# Good news for fans of "The Prisoner" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869 "2000-09-20T14:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/1 "2000-09-20T14:44:49Z")
Chris McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects”)is hard at work on bringing the classic '60’s show “The Prisoner” to the big screen. Okay, we’ve known that for a while. The good news is that he is not updating it - it will be set in the '60’s and he intends to keep the original premise intact. After seeing the mess they made of “The Avengers”, “The Wild, Wild West” and “Mission: Impossible”, this is great news indeed. If moviemakers feel it necessary to do big-screen remakes of classic TV, why do they try to fix what’s not broken? Most of these work only in the period and paradigm they were originally set in, and updating them spoils the whole mix. More guns & explosions don’t make up for poor scripting and an almost total reliance on a familiar title and hot actor in the lead to sell the film. I’ve thought a return to the early '60’s cold-war James Bond could really revive a tired movie series. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/2 "2000-09-20T15:34:40Z")
Did they find the plots, too? 😃 I watched about 3 episodes of The Prisoner, and all I could think of afterward was, “WTF!” I think this show belongs on during late-night TV, when the stoners watch. I could definately see where watching that show stoned would help. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/3 "2000-09-20T15:53:19Z")
I am not a number, I am a free man! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/4 "2000-09-20T16:08:54Z")
And, for those like **AWB** who do, the Master [explaineth](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_022c.html). ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/5 "2000-09-20T16:10:55Z")
D’ohh! Stupid quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/6 "2000-09-20T16:11:40Z")
Woo hoo!!! I didn’t know about this big screen project. No one ever knows what I’m talking about when I mention The Prisoner. I miss it so much! When I was in college the SciFi channel showed a marathon of every single episode. That was a little piece of heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/7 "2000-09-20T16:19:32Z")
Any news yet about casting? \*In some place, at some time, all of you held positions of a secret nature, and had knowledge that was invaluable to an enemy. Like me, you are here to have that knowledge protected or extracted. Unlike me, many of you have accepted the situation of your imprisonment and will die here, like rotten cabbages. The rest of you have gone over to the side of our keepers. Which is which? How many of each? Who’s standing beside you now? ---
**Author:** ![Dylan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e95f7d/32.png) [@Dylan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dylan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/8 "2000-09-20T16:24:37Z")
who is number 1 ? you are number 6. we want the truth and by hook or by crook, we’ll get it… sigh… I had them all on tape!!! ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/9 "2000-09-20T16:46:17Z")
Whoa, I loved that show. Gotta go get baked and see the movie. It’s like James bond trapped in an abstract euro fairy land. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/10 "2000-09-20T17:01:23Z")
No word on casting yet. It is still in pre-production, but wiht McQuarrie writing & directing, they should be able to get a pretty high quality group. I think Patrick McGoohan as No. 2 would be a great choice. Maybe Tim Roth as #6. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/11 "2000-09-20T17:28:23Z")
How 'bout Gary Oldman, with McGoohan as Number 2? Both have a certain penchant for… energetically acting. Hell, while we’re at it, why don’t we let them co-direct? Seriously, though, I think one could easily take “The Schizoid Man,” pad it with an introduction, and leave it wide open for a sequel by simply keeping the last line: “Number 12 didn’t have a wife.” Or whatever it was. Here’s a fine lowdown on the original episodes: [http://www.marciniak.com/prisoner/prisoner.html](http://www.marciniak.com/prisoner/prisoner.html) BTW, did the makers of “The Prisoner” ever overtly state that Number 6 was supposed to be the main character from “Secret Agent”? They sure do look alike. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/12 "2000-09-20T17:34:04Z")
Why is this a good thing? Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of _The Prisoner_, but I’m not a fan of Hollywood’s treatment of TV show’s. Examples, _The Wild, Wild West_ and _Lost in Space_, both were entertaining TV shows (not great, but entertaining) and both sucked donkeys as movies. I don’t have any faith that a big budget feature won’t be fowled up to the point of absuridty. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/13 "2000-09-20T17:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > \*\*I don’t have any faith that a big budget feature won’t be fowled up to the point of absuridty. \*\* The difference is that the original series already WAS fouled up to the point of absurdity–and way beyond! The final episode? WTF? But it was a thing of absurd beauty that will get ruined by Hollywood. Who is Number One? You are, Number Six. See how adding a comma changes the whole thing? ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/14 "2000-09-20T17:41:44Z")
You’re right adam, Hollywood can fu\*k up good material. I sure hope they do _The Prisoner_ right. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/15 "2000-09-20T17:43:33Z")
I’m with Adam. The TV show was just about the coolest thing ever – creepy, paranoid and so murky we thought it was deep. If they had had Emma Peele in a leather jumpsuit it would have been perfect. Blow that up to a big-budget, big-screen production and it will be unwatchable. Think Mission Impossible on TV versus the movie versions. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/16 "2000-09-20T18:17:59Z")
Okay, I’m no fan of these big-screen remakes of classic shows (see the second part of my OP), but since they are going to do it, there are better ways to go about it than the way they are normally filmed. That’s what I was getting at. As long as they are going to make “The Prisoner”, I’d rather have Chris McQuarrie in charge, and to have them keeping it in period and close to the original setup, rather than making it cool, hip, and cutting(yawn)-edge. That was what I meant about “good news”. I’m just waiting to see when they put “Gilligan’s Island” up there with a budget of $110 million and Will Smith as Gilligan. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/17 "2000-09-20T20:15:15Z")
Will this remake be filmed in Portmeirion, or transported to somewhere else? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/18 "2000-09-21T03:42:19Z")
Leo McKern is still with us. He looks no worse now than he did then. He should be number 2 again. ---
**Author:** ![messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/messiah)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/19 "2000-09-21T07:44:04Z")
I was in portmerion a while back, its falling to bits, they will need to give it one hell of a makeover. Its about time somebody resurrected this supberb show, one of my alltime favourites, up there with twin peeks & noggin the nog. I would not be surprised to see it given an american slant though. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869/20 "2000-09-21T15:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by picmr \* > \*\*Leo McKern is still with us. He looks no worse now than he did then. He should be number 2 again. \*\* I’d go for that, but I gotta agree with **Sofa King,** too…McGoohan’s GOT to be one of the Number 2s!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-fans-of-the-prisoner/33869.md?page=2)