MovieChat Forums > The Prisoner (2009) Discussion > And the winner is...

And the winner is...

posted 9 years ago by madp
8 replies | jump to latest

Well, well, let's make this official.

For better or for worse, and no matter how many still remain with us, the winner is...

Total Recall 2070

Here's the official rank and the "Olympic medals" they got:

SHOW................GOLD.....SILVER.....BRONZE.....TOTAL VOTES.....POINTS
1) Total Recall 2070......2.........0..........0.............2............6
1) Life on Mars...........1.........0..........2.............3............5
3) Star Cops..............1.........1..........0.............2............5
4) Invasion...............0.........1..........1.............2............3
4) UFO....................0.........1..........1.............2............3
6) Awake..................0.........1..........0.............1............2

A few observations:

* I have already told you about the long struggle of Total Recall 2070. That means perhaps that if a show is nominated many times along a long périod of time, eventually everybody will want to get rid of those insisting nominations... But that means you have to be doing this a long time.

* For me, Life on Mars is a serious contender and one show I may want to see (again) pretty soon. If it's up to me, let's keep this one in our memories for the next rounds.

* Star Cops is a bet. The title is stupid (it sounds like a show for kids), but the premise is extremely interesting and has great potential. And the execution of that? Well, there's only one way to find out. Production values seem to be quite poor though. As it's just 9 episodes, I'm quite willing to give it a try.

* Invasion is a great show, but you might be miffed by the overused "pod people" premise. Understandable.

* How the mighty have fallen... Whatever happened to UFO? From people's champion to a poor 4th place shared with another show. And nobody voted for it as a first option. What happened? I thought you guys were crazy about it. Personally, I'd give it a try. But then I think, 26 weeks! It's a hell of a commitment.

* At the moment, Awake seems to be our ugly duckling. Which doesn't reflect the quality of the show at all. It's just that it's too damn recent. Like good wine, it needs to age a little. Anyway, it got just one vote and that wasn't even as a first choice.

Anyway... Total Recall 2070 is on youtube, so availability won't be the problem if you have a means to access it.

I'll notify the Total Recall 2070 board this Sunday and we can start next Friday, July 10th. I'll also look for TR2070 fan boards and sites and spread the word of our little endeavor in the effort of attracting more people to take part in our discussions. Wish me luck...

Well, it's time for us to be set free from Prisoners and Villages. Prisoner, we won't be seeing you again.

[–] JohnQ1127 9 years ago

How the mighty have fallen... Whatever happened to UFO? From people's champion to a poor 4th place shared with another show. And nobody voted for it as a first option. What happened? I thought you guys were crazy about it. Personally, I'd give it a try. But then I think, 26 weeks! It's a hell of a commitment.

UFO was on the verge of winning until Michael changed his vote at the last minute for a 1rst place vote for UFO. But the thing that didn't make any sense is that he also gave "The Prisoner 2009 a 2nd place vote creating a tie. Then we were in a stalemate and I conceded and said to go ahead and watch The Prisoner 2009 because it was only 6 episodes.

Brimfin nominated UFO last time but I don't think he was interested this time around. I had no desire to watch The Prisoner 2009 and my nominations weren't going anywhere so I put my 1rst place vote towards UFO.

I'll shelve "Awake" next time. I had about 9-10 shows I wanted to watch so it was no big deal but I wish I didn't waste a nomination. Next time I'm going to float 5 shows and you guys can tell me if you have any interest in any of them before I nominate two.

"Star Cops" might be interesting but those production values and special effects look terribly cheap and lousy. I guess it came out on the BBC in the 1980's but it looks like one of those cheaply made Saturday morning kid's show I used to watch in the 1970's.

[–] madp 9 years ago

by JohnQ1127 » Brimfin nominated UFO last time, but I don't think he was interested this time around. I had no desire to watch The Prisoner 2009 and my nominations weren't going anywhere so I put my 1rst place vote towards UFO.

I see now that UFO's popularity was more of a rejection of The Prisoner 2009, not an unconditional love for all things UFO. Once the Prisoner was no longer a factor in the equation, the UFO balloon deflated quickly.

I've watched my share of undesired shows, but most of my favorite ones got picked eventually. But then, I joined the group in 2010. Among the ones I hated were Tales of the Gold Monkey (I even gave up for most of it), God, the Devil and Bob (the group hated it and the guy who loved it left soon after), The Middleman (we had some heated discussions and that might have, in the long run, contributed to a friend leaving as well). But we covered my favorites: Wonderfalls (I just lurked then), Pushing Daisies, Journeyman, Day Break, Dark Skies, Brimstone, Caprica, Planet of the Apes, The Prisoner (both).

Next time I'm going to float 5 shows and you guys can tell me if you have any interest in any of them before I nominate two.

Good idea. I just don't make that an official step not to increase bureaucracy, so I'll keep using nominations to try new shows. It works in the long run and I'm like a tortoise: patient. But if you float your pre-nominations in a comment I'll give a brief opinion of them.

"Star Cops" might be interesting but those production values and special effects look terribly cheap and lousy. I guess it came out on the BBC in the 1980's, but it looks like one of those cheaply made Saturday morning kid's show I used to watch in the 1970's.

Exactly what I thought.

[–] JohnQ1127 9 years ago

I see now that UFO's popularity was more of a rejection of The Prisoner 2009, not an unconditional love for all things UFO. Once the Prisoner was no longer a factor in the equation, the UFO balloon deflated quickly.

Brimfin was the big proponet of UFO last time but this time around he didn't even nominate nor vote for it. I would have given it a first place vote had he voted for it.

Next time I'll float 5-10 shows just to find out if you or brimfin have absolutely no interest in voting for any of them, like "Awake". Then I'll nominate shows from the mild-strong interest category.

[–] brimfin 9 years ago

As I mentioned when we were trying to break the tie last time, second place shows don’t automatically become the chosen show next time around. In fact, since I started in August of 2013 it hasn’t happened yet (might have happened before then; madp would know better.) On my very first voting, I proposed THE PRISONER (2009) and it almost won, but we went with THE MIDDLEMAN. Next time around, it was forgotten, and it was almost two years before we finally watched it.

Remember, madp offered to do both THE PRISONER and UFO one after the other and I was willing to go along, but no one else was. I didn’t bring UFO up this time because I was waiting to see if someone else would.

As for STAR COPS, I’ll probably give it a first place vote next time, unless something else new and exciting comes along before then. I’d like to try LIFE ON MARS as well; I haven’t seen either version of it yet. I did see INVASION when it first aired. I had secretly taped it every week after LOST, and my wife and I caught up on it over the summer like a mini-series. I’d still be willing to watch it again though, and it was on longer ago than AWAKE.

I hope I didn’t cost us a member permanently by going with TOTAL RECALL 2070 instead of STAR COPS but it’s just that madp had been trying to get us to watch it since I joined the group. I figured he was finally due. I never dreamed it would be hard for anyone to be able to watch it on YOUTUBE.

[–] JohnQ1127 9 years ago

As I mentioned when we were trying to break the tie last time, second place shows don’t automatically become the chosen show next time around.

Well UFO was the first place show it just ended up in a tie. This difference this time is that you didn't vote for it let alone nominate it so that was the big change.

I think there should be some kind of system created to deal with tie scores going forward. Right now it seems like the only system in place is watching both programs back to to back or someone conceding a show. I was thinking of giving invasion a first place vote but that would have created another tie. If Michael had given UFO a first place vote I would have given UFO a first place but again that would have created another tie.

Remember, madp offered to do both THE PRISONER and UFO one after the other and I was willing to go along, but no one else was. I didn’t bring UFO up this time because I was waiting to see if someone else would.

Yeah, I was a bit reluctant to agree to a 7 straight months of episodes. Also, I was under the impression that dtmueller would only be away for 2-3 months and that he would be available again for a July vote.

I really have no interest in Star Cops because of the production values. To me there are so many great single season shows that this group has never reviewed.

I hope I didn’t cost us a member permanently by going with TOTAL RECALL 2070 instead of STAR COPS but it’s just that madp had been trying to get us to watch it since I joined the group. I figured he was finally due. I never dreamed it would be hard for anyone to be able to watch it on YOUTUBE.

Yeah, Michael was basically left with just buying dvd's for each program and then some of these programs are really expensive in the U.K. I think Total Recall was going to cost him $75 dollars. I think the thing for him would be to get a streaming device for his t.v. like a Google chrome or ruku unit but that would also involve getting internet access in his house or apartment.

I have no problem watching Total Recall and I'm happy that madp finally gets a show that he's been promoting since 2011.

[–] madp 9 years ago

by JohnQ1127 » Brimfin was the big proponent of UFO last time but this time around he didn't even nominate nor vote for it. I would have given it a first place vote had he voted for it.

Well, if you had voted the same way again, you would have had my full support. Out of solidarity and because the show does interest me. I'm only wary because it's excessively long.

Yeah, I was a bit reluctant to agree to a 7 straight months of episodes. Also, I was under the impression that dtmueller would only be away for 2-3 months and that he would be available again for a July vote.

I firmly believe he'll come back sooner or later. Unlike the others who left.

Yeah, Michael was basically left with just buying dvd's for each program and then some of these programs are really expensive in the U.K. I think Total Recall was going to cost him $75 dollars.

Well, as you pointed out, how does he even leave comments without a keyboard? It should be very annoying to write everything on a phone. You know, you can watch Youtube on smartphones though I imagine it would be a hassle to watch 45-minute episodes on one.

I have no problem watching Total Recall and I'm happy that madp finally gets a show that he's been promoting since 2011.

Thank you. I hope you're not totally disappoinsted...

by brimfin » On my very first voting, I proposed THE PRISONER (2009) and it almost won, but we went with THE MIDDLEMAN. Next time around, it was forgotten, and it was almost two years before we finally watched it.

Oh, boy. I wish we'd gone with The Prisoner '09 back then. But at that time I thought I would only want to watch the remake after we had seen the "make" first.

I hope I didn’t cost us a member permanently by going with TOTAL RECALL 2070 instead of STAR COPS but it’s just that madp had been trying to get us to watch it since I joined the group. I figured he was finally due. I never dreamed it would be hard for anyone to be able to watch it on YOUTUBE.

Yeah, that strange little inaccessible thing called Youtube... I never dreamed that either. But then we don't know the conditions each group member faces. For all you know, right now I could be in my mud hut in the middle of the Brazilian jungle. Oh, well. I'm not, just so you know.

As I mentioned when we were trying to break the tie last time, second place shows don’t automatically become the chosen show next time around. In fact, since I started in August of 2013 it hasn’t happened yet (might have happened before then; madp would know better.)

Ever since Wonderfalls, that has never happened. But then the choice for subsequent shows was not as organized back then and earlier, so I'm not sure people even kept track of the shows' vote order.

Anyway... I've just posted our greeting card on the Total Recall 2070 board. We can migrate.

For those who are left behind, BE SEEING YOU, PRISONERS! 

[–] JohnQ1127 9 years ago

Well, as you pointed out, how does he even leave comments without a keyboard? It should be very annoying to write everything on a phone. You know, you can watch Youtube on smartphones though I imagine it would be a hassle to watch 45-minute episodes on one.

It seems like he was leaving comments with his phone which seems incredibly difficult and time consuming. I think he said he had a 3g smartphone so he may have had trouble accessing youtube with that. I think Michael was a bit older than us so he might have might introduced to technology later than us. He seemed like a pretty smart and savvy guy and I think he would pick up computer technology right away.

There are so many relatively cheap options for streaming youtube now as well. You can get a desk top computer, laptop or a tablet device. You can get a streaming device like apple tv, ruku or google chrome cast and stream youtube directly to your tv.

As far as Total Recall goes, I think it's pretty interesting that this was a Canadian production. We usually get next to nothing from Canada in the U.S. The only thing Canadian thing I remember watching on U.S. television was "Kids in the Hall". I have some vague memories of watching SCTV back when I was teenager but it was usually on at 1 am so I rarely was able to watch it.

[–] madp 9 years ago

by JohnQ1127 » It seems like he was leaving comments with his phone which seems incredibly difficult and time consuming. I think he said he had a 3g smartphone so he may have had trouble accessing youtube with that. I think Michael was a bit older than us so he might have might introduced to technology later than us. He seemed like a pretty smart and savvy guy and I think he would pick up computer technology right away.

If he doesn't have a wi-fi connection besides his 3G capabilities, yes it becomes impracticable to watch long streaming videos. I agree about the age factor. I'm in my 50s, but then I was introduced to computers in the 1980s and have always been in tune with such technological novelties, so it took me little effort to adapt.

As for Canadian shows, I invite you to carry on this discussion in the Total Recall 2070 board. There is where we belong now.