PRISON BREAK – Please read and reply

I will do a course on American TV series and its acceptance over here in Germany. Germany has always been an TV series nation ( TV series produced in Germany itself). There are of course quite a lot of American TV series on Germany channels too, but predominantly those packed with humor than with seriousness, no matter if the genre was comedy or not. Those that were accepted by German spectators are comedy(-like) shows and episode-shows (you know, one show = one episode, it wdoesn´t matter if you miss one show or not, you won´t miss essential information that would prevent you from viewing the next week´s show). Any other show was rejected and cancelled because of low viewer ratings.

And it´s the same with “Prison Break” (which started in Germany 4 weeks ago). I did some research and I am really asking myself WHY. American viewers pretty much like the show, don´t they?

What makes it so successful in America?
– Is it the concept/ plot?
– Is it the cast? (although I get the impression that the hype around Wentworth Miller is bigger than the one around the other actors.)

(Knowing this is helpful for getting to know what German viewers probably do or don´t like.)

(note: I know the problem has to be seen in relation to certain demographic and geographic facts and it won´t be ignored!)