Patrick McGoohan (1928-2009)

            Patrick McGoohan taught me how to think. He taught me how to question. He taught me there are no easy answers. He taught me that defiance married to intelligence, while it might not always win out, was far, far better than conformity married to ignorance. And the most amazing thing is that he did it through a TV show.

            When The Prisoner debuted on American television in 1968, as a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show, I can only imagine the stunned reactions of viewers, especially when confronted with the two-part series finale, which offered no pat answers and no wrap-ups of any loose threads. It was a Chinese puzzle-box, complete with pop culture images and Beatles music, whose depths--soaked in allegory and metaphor--could never be fully plumbed.

            One of my earliest memories is of this show: a vague, shadowy image of the menacing watchdog of The Village, known as Rover, as it corners and smothers a victim. I remember having nightmares afterwards and, many years later, seeing the show as an adult, having a chill run down my spin every time Rover appeared on screen. It was the embodiment of George Washington’s famous quote about government: “(It) is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

            As with my other TV hero, Bugs Bunny, I pepper my thoughts and essays with quotes from this most wonderful and influential show: “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered!” “My life is my own.” And, of course, the most famous one from the show’s opening credits: “I AM NOT A NUMBER! I AM A FREE MAN!”

            As far back as the 1960’s, McGoohan saw how multi-dimensional man was becoming, in Herbert Marcuse’s apt title, one-dimensional man. A point on a graph. A datum on a spreadsheet. A face in the crowd. No more important or meaningful than a grain of sand, and perhaps less. In making THE PRISONER, McGoohan, to quote a famous World War II general, said “Nuts!”  God love him for it. And yes, God love Sir Lew Grade for putting up the money even though he didn’t understand the show’s premise. Would that more studio heads had such faith in creators...

            So, we say Goodbye to Patrick McGoohan. I personally will raise a glass to him and wish, in the words of the old Irish blessing, that he be in Heaven half-an-hour before the Devil knows he’s dead. God rest ye, sir.