| Prison Break | |
|---|---|
 Seasons 1–2 intertitle | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Paul Scheuring |
| Starring |
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| Composer | Ramin Djawadi |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original languages |
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| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 90 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Production locations | |
| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 42–44 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | August 29, 2005 – May 30, 2017 |
| Related | |
| Breakout Kings | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
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 is 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.[1] 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, and is syndicated by 20th Television.
The series was originally turned down by Fox in 2003, which was concerned about the long-term prospects of such a series. Following the popularity of serialized prime time television series Lost and 24, Fox decided to back production in 2004. The first season received mostly positive reviews from critics with universal acclaim from audiences.[2] 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.[3] Prison Break was nominated for 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 released on Blu-ray internationally.
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.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] In January 2018, Fox confirmed that season 6 was in early development;[7] however, in August 2019, Fox announced that it had no current plans to revive Prison Break,[8] with Miller stating in late 2020 that he had no plan to return to the series.[9]
- ^ "2006 Emmy Nominations: Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music". Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
- ^ "Prison Break: Season 1". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
- ^ "Prison Break". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (January 14, 2009). "Fox's Kevin Reilly says it's ready to set 'Prison Break' free". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 3, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
- ^ "Prison Break Post-Finale on the Way to Blu-ray". Los Angeles Times. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (January 11, 2017). "Prison Break, Making History Premiere Dates Announced by Fox". TVLine. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- ^ Abrams, Natalie (January 4, 2018). "Fox developing 'new iteration' of Prison Break". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
- ^ Topel, Fred (August 7, 2019). "Fox Has No Current Plans For More 'Prison Break' or '24' [TCA 2019]". /Film. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (November 9, 2020). "Wentworth Miller Says He Is Done With 'Prison Break': "I Just Don't Want To Play Straight Characters"". Deadline. Retrieved November 10, 2020.