After seeing the new PREVIEW
gera...@earthlink.net
using only one #2 for the whole series -- it's what I would have done
myself as a remake. Second, the whole approach is different --
realistic rather than surrealistic, so you have to set aside all
longings for the surreal elements of the original. Third, it seems
totally faithful to the basic concept: they're going to keep messing
with #6's mind until he can't fight back any more, and they're so smug
that it never enters their minds that he is capable of resisting and
even defeating them. McKellen is perfect for the part of #2. He's
the type who could tell you something absurd so convincingly that
after a while you would finally believe the absurdity. He comes
across as gentlemanly and charming, but all for his own purposes; he's
utterly ruthless and an adversary not to be taken lightly.
There seems to be something missing that should have been kept,
thought I may be premature in jumping to this conclusion. In the
original #6 at first overestimated his ability to escape and
understated the ruthlessness of his enemies; then, gradually, he made
fewer and fewer mistakes, and began getting the better of his enemies
on a consistent basis, and it started to look as if his escape was
only a matter of time. They should have kept this element of the
plot, especially because with only #2 for him to study, #6 should get
better and better at finding weaknesses in his nemesis.
David Trimboli
> Third, it seems totally faithful to the basic concept: they're going
> to keep messing with #6's mind until he can't fight back any more,
> and they're so smug that it never enters their minds that he is
> capable of resisting and even defeating them.
So, you think that's the basic concept of THE PRISONER, do you? Is that
what made it good?
--
David Trimboli
http://www.trimboli.name/
Brian Watson
> gera...@earthlink.net wrote:
>> Third, it seems totally faithful to the basic concept: they're going
>> to keep messing with #6's mind until he can't fight back any more,
>> and they're so smug that it never enters their minds that he is
>> capable of resisting and even defeating them.
>
> So, you think that's the basic concept of THE PRISONER, do you? Is
> that what made it good?
Well it's PART of the original concept, yes. They think that his resistance
is not total and that he CAN be broken.
The yang to that yin is that he will NEVER give up.
--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."
www.imagebus.co.uk/shop
rover1point5
> David Trimboli wrote:
> > geral...@earthlink.net wrote:
> >> Third, it seems totally faithful to the basic concept: they're going
> >> to keep messing with #6's mind until he can't fight back any more,
> >> and they're so smug that it never enters their minds that he is
> >> capable of resisting and even defeating them.
>
> > So, you think that's the basic concept of THE PRISONER, do you? Is
> > that what made it good?
>
> Well it's PART of the original concept, yes. They think that his resistance
> is not total and that he CAN be broken.
>
> The yang to that yin is that he will NEVER give up.
>
> --
I think you put your finger on what made the show DRAMATICALLY
successful. But remember that a majority of the original viewers were
disappointed when they didn't get the espionage-style ending they were
expecting. One of the quirks of THE PRISONER is that the central
THEMATIC conflict (the conflict of allegiance to self or society) is
IRRESOLVABLE. In order to ring true the drama ends in a conundrum.
And so the ensuing cult following has been searching for the show's
real meaning ever since.
It will be interesting to see what these modern jokers do with it.
Legend11
> gera...@earthlink.net wrote:
>> Third, it seems totally faithful to the basic concept: they're going
>> to keep messing with #6's mind until he can't fight back any more,
>> and they're so smug that it never enters their minds that he is
>> capable of resisting and even defeating them.
>
> So, you think that's the basic concept of THE PRISONER, do you? Is that
> what made it good?
>
Well yes, that was clearly a *major* element of the basic premise - and
a battle of wits that made it so watchable, or "good"...as you put it.
--
Legend11.
"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence" - Leonard
'Bones' McCoy, Star Trek (2009).
--
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Legend11
had 'him' look, had the technology been available back in the day. It's
awe inspiring and made the hairs on my neck stand to attention in one
fell swoop. Just a pity that one good doggy does not a good show make.
Still, it looks better than most of the stuff on TV these days, even if
it cannot possibly beat or even equal the masterful original. Even if
they tried a million times they couldn't do that. It was after all the
TV event of all time, AFAIC at least, so I won't blame them for that.
I'll certainly give this a fair shot though.
Still, I must confess, I find myself wanting to punch the map selling
shopkeeper for making a corny mess of what should be an iconic and
pivotal scene. The original shopkeeper nailed it - quirky, surreal,
scary and funny all in one. Shame that.
Moor Larkin
something missing that should have been kept,
> thought I may be premature in jumping to this conclusion. In the
> original #6 at first overestimated his ability to escape and
> understated the ruthlessness of his enemies; then, gradually, he made
> fewer and fewer mistakes, and began getting the better of his enemies
> on a consistent basis, and it started to look as if his escape was
> only a matter of time.
Hmmm...... What order have you been watching the old episodes
in?...... ;o))))))
I'm still trying to fathom AMC's strategy. They're broadcasting this
show over three consecutive nights, in what seem like gut-busting
chunks of two hours at a time...... I can only guess that they don't
expect to garner a single extra viewer after the first lump and are
praying they don't lose too many in the ensuing couple of days......
Or is there something about American TV scheduling and their rating
systems that is explanatory of this bizarre modus operandi.... ?
John W Kennedy
> I'm still trying to fathom AMC's strategy. They're broadcasting this
> show over three consecutive nights, in what seem like gut-busting
> chunks of two hours at a time...... I can only guess that they don't
> expect to garner a single extra viewer after the first lump and are
> praying they don't lose too many in the ensuing couple of days......
> Or is there something about American TV scheduling and their rating
> systems that is explanatory of this bizarre modus operandi.... ?
I do not know the internal logic, but I can tell you that something six
hours long would certainly be customarily done as three two-hour slots
in the US commercial market. Two three-hour slots, perhaps, if it fell
naturally into two parts /and/ was certain to be a big deal, such as a
biography of Barack Obama. Six one-hour slots would be very rare unless
it was a foreign production being shown during the summer.
--
John W. Kennedy
"The bright critics assembled in this volume will doubtless show, in
their sophisticated and ingenious new ways, that, just as /Pooh/ is
suffused with humanism, our humanism itself, at this late date, has
become full of /Pooh./"
-- Frederick Crews. "Postmodern Pooh", Preface
Moor Larkin
not know the internal logic, but I can tell you that something six
hours long would certainly be customarily done as three two-hour slots
in the US commercial market. Two three-hour slots, perhaps, if it fell
naturally into two parts /and/ was certain to be a big deal, such as a
biography of Barack Obama. Six one-hour slots would be very rare
unless it was a foreign production being shown during the summer.
Aha, yes, I can see how a doucumentary about the life of Obama, as a
big *special* would work. Everyone knows who Obama is and what he is,
all we expect to watch is the detailed background and minutiae of his
existence.
I notice that AMC did this with something called 'Broken Trail',
http://www.amctv.com/originals/brokentrail/about/ which now seems to
be referred to as a movie, rather than a series.
redcat
> Moor Larkin wrote:
>> I'm still trying to fathom AMC's strategy. They're broadcasting this
>> show over three consecutive nights, in what seem like gut-busting
>> chunks of two hours at a time...... I can only guess that they don't
>> expect to garner a single extra viewer after the first lump and are
>> praying they don't lose too many in the ensuing couple of days......
>> Or is there something about American TV scheduling and their rating
>> systems that is explanatory of this bizarre modus operandi.... ?
>
> I do not know the internal logic, but I can tell you that something six
> hours long would certainly be customarily done as three two-hour slots
> in the US commercial market. Two three-hour slots, perhaps, if it fell
> naturally into two parts /and/ was certain to be a big deal, such as a
> biography of Barack Obama. Six one-hour slots would be very rare unless
> it was a foreign production being shown during the summer.
>
The biography of Barack Obama a big deal?
Legend11
> Moor Larkin wrote:
>> I'm still trying to fathom AMC's strategy. They're broadcasting this
>> show over three consecutive nights, in what seem like gut-busting
>> chunks of two hours at a time...... I can only guess that they don't
>> expect to garner a single extra viewer after the first lump and are
>> praying they don't lose too many in the ensuing couple of days......
>> Or is there something about American TV scheduling and their rating
>> systems that is explanatory of this bizarre modus operandi.... ?
>
> I do not know the internal logic, but I can tell you that something six
> hours long would certainly be customarily done as three two-hour slots
> in the US commercial market. Two three-hour slots, perhaps, if it fell
> naturally into two parts /and/ was certain to be a big deal, such as a
> biography of Barack Obama. Six one-hour slots would be very rare unless
> it was a foreign production being shown during the summer.
>
I was hoping it would be in six parts. Still, I'll just have to watch it
as it comes. I shall be downloading it instead of waiting for it to come
on in the UK.
