# Remake of "The Prisoner" series starts on AMC, Nov. 15 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144 "2009-11-03T06:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/1 "2009-11-03T06:38:02Z")
[Official site.](http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/) Jim Caviezel as Six and Ian McKellen as Two. I’m of two minds about this, since, as a 13-year-old in 1967, I was enormously impressed by the original Patrick McGoohan series. For this adolescent boy it was about as cool as you could imagine anything being. And the final episode was just the greatest thing ever. In those pre-VCR days, I recorded the sound track onto reel-to-reel audio tape, just to have a way to hold onto some part of it. Of course, rewatching it since then (yes, I own the DVD set), I’ve realized how lame much of the show actually was (e.g. making a computer self-destruct by entering the question, “Why?”). But its main theme – the depersonalization of man by modern society – is obviously as relevant today as it was 40 years ago, and I think there’s much that could be done to meaningfully expand on it. Possible pluses: [ul] [li]A modern TV series is likely to have much higher production values than they did in the 1967 version.[/li] [li]They may have more credible science and be able to avoid some of the more cringeworthy aspects of the original series.[/li] [li]Caviezel is arguably a more talented and versatile actor than McGoohan.[/li][/ul] On the other hand, [ul] [li]Big budgets for SFX won’t improve lousy scripts.[/li] [li]There’s no guarantee they won’t introduce their own cringes.[/li] [li]Since McGoohan created the character of Six for himself, it was obviously written to his strengths as an actor, and it’s a little hard to imagine anyone else in the role. It may be hard for Caviezel to get out from under the shadow of McGoohan’s Six without appearing either too stiff or too touchy-feely. [/ul][/li]Finally, the brief glimpses I’ve seen of the new Village seem nowhere near as quirkily charming as the original. The use of the [Hotel Portmerion](http://www.portmeirion-village.com) in Wales for the exteriors of the Village was inspired. The place actually became a major character in the show. (I was such a fan of the show that I made a point of visiting Portmeirion when I went to the U.K in 1976.) That said, I’ll be watching when it starts, and I’m hopeful that the new version will be well done and carry on the spirit of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/2 "2009-11-03T08:17:28Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/516157/1): > > Hi all! > I’ve just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks. > > * * * Welcome. Have anything to share? Besides the sig link that is. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/3 "2009-11-03T09:50:02Z")
So long as it has the white ball guardian, god that scared me as a child, I’ll give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/4 "2009-11-03T09:58:43Z")
The original really didn’t hold up, did it. Some things should just remain memories. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/5 "2009-11-03T10:23:00Z")
I watched _Degree Absolute_ recently. The scripts are indeed all over the place but when they work and the actors are good, it really punches. Rather than a remake, however, I’d rather see a _Doctor Who_-esque sequel/rebranding with new scripts. Seriously, can you imagine a Steven Moffat script for _Prisoner_? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/6 "2009-11-03T12:41:37Z")
Wow - thanks for the update. I hold all the same reservations as you, especially about Caviesel. It may sound weird, or like I am dissing religion - I apologize. But knowing that Caviesel is deeply Catholic and played Jesus in Gibson’s movie makes it jarring to think of him as an analog for Rational Man in the wholly different, abstract, almost Existential sort of way that the Prisoner calls for. Someone like Christian Bale, perhaps. To the OP, it would be hard seeing anyone emerge out from McGoohan’s shadow, but with that added baggage AND all of the other risks? I don’t hold out much hope. That series was a special kinda 60’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/7 "2009-11-03T13:33:58Z")
> [@](#): > > The original really didn’t hold up, did it. Some things should just remain memories. Quite strongly disagree. I have it on DVD. Although there are many episodes I don’t like, I didn’t care for them at all when they first aired. But “Arrival” and “Chimes of Big Ben” and “Hammer Into Anvil” (my favorite) and several others not only stand up, I’d watch them over anything I see today. I’ll have to have a look at the remake. But my experience with remakes of late has been that they’ve been pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/8 "2009-11-03T14:39:56Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The original really didn’t hold up, did it. Some things should just remain memories. I didn’t see the show until it started airing on the Sci-Fi network late into my teens. I thought it was a pretty good show. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/9 "2009-11-03T15:07:07Z")
FTI: IFC has been airing 2 episodes back-to-back of “The Prisoner” on Fridays of late. Pretty far along though. There are 4 more left to go in the series. Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/10 "2009-11-03T15:08:19Z")
I watched reruns here and there but after learning what happens in the final episode (and then finally watching it) I felt no need to continue on. As for the new one, even if I felt it would be leading somewhere, there’s no guarantee it would ever get there before being cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/11 "2009-11-03T18:25:31Z")
What’s with “Six” and “Two”? Weren’t the characters always referred to as "\*Number \*— "? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/12 "2009-11-03T18:54:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > I watched reruns here and there but after learning what happens in the final episode (and then finally watching it) I felt no need to continue on. As for the new one, even if I felt it would be leading somewhere, there’s no guarantee it would ever get there before being cancelled. It’s a six-part miniseries on AMC. It would have to be a stunning catastrophe for them to cancel it midway through – like, so bad that viewers actually went insane and started killing their families. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/13 "2009-11-03T18:56:16Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > What’s with “Six” and “Two”? Weren’t the characters always referred to as "\*Number \*— "? In the original, yes, but perhaps this is one way in which the new producers are distinguishing themselves from their predecessors. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/14 "2009-11-03T19:21:52Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > So long as it has the white ball guardian, god that scared me as a child, I’ll give it a shot. There’s a 15-minute preview on AMC, if you set your DVR. Yes, it does. McKellen makes a great Two (as if there were any doubt), but Caviezel doesn’t seem to bring much to the table as Six. The Village is now in the desert, not the seaside but the idea is the same. Production values are superior, but that isn’t important. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/15 "2009-11-03T19:27:40Z")
I remembered the orginal series fondly from childhood, much as I had\*\* Dark Shadows\*\*. When viewed as an adult, **The Prisoner** \_like **Dark Shadows** \_turned out to be rubbish. My guess is that this remake won’t have to work very hard at all to be an improvement over the pretentious original. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/16 "2009-11-03T19:35:01Z")
I am not a number, I am a free man! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/17 "2009-11-03T19:42:59Z")
No, you’re not. You’re some screen name on an Internet message board, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remake-of-the-prisoner-series-starts-on-amc-nov-15/516144/18 "2009-11-06T23:44:46Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > FTI: IFC has been airing 2 episodes back-to-back of “The Prisoner” on Fridays of late. Pretty far along though. There are 4 more left to go in the series. > > Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. If you have OnDemand on your cable service, check out AMC’s offerings. Here they have the entire original series up until the end of November.