Prison Break

Prison Break is a series that — to its credit — has probably managed to hang on far longer than its premise suggested it could. It seemed like a one season kind of show, two at best. Somehow, Prison Break has kept adding stories and twists, creating four seasons full of drama. But starting tonight, it really is approaching the end.

And everyone, from Fox executives to the series' creator, seems to think that's for the best: "The ideas that were tossed around in terms of what could be season five were pretty thin," executive producer Matt Olmstead said recently. There's a feeling among the cast and crew that the whole story was told — or at least will be by the time this final run is over.

Tonight starts with a repeat of Prison Break's most recent episode. Then a new one airs, the first of six total new hours (the series finale, scheduled for May 15, is two hours long). Two additional hours of Prison Break exist — they're actually a stand-alone movie, which may or may not ever air on Fox but will be released on DVD — but fans shouldn't worry: Olmstead said "everything gets wrapped up" in the May 15 episode, so the other two hours are more of a bonus than a necessity.

Will you be watching as Prison Break wraps up its run? To check out a promo, read more

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• A collection of previously unpublished short stories by Kurt Vonnegut will be released in November. — AP
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• Brittany Murphy and David Zayas have joined the cast of Sylvester Stallone's action-adventure movie The Expendables. — The Hollywood Reporter
• The two-hour series finale of Prison Break will air May 15. — TV.com
• Pet Shop Boys turned down a request from animal rights group PETA Europe to change the band's name to something more creature-friendly. — AFP

Photo courtesy of Fox

Greetings from the TCA press tour! I'm coming to you live from the Universal Hilton, where Fox is presenting its Winter and Spring shows today. A few minutes ago, the network's entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, took the stage to make some announcements about the network's future plans. Here are some highlights:

• Prison Break is officially wrapping up this Spring after four seasons; its final batch of episodes (at least four, maybe a few more) will start Friday, April 17. "Prison Break has had a hell of a run and is just at the end of that run," Reilly said. "We'll put that one in the win column, but it just got down to the point where a lot of stories have been told."
• Is this good news for Dollhouse? Reilly said "we're going to let the show play out for 13 episodes."
• More on Dollhouse and the decision to put it on Friday: "Joss does a certain kind of show. I think he's right in the zone again on that. It's the kind of show that has a core passionate audience." If the show hadn't been put on Fridays, Reilly said, "there was going to be enormous pressure on it."

To see Reilly's thoughts about Fringe, the future of Fox comedy, and more, just read more

I'm not sure how wise it really is to launch a new season of a TV show on Labor Day. Will people be at home on the couch, or will they biting into some corn on the cob at a barbecue somewhere? The CW and Fox are both hoping it'll be the couch, as both Gossip Girl and Prison Break return for new seasons tonight. (After a toll-paying stunt, TNT's Raising the Bar also premieres tonight, and One Tree Hill starts its sixth season.)

What more is there to say, really, about the Gossip Girl premiere? We've seen the photos, the clips, and even the first five minutes. And yet, I'm sure there will be a surprise or two in tonight's episode, which finds the crew wrapping up a steamy Summer in the Hamptons. Meanwhile, Prison Break has its two-hour premiere, which finds Michael in LA investigating Sara's death — which, of course, may be a little more complex than what we first thought. Also, Sona has burned to the ground, and some of our Break-ers are now unaccounted for.

Will you be watching either show tonight? In case you're just getting caught up, you can watch a quick summary of the first season of Gossip Girl and another of the first three years of Prison Break if you read more

• Filmonic has a pretty awesome rundown of which actors would play the Simpsons characters in a live-action Simpsons movie. My favorites are Allison Janney as Mrs. Krabappel and Kevin Smith as Comic Book Guy.
• The Ausiello Report has the strangest news that a Prison Break character we thought was dead is alive after all. Huh?
• Cinematical claims the movie 21 proves that sometimes a film can be reviewed entirely from its trailer.
• Popwatch has a helpful — and very funny — video that will catch you up on Dancing With the Stars, just in case you didn't catch all 3.5 hours of it this week.
• TV Filter wonders why John Adams is the most boring character in HBO's John Adams.
• According to Stereogum, even Juliana Hatfield is addicted to watching The Hills (though she simultaneously hates it).
• Give Me My Remote is glad that a Battlestar Galactica alum is giving Joss Whedon's Dollhouse some sci fi cred.
• Thanks to You Ain't No Picasso for showing me that Andrew Bird has blogged for the New York Times!

How do they keep doing it? Prison Break is one of those shows that seemed to have a really solid premise for one season. Maybe two. Certainly not three — and four? Out of the question.

Except that this Fox drama just keeps dodging the bullet. This week, Fox announced that Prison Break is returning for a fourth season of 22 episodes, which will begin airing in the Fall. The series will relocate from Dallas to Los Angeles, where key storylines will be taking place.

The show only got to air 13 episodes this season because of the writers' strike, but they certainly weren't lacking in drama — much revolving around the departure of a major character. It isn't a very highly rated show (the 13 episodes averaged 8.2 million viewers) but the audience it has seems to be enough to keep Fox happy. A spinoff focusing on a women's prison is also still in the works, likely focusing on a character that will be introduced sometime in the fourth season.

Prison Break fans, is the show's return good news for you? Or do you think the series has already run its course?

Photo courtesy of Fox

• TV Squad wants to know: Why is Mad About You on MENSA's list of the smartest TV shows?
• Check out Popcandy's podcast with the filmmakers of About a Son, the Kurt Cobain documentary.
• Give Me My Remote questions whether last night's Prison Break could work as a series finale.
• Cinematical ponders a recent list of movies that make men cry, which includes The Iron Giant, Brian's Song and — Love Actually?
• Popwatch got those America's Next Top Model dolls to have a pool fight.
• Stereogum bids a sad farewell to alt-country music magazine No Depression.
• If you want to talk Dancing with the Stars, TV Cocktail has details on the new cast and predictions on how they'll do.
• DearSugar wants to know: Would you do, dump, or marry James McAvoy?

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• TV Squad rounds up TV-based comic books, just in case you want to read while the writers are on strike.
• Cinematical's weekly list laments the seven good actors who have subjected us to terrible accents in films.
• Popwatch has an early review of Wu-Tang Clan's next album 8 Diagrams.
• TV with MeeVee is impressed that the Family Friendly Programming Awards actually went to some pretty good shows.
• The MTV Movies Blog has a new photo of Sylvester Stallone looking mean (and kind of gross) as John Rambo.
• Give Me My Remote has photographic evidence of a possible Prison Break spoiler.
• Stereogum has a video preview for Bjork's "Declare Independence."
• TV Filter tries to figure out who should win Beauty and the Geek.

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• TV Squad mulls the news that ER could get one more season.
• Forget voicing Beowulf, Ray Winstone wants to talk Indiana Jones 4 over on the MTV Movies Blog.
• Popwatch decides Prison Break is "going nowhere slowly." On the other hand, TV with MeeVee thinks the show could teach 24 a few lessons.
• Pretty Much Amazing rounds up the Arcade Fire's covers of Springsteen, the Smiths, and Clinic.
• TV Filter has some suggestions for the fourth season of Weeds.
• Head over to AquariumDrunkard for a review of the companion soundtrack to the Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There.
• Give Me My Remote wonders: What one TV episode is on your desert island list?
• Cinematical has a weird vintage clip of a young Morgan Freeman on the old television show The Electric Company.
• Stereogum has a new live video of Wilco playing at Austin City Limits.

Photo courtesy of NBC

First Private Practice, now this: The Prison Break team is planning a spinoff set in a women's prison. The show, Prison Break: Cherry Hill, would focus on a character named Molly who will be joining the regular Prison Break cast later this season. The rest of the info includes mild spoilers for upcoming episodes, but if you want to know more about the potential spinoff, just read more