By Hook or by Crook

Franklin Harris notes that the British satellite channel Sky One is planning a remake of the paranoid '60s classic The Prisoner. Before you get too excited, though, consider:

Damien Timmer, who has been lined up to executive produce the show for Granada, told Broadcast the new series would take "liberties with the original" and would not retain its arty feel.

"Taking liberties" is fine—I'm as big a fan of the show as anyone, but it's fairly seriously dated at this point, and you'd expect a lot of changes in a remake. But "would not retain its arty feel" sounds an awful lot like exec-speak for "we're going to turn it into a generic spy show with a few witless, predictable 'twists' thrown in as a gesture toward the original." I am holding out a little hope, though, in that Granada's also responsible for the excellent Jeremy Brett/Edward Hardwicke Sherlock Holmes Mysteries series.