Danger Man: Danger Man in USA

bbagnall
[1]Dec 20, 2006
member since: 12/04/05
level: 4
rank: Thighmaster
posts: 15
Was this called Secret Agent Man in the USA? I seem to remember this song being a really big hit. Still kind of catchy.
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froggyyggorf
[2]Dec 28, 2006
member since: 12/29/06
level: 2
rank: Sweat Hog
posts: 2
I think it was called Secret Agent in the USA, and Danger Man in the UK. The Prisoner series was based on John Drake the hero of Danger Man, and was also played by Patrick McGoohan.
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tvking1
[3]Jul 30, 2007
member since: 11/08/05
level: 40
rank: Bewitched
posts: 1,387
It was called Secret Agent in the USA. The hit song by Johnny Rivers was the theme for the series in the USA, but not in the UK. The organ music they play in the US after the opening song is actually the theme in the UK.
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tbrittreid
[4]Oct 25, 2008
member since: 10/24/07
level: 14
rank: Autobot
posts: 50
Note to froggyyggorf: Officially The Prisoner is not based on Danger Man. There have never been acknowledgements or rights payments to Drake's creator Ralph Smart. However, part of the later show's premise--British intelligence agent resigns and is kidnapped to a resort-like prison of unknown (to him) location and ownership--was devised by DM script editor George Markstein as a revamp for that series when Patrick McGoohan began complaining about its storylines getting stale. The actor appropriated the idea as a hook to pitch to ITC chief Lew Grade his long-gestating premise of an-individual-against-conformity-in-a-strange-community, inspired by the look of "the grounds of the Hotel Portmeirion" which he first saw during location filming for the 1960-61 version of DM.
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Squashpants
[5]Aug 8, 2011
member since: 08/08/11
level: 1
rank: Weatherman
posts: 1
Happy to see a forum for this underappreciated program!

Yes, it was called "Secret Agent", and I think it aired Saturday nights. My mom and stepdad never missed it, but I was in my early teens, and it was really above my head at the time. I had no interest in its original airings beyond the Johnny rivers theme song, which I thought was awesome at the time.

However, when I looked for the series in the DVD age, I was surprised to see it packaged under the UK name (it immediately brought to mind "Dangermouse", which I thoroughly enjoyed in its rerun on Nicolodeon in the 90s).

I was also very taken with the British theme music ("The Wire"), and thought that we on the American side missed a very nice piece of music.

In 2007, I watched via Netflix the entire 1964-67 series, and was only marginally aware of a season of half-hour programs four years prior to the more popular full-hour series.

I think at the time, the 1960 season was not available, but recently I became aware of its availability on Netflix and I quickly ran through the entire year's episodes.

Brilliant!

But in its full hour format, it was like going from having a quick snack to having a 3-course meal. Very satisfying indeed. And so I have begun wending my way through the entire, hour-long "Danger Man" DVDs again. Delicious.
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Danger Man Forums

Danger Man in USA

bbagnall

froggyyggorf

tvking1

tbrittreid

Squashpants