1967's The Prisoner is probably one of the most famous cases of surrealism in television. The show revolved around a British spy who resigns, only to find himself knocked out and dumped in an isolated seaside village, where everyone is assigned a number, but the main character (Number Six) decides to rebel. While Six tries to figure out what is going on and how he can escape, the Village's administrator (Number Two) tries all sorts of things to find out why Six resigned and pry out any information he gained while doing his job. The Prisoner's finale involves Number Six sitting through a trial where a hooded jury dances while someone sings "Dem Bones." Here Six meets Number One, the man controlling the Village's operations, who is wearing a monkey mask, but underneath that, he has Number Six's face. Of course. Six eventually gets chased by a bunch of people, frees some imprisoned allies, and launches a rocket under the Village, before eventually making it to London and driving off in his car. To make the whole thing even more bizarre, series star and creator Patrick McGoohan actually went the extra step of hiding from angry fans after the finale aired. While that doesn't seem that special in a day and age where anyone can get death threats for doing something others don't like, it's pretty impressive when you consider that this happened nearly fifty years ago, when it wasn't as easy to get large groups of people to rally together to express their anger. While The Prisoner has gone on to become a cult classic, no one is going to forget how nonsensical the ending is for a long, long time. Have your own nominees for this list? Think a show doesn't deserve its slot? Let us know in the comments below.
Living in Florida, enjoying the weather when its good, writing for a living. TV, Film, Animation, and Games are my life blood. Follow me on Twitter @xbsaint. Just try not to get too mad when I live tweet during Toonami.
