Chapter 1672: Prison Break

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Concerns about the rise of Eleven Studio were still burning in the summer of 2007, but Eleven Studio itself encountered an important turning point: the "prison break" that attracted the attention of the first two seasons and caused countless ratings frenzy After entering August, the production of the third season has not been put on the agenda, because Eleven Studios and Fox TV have serious conflicts over the positioning of the "Prison Break" series.

In fact, as early as the beginning of this year, Evan Bell mentioned to Fox TV that the story of "Prison Break" should officially end after the second season, which made Fox TV jump up from the chair in shock. .

Fox TV thinks Evan Bell is completely insane. In the American TV industry, how can any TV station take the initiative to cut off the shows that are always at the peak of the ratings? Isn't this a self-defeating move?

However, Evan Bell believes that, first of all, the success of the "Prison Break" series depends on the production method that is different from all American TV series. When "Prison Break" was successful, professionals analyzed it. The "Prison Break" series has a different way of survival from all American TV series. Each episode of "Prison Break" has countless details. If you miss an episode, Then there will be confusion about the subsequent development of the storyline, or even incomprehensible. This production method is very sticky to users, making the audience in a state of being unable to stop, and can only follow the episode passively or actively.

Therefore, the series "Prison Break" itself is not suitable for a long-term operation like a typical American series like "Friends". Because the audience will have aesthetic fatigue, and the mental tension will also be fatigued for too long. The most important thing is that the same mode will lose its original freshness after it has been cycled for too long, resulting in the loss of the audience.

The most obvious is that the ratings of "Prison Break" alone exceeded 20 million worldwide in the first season, but dropped to 12 million in the second season.

Why? the reason is simple. The name "Prison Break" is destined to be the theme of escape from prison, so since the first season has already escaped, the second season has become a desperate world. Obviously, the freshness has declined, and the degree of innovation has also dropped by more than one level. In the end, it is the audience. Inevitably resulting in aesthetic fatigue and loss.

Under this situation, the ending method of "Prison Break" is bound to be different. The ending that left huge suspense at the end of the second season is the most perfect ending, because life goes on forever, and the story can't keep falling into an endless loop. Under the circumstance that the number of viewers in the second season can still exceed 10 million, Xia Yan stopped, but it can make the story of "prison break" draw the most perfect ending.

Secondly, Evan Bell insists that the great success of the first season of "Prison Break" lies in the fact that the second season of the whole story has shown signs of fatigue. Currently in the planning of the third season, screenwriter Paul Schurling believes that the main actors should be allowed to return to prison again, and then start the road to escape from prison again.

But the problem is that this situation has already happened once in the first season, and it will happen again, so will the audience still buy it?

Whether it is in the last life or this life, in fact, Evan Bell's view of the series "Prison Break" is the same. The first season is a classic, the second season is a masterpiece, and then... If "Prison Break" can break a strong man's wrist , which ended successfully in the second season, then this is destined to become the most special existence in the history of American dramas and an absolute classic. Therefore, Evan Bell also hopes to make this series such a classic.

If "Prison Break" can be made into a long-term classic distance, why would Evan Bell be unwilling? He personally liked the show very much. But the particularity of "prison break" also determines that its way of survival in the American market is very special.

Evan Bell was on vacation at the time, and had a meeting with a group of high-level Fox TV executives. Evan Bell fought with a group of scholars alone, making the entire conference room silent.

In fact, the idea of ​​Fox TV is very simple: although the ratings of the second season have dropped, the click rate on uTube is still excellent, which shows that there are still countless fans around the world who are willing to support, so why not continue the third season? And advertisers are willing to continue to support the series. The benefits are as simple as that. If you change to any other TV station, the idea is probably the same.

But the question raised by Evan Bell, although Fox TV has also considered for the survival and future of the series before - but it is not so clear. Now that all the scars have been lifted by Evan Bell, Fox has to reconsider.

At that time, Fox TV was planning for the future of each series. Among them, the four works that Eleven Studio cooperated with have won reservations. Needless to say, "American Idol" and "Dancing Forest"; and "Dr. The ratings and word of mouth are flying together, and the location is very stable; "Prison Break" actually performed very well, and Fox TV still hopes to continue to book.

But now, Evan-Bell has pushed the door-to-door money, hoping that "Prison Break" will end in the second season, which has really raised a brand new topic for Fox TV.

There was also a heated discussion within Fox TV. There was no way out. The show "Prison Break" is too special. Even if Evan Bell's reasons are strong, Fox TV needs to be carefully considered. However, in the end, Fox TV is still unable to let go of the current good situation. You must know that the TV station is a big company, and they do not have the resoluteness that Evan Bell is not tempted by interests. Therefore, Fox TV decided to book the script for the third season of "Prison Break".

In this way, Fox TV and Eleven Studios fell into a dead end in a loop. Evan Bell was also very insistent on his own ideas. He talked with Fox TV three times before and after, but they were not able to communicate smoothly. Evan-Bell finally had no choice but to compromise. In Evan-Bell's view, since Fox Television insisted so. So, maybe things will be different in this lifetime?

Therefore, Evan Bell carefully recalled the inadequacies of the third season of the "Prison Break" story in his previous life, and then made relevant suggestions for the script, for example, the pace of the plot should be accelerated, even more than the first season. Quick, because in the third season, people need more stimulation to keep their attention; for example, the plot of female warmth should be properly strengthened, which is a crucial existence for this script; for example, the return of the main characters And the addition of new characters should make a suitable adjustment.

In fact, Evan Bell has insisted on the script for a long time, including the sequel of "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Naval Criminal Investigation" and so on. However, Evan Bell is not the arrogant style. He prefers to discuss with the screenwriter, share his ideas, and finally come up with a suitable plan. But this time, Evan - Bell's opinion has caused a strong reaction from Fox TV.

The main reason is that Evan Bell wanted "Prison Break" to end in the second season at the beginning, and then involved the creation of the script for the third season, which made Fox TV feel that Evan Bell was really interfering too much. Fox Television believes that Evan Bell’s achievements are getting higher and higher now, and his arrogance is gradually expanding, which is quite self-respecting. Although "American Idol" and "Doctor House" have not appeared for the time being This is the case, but Evan Bell's confrontation with the TV station has become the best supporting argument for Fox's view.

Under this situation, Fox TV, which has always had a friendly relationship with Eleven Studios, has gradually become tougher. And the decisive factor was Paul Schurling, the screenwriter of "Prison Break".

Although Eleven Studio is Paul Schurling's Bole, Teddy Bell initially decided Eleven Studio to start producing the series "Prison Break", but for Paul Schurling, Evan Bell refused Continuing to produce the third season of "Prison Break" is actually cutting off his job, which is also a decision that threatens the stability of his life. So, naturally, Paul Schurling was on Fox's side, hoping the series would go on.

Under this circumstance, any comments from Evan Bell on the script triggered Paul Schurling's rebellious psychology, and he refused at all without considering it. This has further stalemate the relationship between Eleven and Fox.

In May of this year, the second season of "Prison Break" came to an end, and Fox TV took the lead in announcing the news that "Prison Break" had been renewed while the deadlock continued. .com~ At present, the two sides have not yet agreed on the cooperation for the third season. Fox TV unilaterally announced the relevant news without asking Eleven Studio. What does this mean?

In fact, the stalemate between Fox TV and Eleven Studios is not unusual at all. Don't look at the close cooperation between the two parties, but as long as the core interests are involved, any friendship or hostility can be counted. More importantly, Eleven Studio is now in a check-and-balance relationship with big companies such as Disney and TV stations. Fox TV, Warner Bros. and other companies that have a good relationship with Eleven Studio are no exception. On the one hand, they hope Eleven Studio continues to produce excellent works and can reach cooperation; but on the other hand, they must be alert to the impact of Eleven Studio on them. Under the competitive situation, mutual involvement is inevitable.

Therefore, Studio Eleven knew that it could not be soft, so they disbanded the "Prison Break" production team forcefully. To be precise, it was the part of the production team that belonged to Studio Eleven. After a holiday, when they come back, the "Mad Men" crew, the "Big Bang Theory" crew, and the "Mamma Mia" crew that have already entered the pre-production stage all need staff, so there is no need to worry about work at all. The problem.

This move by Eleven Studios was astonishing, and it made Fox TV feel the frustration of the original TV station.

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