."

2). Number Six confronts the demon that makes him a prisoner and beats him. The Village is destroyed and freedom reigns, but it might be a false freedom.

3)The Village defeats Number Six by giving him what he wants -- his freedom. Freedom is the final illusion, the big lie. The Village moves from testing stage to reality and becomes the world.

Not surprising, people have written their thesis trying to explain this show.

But, by god, is it fun! Thirty years later and you still can find people willing to talk about. If nothing else, a triumph in television.

[gary horaczek]

A lot of old tv shows are being made into films. The Prisoner could be a good film. To all the readers of this "Who should be in the film and what role would they play?".Sadly my 1st pick for the role of #2 is deceased (Peter Sellars doing Dr. Strangelove) so I'd go with Anthony Hopkins for #2.Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction character) as the love interest. The Prisoner-???

[RealityChuck]

If there's a message in the THE PRISONER, it's that people will arbitrarily assign meaning to anything they see, even if it's not there.

While there were a few truly excellent episodes ("The Chimes of Big Ben," "Schizoid Man," "A, B, or C"), the final two were metaphysical murkiness. There's nothing but fog, so whatever shapes you see in the mist can take whatever form the viewer wants.

I did like the show, but any attempts to distill "Fall Out" into meaning are subverted by its entire lack of coherence.

And, if the point is truly "I am not a number!", why the hell didn't Number Six insist using his name? Why did he even answer to the name of Number Six?



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www.sff.net/people/rothman

[WallyM7]

There was a lot of hidden meaning in that show. Well hidden. Really, really well hidden.

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You are unique - Just like everone else.

[Ike Witt]

You know that it is only a matter of time before The Prisoner is turned into a gawd-awful hollywood movie.

[egospark]

Adam Right! Which is good, because there will be a re-interest in the original show. Right now, both The Avengers and Wild Wild West are getting more video sales attention as a direct result of terrible movies.

[Ukulele Ike]

Tom Cruise as Number Six?

'Scuse me while I try to bang THAT image out of my mind...