(Fox) Channel: Fox (locally shown on Star World) Genre: Action/Thriller Status: Running Country of origin: United States Language: English Creator: Paul Scheuring Starring: Dominic Purcell Wentworth Miller Amaury Nolasco Wade Williams Paul Adelstein Robert Knepper Rockmond Dunbar Sarah Wayne Callies William Fichtner

View Discussion Board Join the latest discussion with other TV fanatics and share your thoughts on the show Discussion Board

Prison Break is an American television series that premiered on the Fox Network on August 29, 2005. The story revolves around a man who was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit and his brother's elaborate plan to help him escape his death sentence. Created by Paul Scheuring, the show is produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions in association with Original Television and 20th Century Fox Television. The current executive producers are Paul Scheuring, Matt Olmstead, Dawn Parouse, Marty Adelstein, Neal Moritz and Brett Ratner. Its theme music is composed by Ramin Djawadi, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006.

The series is currently on hiatus after the completion of the second season on April 2, 2007. Due to its immense popularity in its key demographics, the show was renewed by Fox for a third season, even though it was originally conceived to only have two seasons. The serialized story structure of Prison Break is attributed to the format of storytelling adapted by the writers as each episode covers a part of the escape plan, similar to a format used by Lost and 24. The first season of Prison Break was primarily filmed at Joliet Prison, which also contributed to the uniqueness of the show. Its success and recognition as a prison drama also revived interest in the genre.

---

[ SYNOPSES ]

Season 1

Season 1 cast

Premiered on August 28, 2004 in the United States and Canada, the first season featured a total of 22 episodes. Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is accused of the murder of Terrence Steadman, who is the brother of the female Vice President of the United States. With strong evidence supporting the charges of first degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm against him, Lincoln is sentenced to death and is sent to the Fox River State Penitentiary to await his execution. Lincoln's brother, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), is convinced of Lincoln's innocence and hatches an escape plan. After installing himself at Fox River, time works against Michael as he must overcome various obstacles and make the right connections among the inmates and prison staff to be successful in breaking out his brother. The actors who were cast as the protagonists Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows were the last to join the main cast. Miller was chosen six days before the start of production and Purcell was cast three days later. The protagonists are aided by Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney), who begins to investigate the conspiracy that put Lincoln in jail. However, they are hindered by covert agents, who belong to an organization known as "The Company".

Season 2

Season 2 cast

The second season of Prison Break consists of 22 episodes, which began airing in the United States and Canada on August 21, 2006. The story continues eight hours after the prison escape from Fox River State Penitentiary, focusing mainly on the escapees. New characters are introduced, including a federal agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner), who is assigned to track down and capture the eight escapees. Series creator Paul Scheuring describes the second season as "The Fugitive times eight" and likens it to the "second half of The Great Escape". The fugitives journey to locations across America with the authorities close behind them as they each pursue their individual goals. Meanwhile, the conspiracy plot develops as "The Company" continues their plan to locate and eliminate Lincoln Burrows and others who get in their way.

Season 3

Prison Break season 3 will be premiered on August 29, 2007

Series creator Paul Scheuring has commented that Season 3 will consist of most of the original cast with new additions and that the overall theme will be "redemption". The plot will continue from the second season finale, where most of the main characters have ended up in Panama. Although the conspiracy storyline has not finished, the third season's plot will be "as different in tone as Season 2 was from Season 1". The majority of the main cast will remain and there will be 4 new additions to the cast one being a woman and possibly a love interest for one of the main male leads but this is yet to be confirmed.

---

[ CHARACTERS ]

The series premiere had eight major speaking roles with star billing. Death-row inmate Lincoln Burrows is played by Dominic Purcell, while Lincoln's brother Michael Scofield is played by Wentworth Miller. Robin Tunney was cast as Veronica Donovan, the brothers' childhood friend and lawyer. Amaury Nolasco plays Michael's Fox River cellmate, Fernando Sucre. Marshall Allman played Lincoln's son, Lincoln "L.J." Burrows, Jr.. Peter Stormare was cast as John Abruzzi, a Fox River prisoner and Chicago mob boss. Brad Bellick, the captain of Fox River's correctional officers is played by Wade Williams. Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays Dr. Sara Tancredi, was the first actress the producers saw at the audition for the role and was also the first to become a principal cast member. The eight initial main cast members were subsequently joined by Paul Adelstein, who plays Agent Paul Kellerman, a secret service agent involved in the conspiracy behind Lincoln's conviction, Robert Knepper and Rockmond Dunbar, who play Fox River prisoners Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell and Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin respectively. After the thirteenth episode, Peter Stormare became a guest star with Rockmond Dunbar switching from being a recurring guest star to a regular cast member.

Major recurring cast members from the first season include Stacy Keach as Warden Henry Pope and Frank Grillo as project justice lawyer Nick Savrinn. Lane Garrison, Muse Watson and Silas Weir Mitchell play Fox River prisoners David "Tweener" Apolskis, Charles Westmoreland and Charles "Haywire" Patoshik respectively. Additionally, some of the walk-on characters who played prisoners actually served time at the Joliet Prison.

The second season began, with eleven principal speaking roles with star billing. FBI agent Alexander Mahone, played by William Fichtner, was introduced and assigned to locate the fugitives. This coincided with the quick exit of Robin Tunney, whose character was killed in the season premiere. There were other shifts in the casting with Jeff Perry replacing John Billingsley as Terrence Steadman as the latter was cast as a regular on the ABC series The Nine. Camille Guaty, who played Sucre's girlfriend Maricruz Delgado, was also cast on the same show. Similarly, Patricia Wettig, who plays Caroline Reynolds, has been cast on an ABC drama, Brothers and Sisters. Both Guaty and Wettig returned to reprise their roles towards the end of the season. As of the fourteenth episode of the second season (the first to air in 2007), Marshall Allman has been removed from the cast listing in the opening credits.