Friends, The Golden Girls, Northern Exposure, Murder, She Wrote, and ER have demonstrated that the arrival of classic series on streaming platforms makes many fans happier than any new season of a show that premiered two years ago.

New releases attract new viewers to the platforms, but good catalog series with multiple seasons are what keep them, because they appeal equally to nostalgic fans and those curious to discover them. With series like House or more recently Lost, Netflix is capitalizing on that trend, and their latest acquisition has been Prison Break.

Airing in the summer of 2005 on FOX, it capitalized on the success of 24 and Lost, some of the first to embrace a 100% serialized storyline, and continued to engage viewers with twists and cliffhangers that made them not want to miss any episode. A format that encouraged binge-watching once the season ended with the purchase of DVDs (or downloads).

What's it about

The series revolves around Michael Scofield, a structural engineer who commits an armed robbery to be incarcerated in Fox River, a maximum-security prison near Chicago, to carry out an intricate plan to free his brother, Lincoln Burrows, who is serving time after being falsely accused of the murder of the vice president's brother.

The plan is against the clock, as Lincoln has been sentenced to death penalty and his execution can be ordered at any moment, but they will soon discover that beyond escaping, the hardest part will be clearing his name because there is a major conspiracy behind his accusation.

Success with audience and critics

The first season achieved audience numbers that FOX hadn't seen since the time of Melrose Place and Ally McBeal. Besides public and critical acclaim, the series also received awards.

In January 2006, the series garnered two nominations at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Drama Series and Best Actor in a Television Drama Series for Wentworth Miller's performance.

At the 2006 Television Critics Association Awards, the series was nominated for Best New Drama Series and the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, composed by Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones).

The ending and the comeback

Prison Break concluded with its fourth season, ending its run on May 15, 2009, and two weeks later returned with two additional episodes that were released as a movie titled The Final Break.

Fox announced a nine-episode fifth season in January 2016. The revival series premiered on April 4, 2017, and concluded on May 30 of the same year.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence