FOX: ‘Prison Break’ takes the show on the road

‘Prison Break’ takes the show on the road

In perhaps FOX’s most-anticipated panel, the cast of “Prison Break” showed up to discuss life post-breakout. As the eight cons go on the lam, pursued by various law enforcement officials, production of the show has moved from the Chicago area to Dallas. In Chicago, the site of Joliet Prison was used to play Fox River, the new location in and around Dallas is meant to suggest that the men are running though Anywhere, USA.

Critics clamored to know details of the second season, but producers and cast were relatively tight-lipped, wanting to preserve their plot twists. They did promise that the cast wouldn’t be completely recaptured, taking the show back to the prison, and that at least the first half of the season would focus on the men trying to evade their pursuers. And the men would be foolish to stay together, said producer Paul T. Scheuring, noting that even if they separate, they will still “pop back into each other’s stories.” As for Warden Henry Pope (Stacy Keach), Scheuring said he would have a “considerably smaller role,” but that “Michael has some unfinished emotional business with him.”

Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, who play brothers Michael and Lincoln, should have plenty to play off each other in season two. Both commented that it is already interesting to play scenes in which the brothers laugh or smile, something that was uncommon when both were incarcerated. And the brothers’ childhood will be somewhat explored. “Growing up, Lincoln was very much in the driver’s seat,” said Miller, noting that those brotherly roles switched when Lincoln was on death row. “I’m curious to see if Michael is going to be as willing to relinquish that authority.” And, of course, the now-free men will want to reunite with their families, and must resist that urge as much as possible, as it’s likely to get them recaptured. That doesn’t mean they won’t try. Lincoln, for one, will want to redeem himself with son LJ, while Michael will concentrate on trying to guide his brother safely into Mexico.

Notes from ‘Prison’

• Former “Prison Break” cast members Patricia Wettig and John Billingsley both have new shows this season; Wettig with “Brothers and Sisters” and Billingsley with “The Nine.” Billingsley’s character will be played by actor Jeff Perry, while Wettig’s future is less certain. All producer Paul T. Scheuring would say is that she’s “not out of the picture yet.”
• When the inevitable topic of this year’s number of serial dramas was brought up, producer Scheuring agreed. “It’s the flavor of the week now,” he said, joking: “My advice would be to write a serialized show that started filming last year.
• There’s a persistent rumor that the show will be renamed “Prison Break: Manhunt” now that the prison break has occurred. Scheuring would only say that a decision hasn’t been reached on that yet.
• When asked about Michael’s famous tattoo incorporating the plans of prison, producer Scheuring said that other facts that would be helpful to the men on the outside may also be hidden in the intricate tattoo. Actor Wentworth Miller admitted he doesn’t enjoy the “arduous” four-hour process of having the tattoo applied, but that he understands and respects its role in the plot.
• William Fichtner is joining the show as a federal agent pursuing the men. Fichtner was asked about his canceled series, “Invasion,” but circled around the question, joking that “[the ‘Prison Break’ producers] promised me there were going to be aliens on the show, and … every fourth episode, something orange would be in the water.”
• Robert Knepper, the evil T-Bag on the show, was the opposite of evil at the “Prison Break” poolside dinner party, proudly carrying his adorable young son around. Knepper doesn’t look much like T-Bag did in the first season, however. These days he’s sporting a bleached-blonde faux-hawk.