Welcome to Fantasy Friday everyone. It’s time to Blog For A Beer! (Click here for the rules) Each week we give readers a chance to blog on a science fiction or fantasy-related topic, from comic book movies to favorite authors to which tabletop game is best.
We’re about a third of the way through our rewatch of The Prisoner, so I thought it would be a good time to pause and look back over the first six episodes. The thing that struck me when I watched this show for the first time a couple of years ago was how much it had influenced SF/F or geek-themed shows and movies I watch. I never wondered about the references when I didn’t know the source, but now that I do I wonder why I wasn’t more curious.
What elements of The Prisoner have you seen in popular culture?
And what other shows and movies gave you a similar experience? They’re considered canon or classics, but you didn’t see them until long after everyone else. Did getting to know that media deepen your appreciation of the things that reference it, or did it just make you feel that much geekier?
The Prisoner has influenced politics.
Giant inescapable gas-bags prevent us from getting anywhere in this world!
*rimshot*
When I start getting more references I have a mixed reaction of “That’s so cool!” and “I’m such a nerd.” I got hooked on Doctor Who about a year ago, and it’s amazing to me how many references I get now, and how they seem to be popping up all over the place. I think my favorite “oh, I get it now!” moment happened last week. I was rereading Freedom’s Landing by Anne McCaffrey for about the 4th time. One of the main characters says the robots they encounter remind her of Daleks and another character responds with “Exterminate, Exterminate.” It was thrilling to finally get that reference!
I never heard of The Prisoner until recently, but now I want to see what all the fuss is about.