PRISON BREAK - Channel Five
Prison Break stars Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield, a genius structural engineer who gets himself jailed in the same penitentiary as his brother, Lincoln Burrows, who's on Death Row for assassinating the Vice President's brother. Lucky for Lincoln that sibling Michael has tattoo'd the blueprints for the prison all over his body, and is clever enough to plot a daring escape...
I saw the Pilot episode of Prison Break last summer, and wasn't particularly impressed. Directed by Brett Rather (X-Men 3), the premiere episode was certainly slick - despite some temporary visuals on my copy - but beyond its premise... nothing really stuck in my memory. I actually thought the prison seemed quite tame when compared to prisons depicted in movies such as The Shawshank Redemption or HBO's unsung classic Oz.
However, I gave the show another chance on Five, and am glad I did. It's very often quite implausible and silly, but curiously entertaining and addictive. However, while I'm a convert to the show, I still think the show is doomed to failure.
Why? Well, quite simply -- I still have no idea how they can possibly squeeze five years' mileage from the premise! Five years being the standard length of time US networks want shows to last before they have enough episodes so "syndicate" the series nationwide.
Prison Break was dismissed early on in its genesis for this longevity reason. Executives just didn't think the premise could last the distance. The show was therefore reworked as a potential film, to star Bruce Willis (amongst other candidates), but this never came to fruition. Then, thanks to the success of serial dramas like 24 and Lost, Fox rethought their decision...
At time of writing, the success of Prison Break has prompted executives to give the show a full season (it was originally slated for 13 episodes only), with a second season on the way (they begin shooting in June). I've heard that the writers themselves have reluctantly admitted they have no idea how to prolong the show past season 2, which doesn't fill me with confidence...
Given the show's initial 13-episode run, the show has certainly been very exciting and pacy in recent weeks (a mass riot being a standout), but I think the writers have won their full season at the expense of rushing the plot. The "conspiracy" angle to the show (which I'm personally not particularly interested in, strangely...) is also steaming ahead at full speed.
So where does this leave the show? In danger of giving us one great season of TV and four years of padding, that's where. Of course, Prison Break would have definitely made a better movie, or a great mini-series... but the greedy Fox execs are clamouring for a Lost-style juggernaut.
It will be interesting to see where the show goes. Will you still be interested watching Wentworth Miller dig a tunnel four years from now?
