The BBC is reporting that Patrick McGoohan passed away today at the age of 80.

His television series The Prisoner was one of my favorites growing up. I watched it in late-night re-airings on CBS in the 1980's and it gave me hope that television could be interesting, witty and intelligent back during a time when T.J. Hooker and Dallas were the staples of American television (and I'm not knocking T.J. Hooker, either).

My favorite part of The Prisoner was that you never knew whether the writers were trying to make a point about politics of the 1960's, attempting to be slightly subversive while maintaining their dignified British personalities, or just smoking a lot of pot -- the answer is: all of the above (in my opinion).

I purchased the entire series on DVD a few years ago and still watch an episode or two every few months when I need to be cheered up.

(photo credit: BBC / Rex Features)