Nothing says brotherly love more than going to prison with a full body tattoo to break your brother out Prison Break welcomed fans behind bars in 2005 and has maintained a steady fan base ever since, even after the first four seasons and the 2017 reboot Netflix recently added Prison Break to its library and has been trending on and off ever since

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When Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is arrested for armed robbery, someone probably should have noticed the red light on his smile, but who could have guessed it was all a ploy to get him locked up in Fox River Prison? Michael entered the prison with blueprints of the prison hidden in tattoo ink before the execution date of his brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), who allegedly killed the vice president's brother

“Prison Break” featured more than a few prison escapes during its run They were sort of trapped by its title Of course, at the heart of this Paul T Scheuring-produced series is the bond between the brothers and the people they meet on their journey to take down a shadowy organization called the Company that set up Lincoln's trap

Between brother-centric shows like “Supernatural” and prison shows like “OZ,” here are five shows like “Prison Break” that are perfect for streaming

Speaking of self-sacrificing brothers, the only TV duo with a more codependent bond than Michael and Lincoln are the Winchester brothers from “Supernatural” While the show is not set in prison, demon-hunting brothers Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) have been arrested numerous times and even had an actual jailbreak or two That tends to happen when you spend your time committing credit card fraud, breaking and entering, impersonating FBI agents, and haunting grotesque and inexplicable murder scenes

Like Michael and Lincoln, the Winchester brothers are constantly trying to outdo each other in the “willing to die for their brother” department Unlike Michael and Linc, however, the Winchesters actually succeed in sacrificing themselves through convenient dandy resurrections, deals with the devil, and heavenly (and not-so-heavenly) interference

Eric Kripke created the show in 2005 and served as showrunner through season 5 The series ran for over a decade until it ended in 2020 While the early seasons focused specifically on the brothers, many guest stars and regulars were reintroduced, especially in later seasons After season 4, Misha Collins was introduced and became the series' most notable regular character as the angel Castiel

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Fortunately, Prison Blue in Prison Break is, well, blue The inmates in “Orange is the New Black” are not so lucky In addition to having to barter for tampons, the prisoners are bound in hideous orange attire While most of Prison Break takes place outside of Fox River (and the other prisons in which it appears), the Netflix show is set almost exclusively in the women's prison Litchfield

“Orange is the New Black” centers on new inmate Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) as she pays the price for her foolish (and illegal) college decision from a naive suburban housewife She must soon become a tough prisoner, willing to do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means ruining her friends The series tackles a number of injustices in the prison system, including corrupt guards (which is familiar from “Prison Break”), prison gangs, lack of mental health care, and treating the entire system as a money-making machine instead of focusing on reform

In addition to Schilling, the 2013 series features Danielle Brooks (Testy), Taryn Manning (Pensatucky), Emma Myles (Leanne), Kate Mulgrew (Red), Uzo Aduba (Suzanne), Dascha Polanco (Dayanara), Laverne Cox (Sofia), and Laura Prepon (Alex) It was produced by Jenji Kohan and aired for seven seasons

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It is not immediately apparent that “Breakout Kings” is actually a spin-off of “Prison Break,” but given that it is from the same creators, there must be some crossover After the “Prison Break” finale, the OG character T-Bag appears and the shows connect However, in the “Prison Break” reboot, T-Bag's updated storyline is considerably set back (but so are other details of the actual show, so fans will have to tolerate it)

The tone of “Breakout Kings” tends to be lighter than “Prison Break,” with more comedic overtones and a more even ensemble cast rather than an excessive focus on two characters Rather than focusing on the prison break itself, “Breakout Kings” brings together a group of con artists who assist the US Marshals Service in catching newly escaped prisoners In return, they enjoy the perks of reduced sentences each time they are caught in prisons with minimal security

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“Prison Break” has its small-time elements, but Taylor Sheridan's “The Mayor of Kingstown” takes the cake for a dark prison show, lighting and all Like “Prison Break,” “The Mayor of Kingstown” is about a family Somehow, the McCluskey family is more dysfunctional than Michael, Lincoln, and their endless family baggage Of course, the actual mayor of the town is not the man of the title, but Mike McCluskey, played by Jeremy Renner, who basically runs the prison system (and by extension the town)

Given that the seven prisons in Kingstown are practically the only industry in town, it is not surprising that the show tackles everything that is wrong with for-profit prisons From systemic racism, to intemperate corruption, to the role poverty plays in the fate of the barbed wire in and out, “The Mayor of Kingstown” pulls no punches The city's politicians and prison guards are often worse than the inmates, bringing to mind Sucre's “Prison Break” quote: “The jailers are the dirtiest gang in the city The only difference between us and them is the badge”

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No, in this ultra-dark TV show, the inmates are not going to see a wizard The particular unit of Oswald Prison on which the show focuses may have the nickname Emerald City, but the walls are much more red than green; as HBO's first one-hour show, Tom Fontana's “OZ” helped pave the way for the station's future hit programming direction It helped pave the way for the station's future hit shows However, because it was a cable show, it was able to create a more violent and visceral showcase of death, racial strife, sex, and executions

While there is unbridled brutality in the series, it is also filled with comedic moments and dark humor, often addressed to viewers by inmate and narrator Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau) Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment, but that doesn't stop the inmates (and guards) from doing “the most” (which often translates to “the bloodiest”) The series' narration is also an interesting stylistic choice, breaking the fourth wall and adding surrealism to the gritty drama Oz paved the way for shows like Prison Break, which ended its six-season run just two years before the show's debut in 2005”

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