A Degree Absolute!

#Yulemix21 ABIDES! In this second half of my XVIth senses-shattering installment in the apparently unkillable Yuletunes Eclectic & Inexplicable series, Chris attempts penance for preempting your regularly-scheduled podcast with my mixtape by roping Glen & Casey in for some festive preamble before we get to the damn tape. Those halls aren't going to deck themselves, merrymakers!

CAUTION: This is not an episode of A Degree Absolute! This is a halldecking aid. Happy Boxing Day, Degree Absolutionists! With Glen still waging his one-man war on Christmas from the sunny heathen hinterlands of Miami, I, Chris, have made an executive decision to use up our vacant server space this month to re-present my 2019 holiday mixtape, "Let's Talk About Christmas!" And if you don't want to talk about, hear about, or think about Christmas, fear not! You can skip this non-episode entirely and catch us when regular programming returns in January.   I wrote about my long-running Christmas mixtape project in this 2012 Washington Post essay. 2012! That was like two or three years ago at least.    

WARNING: THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE OF THE BELOVED AND INFLUENTIAL PODCAST "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE!" The yulemix enters its Pierce Brosnan era with this seventeenth senses-shattering installment! It's another paradoxically digital yule (ana)log, optimized to obfuscate and illuminate your holiday season. Each side will conveniently fit onto a one side of a 100-minute cassette. Break off those recording tabs and commence hall-decking, revelers! "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE!" SHALL RETURN!

WARNING: THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE OF THE BELOVED AND INFLUENTIAL PODCAST "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE!" The yulemix enters its Pierce Brosnan era with this seventeenth senses-shattering installment! It's another paradoxically digital yule (ana)log, optimized to obfuscate and illuminate your holiday season. Each side will conveniently fit onto a one side of a 100-minute cassette. Break off those recording tabs and commence hall-decking, revelers! "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE!" SHALL RETURN!

WARNING: THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE OF THE BELOVED AND INFLUENTIAL PODCAST "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE!" Yippe kai yay, Christmas lovers. It's your buddy Chris — sans Glen this time — with yet another installment in the metronomically reliable and stereoscopicaly hi-fi-able yuletunes eclectic and inexplicable compilation series. This is installment 18 — they grow up so fast! Which makes it the Ulysses S. Grant edition in the schema of U.S. Presidents. In the discography of Prince, may he rest in power, this would be the Emancipation edition. It's the Tomorrow Never Dies entry, in EON productions James Bond parlance. I guess I could look up which Marvel movie was the 18th, but when I started this project, there were no Marvel Studios marvel movies. That's how long I've been doing this. "A DEGREE ABSOLUTE" SHALL RETURN!  

Chris & Glen embark upon their first look back at Patrick McGoohan's 1967-8 British sci-fi series The Prisoner in many years and hope that the show's ethos — "militant and individualistic," in the expression of one of The Village's ever-changing Number Twos — will turn out to be something more generous than it seems. Also, will Number Six ever be nice to a woman?

Number Six attempts to escape The Village with the help of a newcomer named Nadia and a "basically primitive" abstract art project with a hard-to-overlook nautical vibe. He also finds out where The Village is. Unequivocally. Indisputably. Maybe. Featuring the first of the great Leo McKern's appearances as Number Two! Follow us @NotaNumberPod Write us at @degreeabsoluteatgmail dot com

Chris and Glen revisit the first of The Prisoner's nonessential episodes. It features Peter Bowles telling Patrick McGoohan "I want you," a classic John McClane-style air-shaft constitutional, some dodgy fisticuffs, the plot of the 2010 Christopher Nolan film Inception, and a milk-drinking Colin Gordon as a Number Two menaced by an alarmingly erotic red phone. Nonessential, you say? Will we ever hear about Number Fourteen's Wonder Drug or this dream-viewing technology again? Perhaps, dear listenter. Perhaps. Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod!  

It's election time in The Village and Number Six is the frontrunner! Eric Portman, this episode's Number Two, greets him thus: "Good morning, good morning! Any complaints?" And of course Six has complaints. He's like Portnoy: famed for his complaints. Featuring the lovely Rachel Herbert as Number Fifty-Eight, his irrepressibly enthusiastic and enthusiastically unintelligible driver/assistant/etc. Or is she? This is the episode in which our dearth of a title song with lyrics gets well and truly solved. And in which a voicemail from a listener sparks a discussion of Number Six's... likability. Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

Number Six comes face-to-immobile-face with the only opponent who can truly make him doubt his resolve: Himself! It's the The Parent Trap episode. It's "Mirror, Mirror" episode. It's the Double Impact episode. It's the if-I'm-not-me-who-da-hell-am-I-episode. It's the episode that teaches us that fingering an electric socket may on rare occasions be quite necessary, despite what your parents and teachers would have you believe. Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail Follow @NotaNumberPod   Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

Glen is under the influence of digital vermouth and under the spell of John Castle in our dissection of "The General." Wherein Number Six gets anger-cruised and Kirks a computer, and Colin Gordon "returns" as Number Two from "A.B. & C." — an episode obviously intended to follow this one, but which was broadcast before — apparently having survived his encounter with a tumescent scarlet telephone handset and the unheard but clearly menacing voice on the other end of that line. One hundred percent entry; one hundred percent pass! Write the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute@gmail.com Follow @notanumberpod   "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

SPOILERS AHOY for the entirety of the 54-year-old television series The Prisoner! You've been warned! Save this episode for later if you haven't yet seen the whole series! Lifelong Prisoner fan Alex Cox joins Chris to talk about his 2017 book I Am Not a Number: Decoding the Prisoner, and What It's All About. Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

The first half of this episode is dialogue-free! This episode of The Prisoner, that is, not this episode of A Degree Absolute!, though that's the sort of formal experimentation we'd be game to try. Anywho, Number Six awakens in an inexplicably raptured Village and opts for the seaborne escape route, where starvation, pirates, and intrigue await. As does Georgina Cookson, on whom Glen has developed a serious crush. PLUS: Listener mail! Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

It's Carnival in The Village, and Dance of the Dead — an episode that was nearly scuttled on account of Patrick McGoohan's disdain for it (and refusal to shoot at least part of its climactic scene) — offers a fascinating glimpse into The Prisoner's conflicting aesthetic priorities. Marry Morris, our latest Number Two, is a memorable malefactor whom Glen admits he'd like to have as his mom. He also laments the undisciplined nature of her color-coded-or-not telephone system, and goads Chris into railing against the cosmic obliviousness of umbrella-users. You also get a great heel turn by Aubrey Morris, a haunting performance by Alan White as a doomed former colleague of The Prisoner, an oddly flat showing by Norma West as The Prisoner's observer, and some of the most indelible visual imagery of the entire series. Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

We are all of us pawns, my dear, in this quintessential Prisoner episode that some observers believe should've aired third in the run but didn't surface until much later. Wherever it belongs, what is undisputed is that it combines an underdeveloped chess metaphor with another conspiracy to escape The Village and an important life lesson for Number Six about how one should treat one's fellows. You might say that the real jailbreak was the friends he utterly failed to make along the way.  But on the plus side, Peter Wyngarde is this episode's Number Two, and his scarf is longer than that worn by any prior runner-up. This is a post-The Avengers, pre-Department S, pre-Jason King Wyngarde performance, and certainly worthy of further study. Which is why Glen briefs (debriefs?) us on his arrest record. Also starring Ronald Radd as Brian Cox, Rosalie Crutchley as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Patricia Jessel as Bea Arthur, and Basil Dignam as Luke Wilson. Written by Gerald Kelsey Directed by Don Chaffey Initial airdate: November 24, 1967 PLUS: A mildly embarrassing correction! A deeply embarrassing confession! Listener mail! A discussion of Wyngarde's brief career as a recording artist, and a possibly triggering play-through of his 1970 single "Hippie & the Skinhead." Plus an unexpected detour into one of the darker corners the career of Mr. Tom Hanks, America's Reasonable Dad! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Write or send a voicemail to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

Pride Goethe before a fall. To boldy Goethe where no one has gone before. Just how well do you know your Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? Patrick Cargill is back from "Many Happy Returns" and in Number Six's crosshairs after he drives a woman to suicide two minutes into the episode. And so begins Six's campaign of vengeance via psychological warfare. >Featuring Basil Hoskins as Number Fourteen, the man who challenges Six to an ostensibly (per the script) dirty, not-according-to-Hoyle game of... Kosho. Written by Roger Woddis Directed by Pat Jackson Original airdate December 1, 1967 Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead

There's an assassination plot afoot in The Village, and Number Six must protect his oppressor to spare his fellow Villagers. Derren Nesbitt is our Number Two and Annette Andre is our Girl Friday. Neither one of them could stand their scene partner an (uncredited) director, Patty McG. Pink-blazered henchman Mark Eden didn't hate him, but he did resent his attempt to strangle him on camera. This creative tension results in one of The Prisoner's most rewarding episodes, replete with crossfit and and Kosho and lots more. Plus, listener mail! "It's Your Funeral" Written by Michael Cramoy Directed by Robert Asher (but really Patrick McGoohan) Original airdate December 8, 1967 Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead   "Back in the Village" written by Adrian Smith & Bruce Dickinson; performed by Iron Maiden   "Push It" written by Hurby Azor & Ray Davies; performed by Salt-N-Pepa   "Theme from Mission: Impossible" by Lalo Schifrin   "Pinball Number Count" written by Walt Kraemer; arr. Ed Bogas   Annette Andre and Darren Nesbitt interview clips from Don't Knock Yourself Out, directed by Tim Beddows and Thomas Cock   "Jammin' Me" written by Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, & Mike Campbell; performed by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Number Six's Public Enemy Number Six act is getting tired — and what is alternately referred to within a single scene as The Committee, The Council, and The Commission will tolerate it for only so long before they decree that their prize captive must undergo Instant Social Conversion. It's a procedure so chilling that Number Eighty-Six (the marvelous Angela Browne) must narrate it step-by-step, and very, very slowly, so as not to induce panic. John Sharpe is our unctuous, openly misogynistic Number Two. Happily, we get to see Six's homebuilt crossfit gym in the woods once again. "A Change of Mind" Written by Roger Parkes Directed by Joseph Serf (Patty McG) Original airdate December 15, 1967 Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead   "I Changed My Mind (Stereo MC's Rattlesnake Mix)" written and performed by Lyrics Born  

It seems Patty McG had softened his "don't call it television because television cuts corners and we'll never ever do that" position by the time of The Prisoner's much-abbreviated second and final season, because for most of the production of this week's episode he decided his time would be better spent in Los Angeles co-starring in John Sturges' unmemorable 1968 thriller Ice Station Zebra with Rock Hudson, Ernest "Resistance Is Futile" Borgnine, and Jim Brown. "Chimes of Big Ben" screenwriter Vincent Tilsey got the unenviable job of coming up with a Prisoner story that would require neither the show's star nor its key location, Portmerion in North Wales. He came up with a brain-swapping scenario that would allow hardworking actor Nigel Stock to play Number Six. Upon his return from the States, McGoohan demanded extensive changes to the show that had been made in his absence. But he did not demand that Stock un-kiss Six's left-behind fiancee Janet (Zena Walker), who was never mentioned prior to this episode and shall never be again. Also, the head of MI6 was going to be SIx's father-in-law, apparently. Script editor George Markstein was long gone by this point and no one was minding the store. The mailbag overfloweth this week, so we moved the listener mail segment to the back half of the episode. Thank you for your correspondence. "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" Written by Vincent Tilsley Directed by Pat Jackson Original airdate December 22, 1967 Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead  

Prolific screenwriter, prosewriter, comic book writer, and podcaster Ben Blacker — co-creator of the magnificent monthly-live-show-turned-podcast The Thrilling Adventure Hour, and its delightful Western parody feature, Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars, among his many other notable and impressive credentials — joins us this week to dissect "Living in Harmony," perhaps the curviest of The Prisoner's curveball episodes.   With script editor George Markstein out, Patty McG and David Tomblin put out a call for The Prisoner story ideas. Ian Rakoff, a film editor with no prior screenwriting experience, responded with a pitch for a Western-themed episode, and did not learn until the episode was broadcast in the last days of 1967 that Tomblin had reduced his credit to an "idea by" nod while taking sole writing credit himself. McGoohan stunt double/series stunt arranger Frank Maher also claims to have inspired "Living in Harmony," saying he and McGoohan cooked up the idea while playing squash. The episode gives Maher his only credited onscreen role in the series, as Third Gunman. (Also, I love knowing that McGoohan and Maher hung out together, like fading star Rick Dalton and his assistant/stuntman Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.) Guest stars Alexis Kanner and Valerie French had played lovers only months earlier in an episode of the ITV series Love Story entitled "Cinema Verité", where their relationship was, one hopes, more... consensual than the one depicted here, between Kanner's mute sociopathic killer The Kid and French's working girl Kathy. David Bauer, who plays the crooked judge who controls Harmony and wants Six to be Sheriff (i.e., his enforcer) was an American actor who fled the blacklist and ended up in a pair of Bond flicks, 1967's You Only Live Twice and 1971's dreary Diamonds Are Forever. "Living in Harmony" Written by David Tomblin and Ian Rakoff Directed by David Tomblin Original airdate December 29, 1967 Write to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail! Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts! Follow @NotaNumberPod! Our song: "A Degree Absolute!" Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark Bass by Marcus Newstead