Out of curiousity how many people in this forum are from the US ?
I know that the show was really popular in the UK but I've always wondered about how popular it was in the USA
I heard that that when it first screened there, it was number one in the ratings and that it developed a bit of a cult following.
I remember when Prisoner was shown here in New York City in the late 70's on Channell 11 at 11 pm, but it was edited and shown only for 30 minutes. I fell in love with that show; and I'm saving up to buy the whole series.
shareThat's interesting- I didn't know it was edited
Did they show the series all the way to the end?
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I'm also a US viewer. First watched it when I was a teen in the early '80s. My memories are a little fuzzy.
It was shown on a local Detroit, Michigan station I think they edited it to a 30-minute format, so that they could show it 5 times a week because they had accumulated enough episodes in Australia to do that by the time it came here.
It aired around 11pm and after that, it was the Benny Hill show.
They did not show the whole series in my area. I think they stopped before Joan "The Freak" came on.
To complicate matters, it was also shown on a nearby Canadian station. I lived close to the Canadian border, so I was able to pick up their station. I think it was renamed, "Caged Women" in Canada. In Canada, it was an hour show, but here in the States it was a half-hour.
I remember the Canadian broadcasts were ahead of the US broadcasts storyline-wise, but eventually the half-hours surpassed the hour-long shows because the Canadian broadcasts only aired once or twice a week.
I've recently purchased the first 5 volumes on dvd and am enjoying it all over again.
I also watched it regularly, in California. I haven't seen it since the 80's, but I remember a few of the characters.
shareI saw it here in Delaware (near Philadelphia) in 1979 to the early 80's. I don't recall it being edited. I loved it. Just got set 1 & 2 DVD's.
I also live in the US in Michigan and watched it in the 80's...Loved it!
Now I have all 692 episodes!, bought from a person in Australia (I shouldn't say this but my DVD's are all from the TV, he recorded off the tv with the Edna Pearson episodes too) Now my sister has this too and she loves it. I watch this series over & over again...love it
I live in Tennessee and I am watching the episodes again, since I didn't see the full run.
My family lived in England during the 80's (dad was in the air force, Mom is from England) and we watched that show religiously. We moved back to the US right after the episode aired where Bea branded Nola.
I have shown it to several friends and my bf, all of whom have become addicted. I read that Stephen King is a huge fan of the show.
I vaguely remember watching it as a teenager in Chicago in the early 80's. I don't remember if it was on for half an hour or an hour, but they must have edited it at least for language because there was no swearing. It was on 5 days a week during the day, so I only got to watch it during holidays from school because we didn't have a VCR.
shareHey all...
I am currently living in Melbourne and recently got to meet Betty Bobbitt at a Prisoner themed pub night. she was casually mingling with the crowd for a good few hours answering questions and describing some situations.
She has a book out and I have been reading it, and in it, she mentions that not long after she started on the show, USA picked up on the show and bought the rights to screen it. But with their censorship being a lot more strict than Australia the swearing had to be cut out, and eventually the script writers cut back on all the profanity to suit the USA censorship... So it must have been popular... And that would explain why they were edited differently in the US.
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I live in the Philadelphia area and they used to show Prisoner (edited, in half hour format) on a local station here at 4PM every day. They aired it for about a year or so and then abruptly, without warning, stopped airing it. I have been wondering for years what happened to these beloved characters! I'm thrilled to be able to watch them on YouTube right now. Prisoner will always have a special place in my heart.
shareI live in NYC and remember watching it, I think in the late 70's early 80's. I loved it. It was a half hour show late at night. I never missed an episode--bought the whole DVD collection recently. What a show.
shareI was living in Las Vegas,NV when this show began its US run in 1979.
It was on what is currently Fox affiliate KVVU,channel 5 and it aired at 11:00 in its edited half hour format. I think it only lasted about two years stateside.
USA Network ran the reruns in the mid '80s during the day for a short while.
I would love to get my hands on the DVDs of this show.
Betty-"Oh,Ralph?"
Ralph-"Yes?"
Betty-"SHOVE IT!"
Ralph-"Oh,you shove it too,Betty!"
I remember seeing this as a teen in the NYC area on Channel 11.
Loved it, haven't seen it in years!
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It ran here in Los Angeles for about a year (1979-80) on KTLA Channel 5. I recall it being a full hour, and it ran on Wednesday nights at 7 or 8. I never knew it had been cut down to 30 minutes elsewhere in the U.S. That's too bad.
It seemed to be pretty popular--I knew other people who watched it besides my family, and Channel 5 was always promoting it well--but after just one year, it abruptly disappeared. Channel 5 had a day-long Prisoner marathon (the lady who played the child killer in season 1 did a commercial announcing it), and then the show was gone.
I never saw Prisoner again or heard about it, but it stayed in my memory over the decades. I continued to remember the closing song and characters such as Frankie Doyle, Karen Travers, Vera, and Lizzie.
I imagine the show was censored somewhat, but I remember Frankie coming on to Karen during reading lessons (unheard of in American TV), and I think uses of the word "bitch" were left in--which was also very unusual in the U.S. at that time.
Again, I never saw or heard anything about Prisoner after that one year... until Sept. 2012, when I just happened to run into it on YouTube. (I wasn't even looking for it or anything related to prisons or Australia.) I started watching it from about where I left off in 1980, and as I write this, I'm almost up to the last episode.
As a child (I was 12 when I saw it originally) I was impressed because the show was a good drama. As an adult I appreciate additional things, too, like issues addressed (e.g., prison reform, drug use, environmentalism via Wally, nuclear disarmament (as articulated by nun Anita Selby), aboriginal issues, suicide, rape, tolerance, and even animal rights...); the acting (especially considering the tight schedule); camera/directing techniques; and writing (including the plotting).
I just wish the show had kept running here for more than one year. It was light years ahead of most American TV.
It's great seeing the Americans liking the show.
share