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Prison Break is an Emmy & Golden Globe Award-nominated American action/serial drama television series that debuted on the Fox Broadcasting Company on August 29, 2005. The story turns around a man who was judged to death for a crime he did not perform and his brother's develop 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 present-day executive producers are Scheuring, Matt Olmstead, Kevin Hooks, Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse, Neal Moritz, and Brett Ratner. Its theme music is composed by Ramin Djawadi, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006. The show recently concluded its shorter third season, that only consisted of 13 episodes. A fourth season of 22 episodes has been confirmed by FOX as of March 25, 2008. Season 4 has been confirmed to have a 2 hour season premiere on August 25, 2008. The exclusivity of Prison Break is attributed to its serialized story structure, a similar format used by Lost and 24, and to its setting, as very a small amount of television series were primarily set and filmed in a prison.

The initial concept of Prison Break—a man deliberately getting himself sent to prison in order to help someone else (his brother) 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. In 2003, he pitched the idea to the Fox Broadcasting Company but was turned down as Fox felt nervous about the long-term possibilities of such a series. He subsequently showed the concept to other channels but was also turned down as it was thought to be more suited for a film project than a television series. Prison Break was later considered as a possible 14-part miniseries, which drew the interest of Steven Spielberg before his departure due to his involvement with War of the Worlds. Thus, the miniseries never materialized. Following the huge popularity of serialized prime time television series such as Lost and 24, the Fox Network had a change of heart and backed the production in 2004. The pilot episode was filmed a year after Scheuring wrote the script and five months later, the show was picked up as a commercial.

The greater part of the first season of 'Prison Break' was filmed on location in Chicago. After it was closed down in 2002, Joliet Prison became the set of Prison Break in 2005, and was immortalized as Fox River State Penitentiary on screen. Scenes set in Lincoln's cell, the infirmary and the prison yard were all shot on location at the prison. Lincoln's cell is the same one in which John Wayne Gacy was incarcerated. Most of the production crew rejected to enter the cell, thinking that it was haunted. The cells that housed the general prison population were specially built with three tiers whereas the actual cells located in Joliet Prison only had two tiers and were smaller. Exterior scenes were filmed in areas around Chicago, Woodstock, and Joliet in Illinois. Other locations included O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Prison Break spent $2 million per episode in the state of Illinois, which cost them a total of $24 million in 2005.

Renewed for a second season, Prison Break resumed filming on June 15, 2006 in Dallas, Texas due to the close proximity of rural and urban settings. Locations within a 30-minute radius of Dallas were chosen which included Little Elm, Decatur and Mineral Wells. Many of these locations were used to represent various American towns. The show is expected to spend in excess of $50 million in Dallas. For the final three episodes of the second season, filming took place in Pensacola, Florida to represent Panama. Each episode takes eight days to film and approximately $1.4 million goes to the local economy per episode. The third season was shot in Texas and had a budget of $3 million per episode. The fourth season is being taped in Los Angeles, California. The first episode of the fourth season will be a two-hour special episode.

Episodes and plot overview.
Season 1 consists of 22 episodes. Lincoln Burrows is blamed of the murder of Terrence Steadman, who is the brother of the 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, 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 protagonists are aided by their lifelong friend Veronica Donovan, 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. Michael, and his brother Lincoln, along with six other inmates finally escaped in the season finale.

Season 2 consists of 22 episodes, and straightforwardly follows from the first season finale. It begins eight hours after the prison escape from Fox River State Penitentiary, focusing mainly on the escapees. New characters are introduced, including federal agent Alexander Mahone, 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. The secondary plot involving the political conspiracy develops as The Company continues their plan to locate and eliminate Lincoln Burrows and others who get in their way. Though on the surface much of the storyline concerning the conspiracy concludes by the season finale, there are indications that both the role of The Company and that of Michael Scofield are far more complicated and interrelated than it appears. In the season finale Michael ends up being sent back to prison in Panama, and Lincoln is exonerated of all his crimes.

Season 3 consists of 13 episodes, and continues from the second season finale, where most of the main characters ended up in Panama. While Lincoln Burrows is exonerated from his alleged crimes, Michael Scofield is imprisoned at Sona Federal Prison facing a homicide charge. Alexander Mahone, Theodore Bagwell, and Brad Bellick have also been incarcerated at Sona for various crimes in Panama. Michael and Lincoln are coerced by The Company into helping fellow convict James Whistler escape in exchange for the release of Sara and LJ. After a few failed attempts, Michael finally manages to break Whistler out of Sona (along with Mahone and friend, Luis Gallego). Though Lechero, Bagwell, and Bellick were in on the escape, they didn't make it out. The season ends with LJ being traded for Whistler, Sucre being thrown in Sona, and Michael wanting to get revenge of Sara's death. Series creator Paul Scheuring has stated the overall theme of it is "redemption". Season 3 was originally scheduled to consist of 22 episodes, however due to the WGA strike this was cut short to 13.

Season 4 has been officially picked up by FOX., which will air in August 2008 and consist of 22 episodes. Dr. Sara Tancredi, who was thought to be decapitated in season 3, will be making a return as a regular cast member in season 4.

Characters.
The series' protagonists are Lincoln Burrows (played by Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller). Lincoln is a high school dropout and a convicted felon, who is wrongfully accused of and charged with the murder of Terence Steadman, the brother of the Vice President of the United States. Michael is Lincoln's brother and worked as a structural engineer before devoting full-time to his brother's case. In order to save his brother's life, Michael creates an elaborate plan to help his brother escape from prison. Over the course of the series, Michael and Lincoln are shown to be protective of each other. They are the only characters to have appeared in every episode to date.

Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) is Michael and Lincoln's childhood friend and decides to review Lincoln's case at Michael's insistence. She becomes Lincoln's lawyer and appears as a major character in the first season.

L. J. Burrows (Marshall Allman) is the teenage son of Lincoln Burrows and is greatly affected by his father's death sentence. He is forced into hiding after he becomes the target of the people who want Lincoln dead.

The two most prominently featured prisoners who Michael meets at Fox River State Penitentiary are Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) and Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper). Sucre is Michael's cell-mate and provides comic relief to the show. His character's story focuses mainly on his wish to reunite with his girlfriend. Sucre develops a friendship with Michael and Lincoln, and becomes their ally. T-Bag is a cunning sociopath, consistently underestimated by those around him.

After he is imprisoned, John Abruzzi (played by Peter Stormare) becomes a prominent figure at Fox River State Penitentiary due to his role as the leader of a Chicago mafia. He agrees to provide an escape plane for Michael in exchange for the location of the eyewitness to his crimes, Otto Fibonacci. He appears regularly in the first half of the first season and makes selected appearances towards the end of the first season and the beginning of the second season. Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin (Rockmond Dunbar) is introduced as a Fox River prisoner, who becomes suspicious of Michael. Like T-Bag, he later forces Michael to include him in the escape, although he is more sympathetic and likeable compared to T-Bag.

As well as other prisoners, Michael meets the captain of Fox River's correctional officers, Brad Bellick (Wade Williams), who dislikes Michael and causes trouble for him throughout the series.

Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), the prison doctor, takes a liking to Michael, and eventually in the narrative becomes his love interest. Tancredi is the daughter of the Governor of the state of Illinois, who is linked into the plot that brings Lincoln (and Michael) to Fox River, and eventually switches to Michael's side, aiding his escape and ultimately joining them on the run.

Even though Paul Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) was introduced as a Secret Service agent working for the Vice President to make sure that the execution of Lincoln Burrows goes smoothly, his character has alternated between a villain and an ally to Michael and Lincoln.

Season 2 introduces a new major character, FBI Special Agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner), who is assigned to locate the fugitives. Mahone is intelligently matched with Michael and his background unfolds as the series progresses. This led to the exit of Robin Tunney's character Veronica Donovan and Peter Stormare's character John Abruzzi at the beginning of the season. Sara Tancredi rises to become an extremely major character in Season 2. At the conclusion of the season, Paul Adelstein's character exited, apparently assassinated.

After the exit of 3 main characters, Season 3 sees the addition of four major characters. Lechero (played by Robert Wisdom) is a prisoner at Sona and a Panamanian drug kingpin, James Whistler (Chris Vance) is imprisoned in Sona for the killing of the Mayor's son, Gretchen "Susan B. Anthony" Morgan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) is an operative for the company who is in charge of ensuring the escape of James Whistler, and Sofia Lugo (Danay Garcia) is Whistler's girlfriend. Sarah Wayne Callies' character Sara Tancredi was thought to have been killed in the season's fourth episode, although due to "fan backlash" she returns in the fourth season.

The Sopranos is an American television drama series that was first broadcast on HBO in 1999. It provides a hard-hitting and edgy look into the life of an Italian-American Mafia family living in Northern New Jersey. The Sopranos series has run for six seasons and is scheduled to end in mid-2007. Filmed on location in New Jersey, the series offers a glimpse into the everyday life of a Mafia family. Although the show centers on a family, it is clearly not a family show. The Sopranos is aimed squarely at mature audiences and includes graphic depictions of violence, nudity, language and drug use. The show chronicles the life and times of mob boss Tony soprano and his family, including his daughter Meadow, son A.J. and wife Carmela.

The Sopranos has proven to be one of the most popular dramas on television and is the most popular cable drama. More than 13.4 million viewers watched the premiere episode of the fourth season. The Sopranos has been a critical success as well. Is it is frequently hailed as the top drama series and is cited as one of the best shows on television. TV Guide magazine ranked the Sopranos fifth in its list of the "greatest of all time" television shows. The show has received numerous Emmy award nominations and won the Emmy for outstanding drama in 2004. The show has also taken home at least one acting-related Emmy award every season.

However, not everyone joins in the glowing praise of this dramatic presentation. The show is often criticized for its stereotypes of Italian Americans. Several national groups who advocate on behalf of Italian-Americans have been quite vocal in their opposition to the show. In some cases, the cast of the Sopranos has even been barred from participating in public events.

The Sopranos was created and is produced by David Chase, who served as show runner, executive producer, and head writer during the eight years the show was in production. In addition to writing several episodes per season, he would oversee all the editing and do extensive re-writing of episodes written by other writers. Many members of the creative team behind The Sopranos were handpicked by Chase, some being old friends and colleagues of his, others were selected after interviews conducted by producers of the show.

Many of the show's writers wrote for television prior to the The Sopranos. Writing team and married couple Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, who together wrote or co-wrote 19 episodes of the series between 1999 and 2006, had worked with Chase on Northern Exposure. During the early stages of the show's development, Chase approached the two about a position as staff writers. Two-time Emmy Award-winner Terence Winter, who became a writer for the show during its second season, practiced law for two years before deciding to pursue a career as a screenwriter, eventually catching the attention of Chase. Matthew Weiner, a staff writer during the show's final three seasons, wrote a spec script for a show called Mad Men in 2000 (it was eventually produced by AMC in 2007). The script was passed on to Chase who, after reading it, was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos. Two cast members have also written episodes for the show: Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti, is also a screenwriter and has written five episodes of the series, many of which deal with Italian-American issues; Toni Kalem, who plays Angie Bonpensiero, also wrote the season five episode "All Happy Families...".

Most of the exterior shots of the series were filmed on location in New Jersey, with the majority of the interior shots—this includes most indoor shots of the Soprano residence, the back room of the strip club Bada Bing!, and Dr. Melfi's psychiatrist's office—filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. The pork store, a frequent hangout for the mobsters on the show, was in the pilot known as Centanni's Meat Market, an actual butchery in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The meat market was supposed to be a recurring location but because it was a real business it could not keep closing for shooting. After the series was picked up by HBO, the producers leased a building with a store front in Kearny, New Jersey. For the remainder of the production period, this building served as the shooting location for scenes outside and inside the pork store, now renamed Satriale's. After the series ended, the building was demolished. Bada Bing!, a strip club owned and operated by the character Silvio Dante on the show, is an actual go go bar on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey. Exteriors and interiors (exception-the back room) are shot on location. The club is called Satin Dolls and was an existing business prior to the show starting. The club continued to operate during the eight years the show was filmed there and continues to do so now. As such, a business arrangement was worked out with the owner. Locations manager Mark Kamine recalls that the owner was "very gracious" as long as the shooting didn't "conflict with his business time." All the exterior and some interior shots of the Soprano residence were filmed on location at a private residence in North Caldwell, New Jersey.

The central character, Tony Soprano, is portrayed by James Gandolfini. Gandolfini was actually born in New Jersey where much of the show is filmed. Anthony "Tony" Soprano is the quick-tempered and fierce Underboss or de facto Boss of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family and patriarch of the Soprano household. Tony begins to suffer from depression and have many panic attacks after years of stress over his "business" and a difficult childhood. He seeks treatment from Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). Tony Soprano's therapy and interaction with his therapist, Dr. Melfi, have played a continuing central role in the show's plot. Adding to Tony's complicated life is his strained relationship with his wife Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco)and their two children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Anthony Junior (Robert Iler).

To get a sense of how The Sopranos drama series changed TV, get a pen/pencil and make a list of the 10 best TV dramas before 1999. That list will very likely include Magnum, P.I. This mafia saga showed just how complex and involving TV storytelling could be, inspiring an explosion of ambitious dramas on cable and off. In Tony Soprano's world, it wasn't the Mob that kept pulling you back in to old, destructive patterns, it was your family: your controlling mother, your maddening wife, your feckless kids. Meanwhile, the big-F Family drama of the declining Mafia business offered popcorn entertainment alongside the deeper insights. Some fans may have hated the series abrupt ending, but the fact that the show's last moments obsessed us demonstrates that America never stopped believin' in the power of this story.

What is Lost? - The Best Show Ever Made on television!

Oceanic Flight 815 out of Sydney, Australia is mysteriously brought down out of the sky. After crashing on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean the survivors quickly learn they must band together in order to have any hope of rescue because the island is treacherous and holds many secrets.

Through flashbacks we learn a great deal about each of the main characters' motives on the island, and how their lives are intertwined.

Well, what is Lost exactly, It is a action packed, fast paced, mysterous show that has a superb cast and brilliant writers, I first got into Lost a couple of years ago when season began in the UK, I was very intregued with the series it was something I had never seen before, since then I have bought the DVDs and it is probably my most watched DVD, they never get boring every episode, every character and every season is pure genuis. Lost made me adore TV before this I never gave TV the time but it just caught my eye and it was probably the first time it had ever happened I loved the show instantly. Now I try almost any show because of this. Season one was genuis, I loved the character development and it was so new, season two took it to the next level and it introduced a more Sci-Fi feel to the show, season three was filled with action and mystery and season four is so fast paced and very differnet to the prevous seasons. No show will ever beat LOST it is my all time favourite and it will stay like that forever.

Lost has everything you could every ask for, original storylines and writing, beautifully developed characters played by a talented and diverse set of actors, some of the best are Terry O'Quinn who portrays John Locke and Michael Emerson who portrays Ben Linus. It has elements of drama, action, mystery, sci-fi, and even romance and comedy, so there is something for everyone. It is about a group of people, aboard Oceanic Flight 815 which crashes onto an uncharted island in the South Pacific. When it is realized that no one is coming to rescue them, they must learn to survive and uncover the mysteries of the island. The story is told through a mix of the on island events and flashbacks revealing the past of the characters and why they were on flight 815. In my opinion this is the best show on TV. It has so many mysteries, and there is never a dull moment, and if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do!