Wired has an excellent obituary on the late great actor/writer/director Patrick McGoohan, who was apparently born an American and adopted the UK.
While many probably know him from Ice Station Zebra, I believe McGoohan made his mark with the incredible 1967 television series The Prisoner. In this 17-episode series, a nameless former spy (called #6 by his captors) is kidnapped and taken to a mysterious place called The Village where he is to spend the rest of his life. Isolated from the world and controlled by omnipotent yet unseen forces, the Village is a place of terrifying mindless existence which #6 struggles against.
He also fights against a large, white weather balloon named Rover. This show is amazing.
As I've blogged before, it's also being remade with Ian McKellan as the nefarious #2. A nifty by-product of this remake effort is that all 17 episodes are available for viewing online.
You should watch them now.
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I first saw The Prisoner at my uncle Gary's apartment in Detroit. Mom was very excited by it, and I'd like to say that I was instantly enraptured by the series but it lacked spaceships so I played on the computer instead.
Up until pretty recently, the presence of spaceships was my benchmark for quality.
However, I have grown to love the series as a touchstone for how powerful television can be. It is remarkable that 31 years after it's original run, these few episodes are still celebrated. I can think of few things that have accomplished so much.
So watch it.
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It also has the most amazing intro.
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2 comments:
But don't forget that over the course of the series 1 #2 is replaced by a 2nd #2 (#2 #2 ?), more than once as I recall. I assume Ian McK will be the 1st #2.
#2 replaced by a new #2 almost every episode!
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