Ready or not, Fox delivers more ‘Prison Break’
In this era of TV show reboots, networks are scraping ever closer to the bottom of the barrel to mine viewer nostalgia. Seriously, were there really that many people clamoring for more “Prison Break”?
And yet, “Prison Break” returns anyway at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“Prison Break, which ran from 2005 to 2009, debuted at a time when mythology-driven, arced series were relatively new. “Lost” had only begun airing a year earlier. And in its first season, “Prison Break” proved to be a crackerjack thriller. But there was a sustainability challenge baked into the show’s premise. Once Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller, a 1990 graduate of Quaker Valley High School) broke his wrongfully convicted brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), out of prison using the plans tattooed all over Michael’s body, the show sort of exhausted its premise, but continued on for several more seasons, becoming crazier and less plausible as it went.
By the time the series ended, Michael was dead from a terminal brain tumor and/or explosion while his wife, Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies), and brother were finally free.
But not so fast! The new season of “Prison Break” begins with news that Michael may not actually be dead. Rather, he’s being held in a prison in Yemen, complete with new (escape plan?) tattoos all over his body.
Through the early episodes of this new season Fox made available for review, “Prison Break” doesn’t answer fans’ most pertinent questions: How is Michael not dead? What happened to his brain tumor? How could Michael do this to Sara and his son, who have thought he was dead all this time?
Perhaps the show will provide answers to those questions. But in the early going the focus is on revisiting old characters in new situations. Sara is married to someone other than Michael. TBay (Robert Knepper) is out of prison and someone has gifted him a new prosthetic hand and clues to Michael’s whereabouts.
The show remains crazy in its plotting, but it does move at a quick clip, fast enough that some viewers will forgive it for some obvious twists and turns.
But the question remains: Other than an effort to goose ratings with the return of a familiar title, is there really any creative reason for more “Prison Break”? Probably not.
Kept/canceled
Cinemax won’t bring back “The Knick” for a third season, forgoing more of the critically acclaimed drama in favor of more action-oriented programming.
The daytime talk show “Harry” will return for a second season.
Despite double-running the final episodes of season two — generally a sign a show is being burned off — AMC renewed the drama “Humans” for a third season.
Hulu renewed “The Mindy Project” for a sixth and final season.
Netflix will bring back “Santa Clarita Diet” for a sophomore run.
ABC canceled “Time After Time” after five lowrated episodes, replacing it with “Match Game” for the time being.
Channel surfing
Louis C.K. will host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” April 8 with musical guest The Chainsmokers; Jimmy Fallon hosts April 15 with Harry Styles. … NBC will broadcast all winter Olympic programming in 2018 from PyeongChang live across all time zones. … Discovery will revive the game show “Cash Cab” later this year with a new twist: Celebs will ambush unsuspecting passengers. … The Hollywood Reporter says HBO is developing a third season of “True Detective.” … The second season of filmed-in-Pittsburgh hillbilly drama “Outsiders” will be released on DVD May 23 with 29 neveraired deleted scenes.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “This is Us,” “The Great British Baking Show” and local news anchor transitions. This week's Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Imaginary Mary.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/ arts-entertainment-living/ tuned-in.
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