Prison Break is an American crime drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller); Lincoln has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, while Michael devises an elaborate plan to help his brother escape prison and clear his name. Along with creator Paul Scheuring, the series was executive-produced by Matt Olmstead, Kevin Hooks, Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse, Neal H. Moritz, and Brett Ratner who directed the pilot episode. The series' theme music, composed by Ramin Djawadi, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006. Prison Break is a joint production between Original Film, Adelstein/Parouse Productions (seasons 1–4), Dawn Olmstead Productions (season 5), Adelstein Productions (season 5), One Light Road Productions (season 5), and 20th Century Fox Television.
The series was initially rejected by Fox in 2003, which expressed concerns about its long-term prospects. Following the popularity of serialized prime time television series 24 and Lost, Fox decided to back production in 2004. The first season received mostly positive reviews from critics. Furthermore, it performed exceptionally in the ratings and was originally planned for a 13-episode run, but was extended to include an extra nine episodes due to its popularity. The subsequent seasons continued to receive strong ratings; however, some critics claimed the show had overstayed its welcome. Prison Break was nominated in several industry awards, including the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama and the 2006 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama, which it won. In the United States, all five seasons have been released on DVD and later released internationally on Blu-ray
The success of the series has spawned several official tie-ins: a video game, the spin-off series Prison Break: Proof of Innocence for mobile phones, online webisodes, an official magazine, and a novel. The fourth season of Prison Break returned from its mid-season break in a new timeslot on April 17, 2009, for the series' last six episodes. Two additional episodes, titled "The Old Ball and Chain" and "Free" were produced, and were later transformed into a standalone feature, titled The Final Break. Its events take place before the last scene of the series finale, and conclude the plotlines. The feature was released on DVD and Blu-ray July 21, 2009.
A nine-episode fifth season was announced by Fox in January 2016. The revival series premiered on April 4, 2017, and concluded on May 30. In January 2018, Fox confirmed that season 6 was in early development; however, in August 2019, Fox announced that it had no current plans to revive Prison Break, with Miller stating in late 2020 that he had no plan to return to the series.
The original concept of Prison Break—a man deliberately getting himself sent to prison in order to help someone escape—was suggested to Paul Scheuring by producer Dawn Parouse, who wanted to produce an action-oriented series. Although Scheuring thought it was a good idea, he was initially stumped as to why someone would embark on such a mission or how he could develop it into a viable television show. He came up with the story of the wrongfully accused brother, and began working on the plot outline and devising the characters.
Reception
The first season received generally positive reviews. On review aggregator Metacritic, the season scored 65 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, signifying "generally favorable" reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 79% based on 34 reviews, with a critics consensus stating: "Prison Break is confident pulp with a crackerjack premise that spreads thinly enough to smooth over the show's more lunkheaded flourishes."
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