(November 3, 1967; director: Peter Graham Scott)
To my memory, there aren’t any truly bad episodes of The Prisoner, but there are a few lesser lights here and there. Hey, it happens. Case in point, “The General”.
Is it well-written? Yes. Is it reliably eccentric? Yes. Is it good stuff with clever twists and turns? Yes.
So, what the hell is my problem? What am I, an idiot? Maybe, but let me explain.
(September 29, 1967; director: Don Chaffey)
Here is everything that I know about The Prisoner, the classic British TV series that originally aired from 1967 to 1968.
1) It’s a classic British TV series that originally aired from 1967 to 1968.
2) The PBS station in Dallas used to rerun it when I was a teenager a hundred years ago, but it was at an odd hour. 1 AM on Saturday nights or something like that.
3) I watched two or three episodes back then and liked them, but never managed to see the whole series of seventeen.
4) It’s got a great aesthetic that combines the late 60s fascination for slick secret agents with offbeat, trippy, “rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies” vibes.
5) It’s all streaming on Amazon Prime. For now, at least.
Also, I want to write about it. So let’s go, weirdos…
