If you were horrified by PopWatch’s item yesterday about Fox putting the riveting Prison Break (starring Wentworth Miller, left) on hiatus from Nov. 28 until sometime in May, there’s still hope of new episodes winning an early release, according to a story by Lynette Rice that will appear in Friday’s issue of Entertainment Weekly.
”Insiders say Fox may reconsider [the plan], either by moving Break up to 8 p.m. on Mondays this winter — which could mean shuffling House and perhaps Bones from their intended slots in January — or waiting until early spring to give it a new day and time,” Rice reports. But we like our colleague’s suggestion to the network even better: ”Keep the show on the air and move it to the viewer graveyard formerly known as Friday, where another addictive Fox drama, The X-Files, once gained quite a cult following,” Rice argues.
Sounds like a plan, as long as Fox goes with the 8 p.m. slot, thus avoiding a faceoff with my other guilty TV pleasure, CBS’ Threshold.
Would that work for you? Or is there a better way to tinker with Fox’s schedule?
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Since the X Files, Fox has tried to replicate Friday night success, first with Millennium, then with Firefly. While both shows were loved by your average Friday night tv viewer (aka sci fi geeks like me), both failed to garner a mainstream audience.
But then again, when Fox first aired the X files, there was no real competition from the Sci Fi Channel (Did they even have original programming then?). There was no Battlestar Galactica and no Stargate.
The X Files did gain a cult following from the geek scene (we’re busy watching sci fi channel Friday nights nowadays thankyouverymuch), but Fox had more luck when they moved the series to Sunday evenings.
Final Analysis: Friday night is for cable outlets UPN or the WB, who’d consider 1 million viewers to be good numbers. But for a mainstream, expensive show like Prison Break, Friday night would be foolish.
I don’t like the Friday idea because I don’t like being forced into staying at home. Friends, don’t make me choose between you and Prison Break, because you just can’t win.
American Idol screws everything up. And after Carrie’s single “Jesus, Take the Wheel”, consider me an ex-watcher.
I don’t care what time slot they put Prison Break in, as long as they keep it on the air. I will follow it anywhere, no matter what it’s up against. That’s what Tivo and DVR’s are for. C’mon Fox; don’t make us wait 6 months to find out what happens to our boys!
Friday’s would be just as horrible for the show as a May hiatus. My solution: cancel Killer Instinct, move American Dad and Family Guy to Friday and place Prison Break Sunday’s at 9:00. There are many other possibilities too,most of which involve shuffling their floundering comedies around. I’ll take almost anything (except Friday’s) rather than sending Prison Break to the summer graveyard.
That could seriously be one of Fox’s worst ideas ever. I mean their schedule is full of some of the crappiest shows on tv, and yet when they finally make a show worth watching, they take it off air for the entire winter? What else are they going to show? American Idol? well, yeah, probobly but it is definatley a better show than bones or house
I think they should shuffle things around and air Prison Break and 24 consecutively. Or they could keep PB on the air and finish the eps and then run a super concentrated season of 24 which would delight fans who hate having to wait a week to see the next hour.
Sorry, can’t help, I decided not to watch this show as soon as I heard that hackmeister Brett Ratner was so heavily involved.
Whatever night it airs, FOX just needs to bring “Prison Break” back a whole heck of a lot sooner than May. By letting so much time pass, they not only risk viewers, but the momentum in the show itself. For a show that already has so much promise and fans for that matter, I find it disconcerting that FOX is handling it without much care.
The latest in a string of programming blunders that prove the powers that be at Fox secretly hate TV and the audiences good shows draw. Pulling Prison Break for six months is the kiss of death. Any momentum it’s building by word of mouth will be gone. Fox – the network where good shows go to die and the crap keeps coming. Pathetic. Someone should lose their job for making decisions like this.
Network television has become nothing but a scavenger hunt for those of us who enjoy good shows. You never know when your favorite programs will be on and when they do show some new shows, it is immediately followed by twice as many repeats. When a good show comes along, such as “Prison Break”, a network should reward their dedicated viewers with new programming….not a game of “find the tv show”. I’m so sick of networks rearranging and shuffling shows. When you have a hit tv program, don’t tempt fate. 6 months is a long time in today’s attention deficit society, and we may lose interest by May. Wake up Fox and give us Prison Break now, while its on a hot streak!
Well the opposite argument is that a delay can build an increased desire for it. It works very well for 24 which runs only in the winter/spring as of last year and this year. You do go 8 months without an episode but it saved Alias last year. People were so excited for Alias to return last year that it saw an increased number of viewers. Let’s not assume the show is going to be dead if it goes on hiatus for 6 months.
i agree with the earlier comments – Lost and Invasion are great pairs on wednesday nights, and Prison Break and 24 would be great pairs as well – put them back to back on monday nights
put it on friday or saturday -thats what TIVO is for people!!! or put episodic Bones on hiatus — PB, House, OC shoudnt go anywhere… AI is played out.
The folks over at Television Without Pity have been clamoring for a PB/24 double whammy since September. We thought the worst case scenario would be FOX moving Prison Break to Fridays, but they outdid even our worst nightmares with this decision to push new episodes back to May. I agree with EP Sato that Fridays would not work for a show like this on a network like Fox. Mondays at 8 is the best option, followed by 24 at 9. Either House or Bones could go on either Tuesdays following American Idol or on Wednesdays or Thursdays at 9 (since it’s only a matter of time before Reunion gets axed).
I was very skeptical about PB when I first heard about it. I am not in the least a Brett Ratner fan, and I have never been a fan of the prison drama, but I was hungry for new TV, and PB’s early start allowed me to get hooked. I now considerate it the best new show of the season, and for me it ranks right up there with Lost and Desperate Housewives.
And now FOX wants to yank it until May? This show needs to be allowed to snowball. The suspense and tension have been building from week to week, and the audience (and the show) deserves the chance to ride the wave to its conclusion, without interruption.
I absolutely love the idea of a PB/24 block on Monday nights. But please, FOX. Do not yank this show for six months. If Monday isn’t an option, give PB Reunion’s slot on Thursday night, and bring Reunion back in May.
I don’t know why I’m surprised…Fox has a history of making dumb, idiotic decisions without thinking it through. There is no doubt that Prison Break is hot, both in storyline and in guys…and they would be idiots to not capitalize on it, ride the wave, and give viewers an uninterrupted show.
Fox is notorious for not fully appreciating a good thing while they had it, only to kick themselves in the shins when the DVD sales come out (Firefly, anyone?)
Letting Prison Break drift in hiatus hell for 6 months is a sure-fire way to allow the buzz to die down, the audience to get hooked on something else…and for the show to die a slow, agonizing death.
On the one hand, the fact that the viewers have to wait so long for the show to come back could prove to be good…anty up the anticipation, and bring it back with a bang.
Or there’s the worst-case and the VERY plausible scenario that after waiting so long, viewers just might not be as invested in the characters like they are now. Right now, we care what happens to these people, and week to week, we bite our nails wondering what’s going to happen next.
In 6 months…we might still care…but we might just care a little less.
Does Fox really want to take that chance?
A 24/Prison Break night is a perfect solution to the nightmare that FOX is passing of as a 2006 schedule. On a related note, Arrested Development isn’t even on the schedule when shows like Top Heavy, er, make that Stacked, remain on the air as a “hit” comedy.
Why does Prison Break have to move at all? It’s the best show on television right now! Why does Fox ALWAYS ruin the best shows???
I believe this was mentioned earlier, but I think PB should be moved to Sunday’s at 9:00. It would have a great lead in with The Simpson’s and Family Guy. I can’t stand that there is nothing on at 9:00 for the people who don’t watch Desperate Housewives. Sunday night would be so much better then Friday’s. I’m gone every weekend, and as much as I would hate to stop watching this show, they would lose me as a viewer right away. Why must Fox screw up a good thing? This is about as bad as NBC trying to move My Name Is Earl to Thursday’s. Just leave things the way they are!!
Also, not everyone has TiVo or DVR, klo, keep that in mind.
24/Prison Break on Monday night is the best solution. But don’t forget that Prison Break will only have 9 episodes left in January and 24 has its full 22 episode run.
So I propose Prison Break split its time slot with Bones. Fox could schedule Bones’ back ten episodes (including February sweeps) for the new year, followed by Prison Break’s back nine episodes (ending in May sweeps). Or vice versa. No repeats.
Prison Break is Fox’s Lost. How idiotic are the programming execs at Fox to risk losing momentum on a breakout 18-34 hit by condemning it to the summer schedule?
Keep Prison Break on Mondays,moving a freshman show kills it especially in the middle of its season, plus if the show ends its initial run at the end of November with the actual prison break (which is why people are currently watching), people will not be interested in the rest of the story if it goes on hiatus or moves to another night, Fox has been running two episodes of PB each Monday, give 24 one hour, and place PB on the other, keep Bones/House on Tuesday and do whatever they want with the rest of their lineup.
Oops. Of course 24 has a 24 episode run, not 22! Wish EW had an edit function. . .
Prison Break is awful. Both the show and actors are incredibly over-rated. I’d rather watch paint dry that Wentworth Miller brood.
Prison Break and 24 on Monday nights is sure to be a hit. Prison Break is one of the best new shows – and 24 is one of the best shows, period. Teaming them up on the same night is the best idea. Fox, don’t take PB away for 6 months – would be a huge mistake.
Can they put Prison Break on at 8:00? Even with a warning about adult content? I wonder if they are thinking it has to be in a 9:00 slot so they don’t get flack from conservative family groups about how inappropriate it is for early prime time? They have to figure something out, though. May is not acceptable.
Why do networks do stupid things like this? Mondays are my new favorite night of TV, Prison Break is amazing! I hate trying to find my fave shows after they get mercilessly shuffled around on the schedule…
I’ll watch Prison Break whenever it airs. Just keep it on. Why is Fox even contemplating putting their third highest rated show on hiatus when they have so many other shows that are no good? Even if they air repeats of PB, that is better than taking it off the air completely.
And they should cut down on all the AI airings. PB is MUCH better!
Prison Break is awesome! It needs to stay exactly where it is! The brothers are HOT!!!
Why can’t Fox air shows at 10:00pm like the other networks? A 24/Prison Break combo is the best idea but I don’t think either show belongs at 8:00pm. A long hiatus is a TERRIBLE idea for such a hot show. You can’t do this to us!!!
All this fuss is because of American Idol? I say move that show to whereever it fits. Don’t touch Monday or Tuesday nights. With the return of 24, those 4 dramas are the real must see TV (well, plus Lost of course!)