Prison Break
May 24th, 2008
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.
