Airs Next:FOX at Monday 9:00 PM (60 min.)
Status:Returning Series
Premiered:August 29, 2005
Show Categories:Action/Adventure, Drama

Prison Break is a drama from executive producers Brett Ratner, Paul Scheuring, Matt Olmstead, Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse and Neal Moritz.

The series was originally turned down by Fox in 2003, which was concerned about the long-term possibilities 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 generally positive reviews,and performed well in the ratings. The first season was originally planned for a 13-episode run, but was extended to include an extra nine episodes due to its popularity. Prison Break has been nominated for several industry awards, and won the 2006 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama. The first three seasons have been released on DVD, while the first and third seasons have also been released on Blu-ray Disc. The series has been aired internationally, including several non-English speaking countries.

After focusing on the breakout (season one) and the manhunt (season two), season three of Prison Break turns the concept on its head by throwing everyone involved with the show so far--fugitives, lawmen, villains--into the same prison. When we left off in season two's finale, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) had been exonerated of the murder for which he was framed since the beginning of the series, but Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) landed himself behind bars during the escape in Panama. It's no coincidence that he's placed in SONA, a remote place for the lowliest of criminals, along with his pursuers Agent Mahone (William Fichtner) and Bellick (Wade Willams), and fellow former inmate Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Kneppner), who naturally cozies up to the crime lord who rules the prison in an effort to move up in the ranks.

The main premise of Prison Break this time around is Michael needing to break someone else out of prison for The Company, the crime network responsible for all nefarious doings on the show. The Company's rep is a homicidal, sneering assassin named Susan (sometimes Gretchen) (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), who's holding hostage both Lincoln's son LJ and Michael's love Sara until Michael carries out his mission. The typically false starts, double-crossings, and man-that-was-close moments you'd expect to come from a series like this are all there, but this time around episodes feel scattershot, a far cry from the white-knuckle tension builder that was season one. Fichtner, who joined in the second season, is a standout as a pill-popping agent-turned-inmate in withdrawal who must now collaborate with the man he chased across the country. The new characters introduced don't have much purpose; the many plot twists (he's a good guy... no, a bad guy... no, wait, a good guy) leave you a little less motivated each time to keep tuning in, and the final straw is one main character's death early in the season (reportedly because of a contract dispute between the producers and the actor). Originally planned as a jolt to the series, it instead angered many fans who had been long awaiting a just payoff. This would later be rectified before the fourth season, but there's no telling how many Prison Break fans may have skipped town before then.