OK, what about this new THE PRISONER?

[Ollie]

OK, this week, AMC has been showing its new version of THE PRISONER. Is it only 2 segments?

Gee - why couldn't they cut it down to, like, 30 minutes? Maybe make it a 3-minute skit on SNL?

I realize they're incredibly intelligent people - since their genius can toss out all those obviously useless and idiotic BBC episodes, why can't they turn that genius on themselves and toss out a few more hours? I saw some bits, and there WERE people foolishly standing around. Wasting MY viewing time. Why not excise those bits, too? Basically - anything without direct dialog from First to Last, toss it out. I really think a 3-min skit is possible.

(Should I watch this like the NBA? The final 1-2 minutes of the season's last game? Won't this be good enough? I think so.)

[klondike]

I watched the first 50 minutes of it.
Found it visually arresting & FX impressive . . and nearly totally lacking any sense of excitement or intrigue or tension.
Switched it off, watched all the best excerpts I could find on YouTube of the original "The Prisoner".
{No contest.}

[Ollie]

Oops, I decided to check the "official" site and discover there are 6 episodes, about 2 hours each (for American TV, that is - this means 22 minutes of actual time).

I hope AMC will scramble them up and not show them in any proper order or sequence. I believe that was one source of the drinking games during the '70s.

[JackFavell]

I had no expectations of this show, and would not have watched it except that hubby was watching it (are we the only ones in the U.S. to have only ONE TV?), but I found that there were a couple of redeeming things about the first episode. One was Ian McKellan, who, despite everything, was good and even arresting as Number Two. Oh, and the sets were pretty good.

The leading man was a block of wood. I have to find out his name so I can avoid everything he does in the future. His face never moved. I wonder if he had Botox injections? I kept longing for Patrick McGoohan to come in and pound on a table, show some emotion.

And the bubble? They obviously subscribed to the idea that if a large bubble was good originally, a gargantuan bubble would be even better.

They were wrong.

Compared to the other new shows that we have seen, this one was miles better. That is not saying much.

[klondike]

The "new prisoner" (evidently never John Drake) was played by James Caviezel (sp?).
The "bubble" was known in the original series as Rover.

[JackFavell]

The "new prisoner" (evidently never John Drake) was played by James Caviezel (sp?).

Thanks for the warning.

The "bubble" was known in the original series as Rover.

Rover gave me nightmares in my childhood, after accidentally seeing episodes of the show played on Saturday or Sunday afternoons in repeat.

[Ollie]

I've tried and tried, 4 times I've tried, but I just can't make it thru this series. James Caviezel is one of the problems, but I have enjoyed some of his work. Just not this stuff. I keep hearing myself complain, "Copy of a copy... of a copy... of a copy..." over and over.

Years ago, when AMC was 'good' (ie, showing all those great old films without commercials), they had a host on there. Quite a good fellow. What was his name?