Television was just beginning to experiment with big ideas in the 1960s. The Twilight Zone was going strong. The Outer Limits was hitting the next level, and Star Trek was taking the world where no one had gone before.

But no one had a BIGGER idea than Patrick McGoohan.

Fresh off the spy hit Danger Man, McGoohan was a bona fide UK star. So when Britain’s ITV gave him carte blanche to make his dream show, he delivered a total curveball: A psychedelic, dystopian anti-spy series where no one has a name, the beach is terrifying, and escape is impossible.

The show was called The Prisoner. And it’s either genius or a televised nervous breakdown. Maybe it’s both.

This is why The Prisoner failed.

🤖 More Why It Failed: • Why It Failed

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