Prison Break, one of the legendary productions of television history, has a huge fan base all over the world, including in our country. In 2005, the series, which met with viewers on the Fox channel, finalized in 2009 with its 4th season. However, the producers, who did not ignore the intense demands of the fans who did not accept the final decision, returned the series with the 5th season in 2017.
Although it did not taste as good as the old seasons, the return of Prison Break after 8 years was a very satisfying development for the fans of the series. At the same time, many questions that remained in the minds of the viewers after the release of the 5th season were clearly answered. On the other hand, this series, which left its mark on an era, contains many details that even its hardcore fans do not know. For this reason, we have brought together 10 little-known interesting details about the Prison Break series.
Little known details about the Prison Break series
If we take a brief look at the main story of the series, we first meet Lincoln Burrows, who is on death row for a crime he did not commit, and Michael Scofield, an engineer who devises an ingenious plan to break his brother out of prison. Michael, who has the sketch of the Fox River prison where his brother is being held and the escape plan tattooed on his body, is arrested after organizing a fake bank robbery and sent to Fox River prison.
Things don’t go well for Michael, whose main goal is to break his brother Lincoln out of prison. Michael manages to break his brother out of prison, but he also has to break out notorious criminals like T-Bag, John Abruzzi, Patoshik, Twinner, C-Note and Sucre. Sucre and Abruzzi should be left out here, because both of them were actually part of the escape plan. After escaping from prison, these 8 men suddenly became the most wanted criminals in the US.
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For this group, who somehow managed to escape from Fox River, the real trouble is just beginning. Because an organization called ‘The Company’, which secretly runs the state as well as the US police, is waiting for them outside. This highly dangerous organization includes thousands of police, government officials and FBI agents. As you will understand, this organization was the reason why Lincoln was unjustly sentenced to death.
Perhaps the most dangerous of them all is an FBI agent named Alexander Mahone. Mahone is also the head of the largest manhunt operation in the US up to that time. Don’t say what can happen with just one FBI agent, because this highly intelligent brother solves Michael’s escape plan one by one. On the other hand, Alexander Mahone, on orders from the organization, goes after the Fox River fugitives to kill them. Anyway, let’s get to the point without further spoilers for our readers who haven’t watched the show yet.
Fox didn’t like the idea of Prison Break at first
Did you know that Prison Break, one of the legendary shows of television history, was almost shelved? In 2003, Paul Scheuring, the creator of the series, initially shared the idea of the project with Fox executives and was rejected shortly after. For some reason, Fox executives at the time did not believe that a prison concept series would be long-lasting.
However, just as the project was about to be shelved, it attracted the attention of producer Steven Spielberg. Spielberg initially planned Prison Break as a mini-series. Later, as work on the series continued, Fox executives decided to re-evaluate the idea of Prison Break. After the evaluation, Fox gave the green light to the project and in 2005, the Prison Break series, which is considered a legend today, was introduced to the audience.
Lead actors cast at the last minute
After Fox’s last minute decision to air Prison Break, the producers of the series had serious problems with casting. Despite casting dozens of actors, the producers could not find the actor they wanted for the lead role. In fact, during the filming of the first season, series creator Paul Scheuring said, ” We interviewed almost 35 actors in Los Angeles alone for the role of Scofield. Michael was a mysterious character, but none of the actors who came to the audition could fulfill this requirement.
With only a week left before the start of filming, there was still no lead actor. The production team made a new move and decided to organize one last casting call. Wentworth Miller, who auditioned for the character of Michael, won the appreciation of the production team with his acting. Thus, the first lead of the Prison Break series was announced. However, the real problem occurred in the character of Lincoln Burrows. Just 72 hours before the shooting of the series started, Dominic Purcell entered the cast with a sudden decision. The reason for this was that the production team did not believe that Purcell was suitable for the character of Lincoln at first.
Prison Break banned in US prisons
Prison Break became so famous as soon as it was released that it became one of the most talked about TV series in the world. After Michael successfully executed his escape plan step by step in the series, some US prison officials started to worry about this situation. Because according to them, Michael’s escape plan was a training manual for real criminals.
So the series was banned in 13 prisons in the United States. In this way, the authorities prevented Michael’s ingenious plan from having an impact on real criminals. On the other hand, some prison authorities, on the contrary, did not impose any restrictions on inmates.
Michael Scofield’s tattoo caused many crises on the set of the series
When we think of Prison Break, Michael Scofield’s tattoos come to mind first. Because these tattoos contained many details about Michael’s kidnapping of Lincoln from Fox River prison and many details that had to be done after the escape. For this reason, until a certain part of season 4, Michael Scofield appeared before the audience with these tattoos.