Where am I?
In the Village.
What do you want?
We want information.
Whose side are you on?
That would be telling. We want information... information... information.
You won't get it.
By hook or by crook, we will.
Who are you?
The new Number 2.
Who is Number 1?
You are Number 6.
I am not a number!! I am – Hercules!!
If you’re unfamiliar with Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner, you’re missing out on one of the three best TV series of all time. Get hold of its pilot, “Arrival.” Nobody I know has ever gotten through that first episode and said, “Well, I don’t see what all the fuss is about; I have no interest in seeing where this is going.”
The series is about an angry (but sharp-witted) British secret agent who – after abruptly handing in his letter of resignation – is gassed then transported to a resort-like seaside detention compound. His new home is overseen by “Number Two,” but the title character is left to guess at the identity of “Number One” – presumably the entity who truly runs the place. The “Number Twos” change each episode, presumably because none of them can get “Number Six” (as the title character is dubbed) to reveal why he resigned. The prison, known as “The Village,” is guarded by bizarre but enormously efficient high-tech sentries, the balloon-like (and sentient?) “Rovers.”
(The technology employed by The Village - including the Rovers - is often so improbably advanced it is difficult not to suspect that the true nature of Number Six’s captors could be more than mere Cold War combatants. The location of The Village itself appears somewhat otherworldly: in one episode it seems to be somewhere near the coast of North Africa; in another episode The Village appears to be in Lithuania, about 30 miles from the Polish border; in the series finale the Village appears to be in Britain, within driving distance of London.)
Patrick McGoohan’s 1960-66 “Danger Man” spy series (retitled “Secret Agent” for U.S. airings) was apparently so popular in the United Kingdom that producer Sir Lew Grade gave McGoohan complete creative control over what was in 1967 the most expensive British TV series of all time.
McGoohan has persistently denied that “Number Six” is actually John Drake – his “Danger Man” character – but these denials may have been issued only because McGoohan did not own the rights to the Drake character, and remains keen to avoid an expensive lawsuit.
Interesting background on “Danger Man”: During the first season, John Drake was an Irish-American operative of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In the show’s second season, Drake suddenly grew an English accent, and worked for the fictional British intelligence agency M9. And just as Number Six abruptly quit his agency to become The Prisoner, so did McGoohan abruptly quit “Danger Man” – just two episodes into what was to be “Danger Man’s” fourth season – to create “The Prisoner.”
One of the highlights of the set is a 25-minute interview with series production manager Bernie Williams, who describes the enterprise as “a nightmare” because the whole production began so abruptly. “It wasn’t developed,” explains Williams. “It was developing in Patrick’s mind but we were already rolling the cameras. We were trying to get a grasp of what the series was about. Patrick wrote the first script, ‘Arrival,’ with David Tomblin, and it was really a question of sorting out what is this village, what is this man, what are the people that’s running it, what are their motives, what’s his motives, what’s this place supposed to be, should we let the audience know where it’s supposed to be, are they The East, are they The West. All those issues were being discussed as we’re shooting.”
Williams also remembers fighting Stanley Kubrick, who was next door at the same MGM facility making “2001” and wanted to annex the “Prisoner” stages for his space movie! (Williams would subsequently go to work for Kubrick as an associate producer on “A Clockwork Orange” and “Barry Lyndon.”)
The biggest downside for “Prisoner” fans is its DVD sets have always been outrageously expensive. I theorize – in this era where TV season sets are routinely trapped in limbo due to the expense of reacquiring music rights – that “The Prisoner’s” costliness may owe to the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love,” which is prominently employed in the series finale. Beatles publishing rights owner Michael Jackson, one imagines, has to keep the Neverland Ranch’s ferris-wheel oiled up and in good working order.
The first three “Prisoner” episodes went on sale Oct. 31, 2000 in a DVD set with a suggested retail price of $39.95. All 17 episodes were eventually released in similarly priced batches of three and four episodes until the complete series arrived at an SRP of $149.95 
(currently marked down by Amazon to $134.99). But the new slimcase edition of The Prisoner: Complete Series Megaset (apparently identical to the old megaset in every way save pricing, style of keepcase and the inclusion of a new 60-page booklet) carries an SRP of only $139.95 (which Amazon has currently marked all the way down to $97.99).
Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry
Several “Simpsons” sets have fallen 50% to a rock bottom $19.99. These are the early funny Simpsons sets so the cost-per-laugh ratio is pretty spectacular:
$19.99 The Complete Second Season
$19.99 The Complete Third Season
$19.99 The Complete Fourth Season
$19.99 The Complete Fifth Season
$19.99 The Complete Sixth Season
TV-on-DVD Calendar
Last Week
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.: The Complete Series
Amazing Stories 1.x
Avatar: The Last Airbender 1.x Vol. 4
Carnivale 2.x
The Incredible Hulk 1.x
Jack of All Trades: The Complete Series
The New Adventures of Flash Gordon
The Pee-Wee Herman Show
The Pretender 4.x
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Vol. 3
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Vol. 4
Queer Duck: The Movie
Reading Rainbow: Family Matters
Reading Rainbow: Man's Best Friend
Reading Rainbow: Music, Music Everywhere
Reading Rainbow: Ocean Life
Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes
She-Ra: Best Of
SpongeBob SquarePants: Karate Island
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: Taking Over The Tipton
Sybil: The Complete Miniseries
That's So Raven Vol. 4
Ultraman Vol. 1
This Week
All Creatures Great and Small 6.x
Allo Allo 5.x
American Musclecar 3.x
Animaniacs Vol. 1
The Boondocks 1.x
Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes
Dark Shadows Vol. 25
Galaxy High School Vol. 2
Invisible Man 2.x
JAG 1.x
Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour 3
La Femme Nikita 4.x
Miami Vice 1.x-2.x
Pinky and the Brain Vol. 1
The Prisoner: Complete Series Megaset
Punky Brewster 3.x
Rawhide 1.x
The Shirley Temple Storybook Collection
Tales From The Crypt 4.x
Three's Company 7.x
Next Week
Alice In Wonderland: The Complete Miniseries
Beavis & Butt-head Vol. 3
Blue Collar TV 2.x
The Comeback: The Complete Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm 5.x
Dallas 5.x
The Girls Next Door 1.x
Good Times 6.x
Hazel 1.x
Star Trek: Klingon
August 8
Beautiful People 1.x
The Brak Show Vol. 2
Candid Camera: Greatest Moments
Farscape 4.x Vol. 2
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 4.x
Grounded For Life 3.x
Laguna Beach 2.x
Noah's Arc 1.x
Prison Break 1.x
Sealab 2021 4.x
The Wire 3.x
The Wire 1.x-3.x
Xiaolin Showdown 1.x
August 15
The Duchess of Duke Street 2.x <--- NEW!!
The Flying Nun 2.x
Full House 4.x
Full House 1.x-4.x
Hogan's Heroes 4.x
Hong Kong Phooey: The Complete Series
The Jeffersons 5.x
Magilla Gorilla: The Complete Series
Masters of Horror: Haeckel's Tale
Masters of Horror: Jenifer
Masters of Horror: Jenifer/Haeckel's Tale
Remington Steele 4.x/5.x
Rome 1.x
The Simpsons 8.x
Surface: The Complete Series
3rd Rock From the Sun 5.x
The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series
August 22
The Bill Cosby Show 1.x
A Bit of Fry & Laurie 1.x
A Bit of Fry & Laurie Vol. 2
Blackstar: The Complete Series
Blue Thunder: The Complete Series
Conviction: The Complete Series
Elizabeth I: The Complete Miniseries
House 2.x
Invasion: The Complete Series
Redwall 3.x
Renegade 2.x/3.x
Space Sentinels & Freedom Force: The Complete Series
Theshold: The Complete Series
Veronica Mars 2.x
The Worst Week of My Life 1.x
August 29
The Andy Griffith Show 7.x
Arrested Development 3.x
Astro Boy: Set 2
The Awful Truth: Best Of
Criss Angel: Mindfreak Halloween
Darkwing Duck Vol. 1
Desperate Housewives 2.x
Ellen 4.x
Kids in the Hall: Best Of
Monty Python: Personal Best
Mr. Bean: Best Of
Mystery Science Theatre 3000: Vol. 10
NASCAR: Driven To Win 1.x
Nip/Tuck 3.x
Roseanne Halloween
South Park 8.x
Survivor Pulau
Tale Spin Vol. 1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 5
The Tick Vs. 1.x
Will & Grace 5.x
