Oz (TV series)

Oz is an American prison drama television series set at a fictional men's prison created and principally written by Tom Fontana.^[1][2] It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO.^[3] Oz premiered on July 12, 1997, and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired on February 23, 2003.

Oz
Genre	Crime Drama Thriller
Created by	Tom Fontana
Written by	Tom Fontana Bradford Winters Sunil Nayar Sean Jablonski Sean Whitesell
Starring	Ernie Hudson Terry Kinney Harold Perrineau Eamonn Walker Kirk Acevedo Rita Moreno J. K. Simmons Lee Tergesen Dean Winters Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Theme music composer	Rosen Dave Darlington
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	56 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Tom Fontana Barry Levinson Jim Finnerty
Producers	Debbie Sarjeant Mark A. Baker Irene Burns Bridget Potter Jorge Zamacona Greer Yeaton
Editor	Deborah Moran
Running time	52–62 minutes 99 minutes (series finale)
Production companies	The Levinson/Fontana Company Viacom Productions (seasons 4–5) Rysher Entertainment (seasons 1–5) HBO Original Programming
Release
Original network	HBO
Original release	July 12, 1997 (1997-07-12) – February 23, 2003 (2003-02-23)

Overview

"Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional level 4 maximum-security state prison in New York.

The nickname "Oz" is also a reference to the classic film The Wizard of Oz (1939), which popularized the phrase, "There's no place like home." In contrast, a poster for the series uses the tagline: "It's no place like home".^[4] Moreover, most of the series' story arcs are set in "Emerald City", a wing named after a setting from the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

Plot

In this experimental unit of the prison, unit manager Tim McManus emphasizes rehabilitation and learning responsibility during incarceration, rather than carrying out purely punitive measures. Emerald City is an extremely controlled environment, with a carefully managed balance of members from each racial and social group, intended to ease tensions among these various factions. However, almost all of these factions are constantly at war with one another which often results in many prisoners being beaten, raped, or murdered.

Under McManus and Warden Leo Glynn, all inmates in "Em City" struggle to fulfill their own needs. Some fight for power – either over the drug trade or over other inmate factions and individuals. Others, corrections officers and inmates alike, simply want to survive, some long enough to make parole and others just to see the next day. The show's narrator, inmate Augustus Hill, explains the show, and provides context, thematic analysis, and a sense of humor.

Oz chronicles McManus' attempts to keep control over the inmates of Em City. There are many groups of inmates throughout the show, and not everyone within each group survives the show's events. There are the African-American Homeboys (Wangler, Redding, Poet, Keane, Adebisi) and Muslims (Said, Arif, Khan), the Wiseguys (Pancamo, Nappa, Schibetta, Zanghi, Urbano), the Aryan Brotherhood (Schillinger, Robson, Mack), the Latinos of El Norte (Alvarez, Morales, Guerra, Hernandez), the Irish (The O'Reilly brothers, Kirk, Keenan), the Gays (Hanlon, Cramer, Ginzburg), the Bikers (Hoyt, Sands, Burns), the Christians (Cloutier, Coushaine, Cudney) and many other individuals not completely affiliated with one particular group (Rebadow, Busmalis, Keller, Stanislofsky). In contrast to the dangerous criminals, central character Tobias Beecher gives a look at a usually law-abiding man who made one fatal drunk-driving mistake.

Cast and characters

 

From left to right: Ryan O'Reily, Vernon Schillinger, Miguel Alvarez, Tobias Beecher, Kareem Saïd, In the front sits Augustus Hill (this photo was also used as the cover for Hill's book)

Main article: List of Oz (TV series) characters

Main actors are credited as "starring" in the opening title sequence, while supporting actors are listed under "also starring". Guest actors are listed in the show's end credits.

Main

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Ernie Hudson	Warden Leo Glynn	Main
Terry Kinney	Tim McManus	Main
Harold Perrineau	Augustus Hill	Main
Eamonn Walker	Kareem Saïd	Main
Kirk Acevedo	Miguel Alvarez	Supporting	Main
Rita Moreno	Sister Peter Marie Reimondo	Supporting	Main
J. K. Simmons	Vernon Schillinger	Supporting	Main
Lee Tergesen	Tobias Beecher	Supporting	Main
Dean Winters	Ryan O'Reily	Supporting	Main
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	Simon Adebisi	Guest	Supporting	Main

Supporting

Actor	Character	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
B.D. Wong	Father Ray Mukada	Supporting
Edie Falco	Officer Diane Whittlesey	Supporting			Guest
Sean Whitesell	Donald Groves	Supporting
Tony Musante	Nino Schibetta	Supporting
Leon Robinson	Jefferson Keane	Supporting					Guest
Jon Seda	Dino Ortolani	Guest					Guest
Lauren Vélez	Dr. Gloria Nathan	Guest	Supporting
George Morfogen	Bob Rebadow	Guest	Supporting
J. D. Williams	Kenny Wangler	Guest		Supporting
Željko Ivanek	Governor James Devlin	Guest		Supporting
muMs da Schemer	Arnold "Poet" Jackson	Guest		Supporting
Granville Adams	Zahir Arif	Guest		Supporting
Rick Fox	Jackson Vahue	Guest			Supporting		Supporting
Eddie Malavarca	Peter Schibetta	Guest				Supporting
Tom Mardirosian	Agamemnon Busmalis		Guest	Supporting
Christopher Meloni	Chris Keller		Guest	Supporting
Scott William Winters	Cyril O'Reily		Guest	Supporting
Austin Pendleton	William Giles		Guest	Supporting
Kathryn Erbe	Shirley Bellinger		Guest	Supporting			Guest
Luis Guzmán	Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez		Guest	Supporting
Mark Margolis	Antonio Nappa		Guest	Supporting			Guest
Chuck Zito	Chucky Pancamo		Guest		Supporting
R.E. Rogers	James Robson		Guest				Supporting
Evan Seinfeld	Jaz Hoyt		Guest				Supporting
Otto Sanchez	Carmen "Chico" Guerra		Guest				Supporting
Sean Dugan	Timmy Kirk		Guest		Guest		Supporting
Robert Clohessy	Officer Sean Murphy			Supporting
Kristin Rohde	Officer Claire Howell			Supporting
Philip Casnoff	Nikolai Stanislofsky			Supporting
Seth Gilliam	Officer Clayton Hughes			Supporting
Kevin Conway	Seamus O'Reily			Guest	Supporting
Charles Busch	Nathaniel "Nat" Ginzburg			Guest	Supporting
David Zayas	Enrique Morales				Supporting
Reg E. Cathey	Martin Querns				Supporting		Guest
Erik King	Moses Deyell				Supporting
Lance Reddick	Johnny Basil / Desmond Mobay				Supporting
Lord Jamar	Supreme Allah / Kevin Ketchum				Supporting
Michael Wright	Omar White				Supporting
Anthony Chisholm	Burr Redding				Supporting
Luke Perry	Jeremiah Cloutier				Supporting
Betty Buckley	Suzanne Fitzgerald				Supporting
Blake Robbins	Officer Dave Brass				Guest		Supporting
Patti Lupone	Stella Coffa						Supporting
Joel Grey	Lemuel Idzik						Supporting
Bobby Cannavale	Alonzo Torquemada						Supporting

Episodes

Main article: List of Oz episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	8		July 12, 1997 (1997-07-12)	August 25, 1997 (1997-08-25)
2	8		July 11, 1998 (1998-07-11)	August 31, 1998 (1998-08-31)
3	8		July 14, 1999 (1999-07-14)	September 1, 1999 (1999-09-01)
4	16	8	July 12, 2000 (2000-07-12)	August 30, 2000 (2000-08-30)
		8	January 7, 2001 (2001-01-07)	February 25, 2001 (2001-02-25)
5	8		January 6, 2002 (2002-01-06)	February 24, 2002 (2002-02-24)
6	8		January 5, 2003 (2003-01-05)	February 23, 2003 (2003-02-23)

Oz took advantage of the freedoms of premium cable to show elements of coarse language, drug use, violence, frontal nudity, homosexuality, and rape of males, as well as ethnic and religious conflicts that would have been unacceptable to traditional advertiser-supported American broadcast television.^[5][6][3]

On an episode of Saturday Night Live that Jerry Seinfeld hosted on October 2, 1999, a sketch was produced that showed what life was like for his character of the same name behind bars after being transferred to the Oswald State Correctional Facility sometime after the events of Seinfeld (1989–1998).^[7] The roughly four-minute sketch shows the opening credits for the HBO series with clips of Jerry mixed in doing various activities around the prison. The sketch continues and mixes in different story lines from both Oz and Seinfeld and has Jerry interacting with various characters from the show in his typical quick-witted, sarcastic way.^[8] Seinfeld's second cousin, Evan Seinfeld, plays Jaz Hoyt in Oz.

Broadcast

Syndication

On April 21, 2009, Variety announced that starting May 31, DirecTV will broadcast all 56 episodes in their original form without commercials and in up-scaled "high definition" on The 101 Network available to all subscribers. The episodes will also be available through DirecTV's On Demand service.^[9]

International broadcast history

In Australia, Oz was screened uncensored on Channel "OH" on Optus TV, then free-to-air channel, SBS. This was also the case in Brazil, where it was aired by the SBT Network Corporation, late at night; in Ireland, where the series aired on free-to-air channel TG4 at 11 p.m.; in Israel, where Oz was displayed on the free-to-air commercial Channel 2; in Italy, where it was aired on the free-to-air Italia 1; and in the United Kingdom, where Channel 4 aired the show in a late-night time slot.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was aired on the federal TV station called FTV. In Canada, Oz aired on the Showcase Channel at Friday 10 p.m. EST. In Croatia, Estonia, and Slovenia, the show was aired late at night on public, non-commercial, state-owned channels HRT, ETV, and RTV SLO, respectively. In Denmark, it appeared late at night on the non-commercial public service channel DR1. In Finland, it broadcast on the free-to-air channel Nelonen (TV4). In France, the show aired on commercial cable channel 'Serie Club,' also late at night. In Malaysia, full episodes of Oz aired late at night on ntv7, while the censored version aired during the day. In the Netherlands, Oz aired on the commercial channel RTL 5. In New Zealand Oz aired on The Box at 9.30pm on Wednesdays in the early 2000s (decade). In Norway and Sweden, it aired on the commercial channels ZTV and TV3 late at night. In Panama, Oz aired on RPC-TV Channel 4 in a late-night hour. In Portugal, Oz aired late at night on SIC Radical, one of the SIC channels in the cable network. In Serbia, Oz aired on RTV BK Telecom. In Spain, the show aired on premium channel Canal+. In Turkey, Oz was aired on Cine5; DiziMax also aired the re-runs. In Japan, it aired on SuperChannel (now, Super! Drama TV) from 29 December 2001 to 22 July 2005.

Rights

The series was co-produced by HBO and Rysher Entertainment (who owns the copyright), and the underlying U.S. rights lie with HBO Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which has released the entire series on DVD in North America. The international rights were owned originally by Rysher, then Paramount Pictures/Domestic Television after that company acquired Rysher. CBS Studios International currently owns the international TV rights, and Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD owns the international DVD rights.

Reception

Critical response of Oz

Season	Rotten Tomatoes
1	80% (25 reviews)^[10]
2	100% (6 reviews)^[11]
3	100% (6 reviews)^[12]
6	91% (11 reviews)^[13]

Critical reception

Critical reception of Oz was mostly positive. The first season of Oz has been ranked a 70 based on the rating aggregator website Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews by critics.^[14] Caryn James from The New York Times stated: "Set almost entirely in the prison, a high-tech horror with glass-walled cells, Oz can also be unpleasant to watch, it is so gruesome and claustrophobic. Yet... as the series moves beyond its introductory shock value, it becomes more serious, disturbing and gripping.... The point of Oz, with its depiction of guilty men in torturous circumstances, is never subtle, but it is complicated and strong."^[15] Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Engaging, often Brutal."^[16]

Other reviews were more critical of the series. Frederic Biddle of the Boston Globe said: "A pretentious exercise in cheap thrills, by great talents allowed to run amok."^[17][18] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times reported: "Its uniqueness and arresting style don't earn it an unqualified endorsement here, for its first two Fontana-written episodes are absolute downers--there's no light at the end of a tunnel, nor even a tunnel--that offer no central characters to like or pull for...Be forewarned, too, that Oz is flat-out the most violent and graphically sexual series on TV."^[19]

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Oz

Oz has had a successful run at many award associations,^[20] including, four wins out of sixteen nominations at the ALMA Awards, three wins out if six nominations at the Artios Awards,^{[21][22][23][24][25]} three wins out of seven nominations at the CableACE Awards,^[26][27] one win out of twenty-two nominations at the Online Film & Television Association Awards,^[28][29] and two wins out of five nomination at the Satellite Awards.^[30][31] It has also received awards at Il Festival Nazionale del Doppiaggio Voci nell'Ombra and the Edgar Awards.^[32]

Additional nominations consist of the NAACP Image Awards (seven), a GLAAD Media Award,^[33] a Producers Guild of America Award,^[34][35] a Writers Guild of America Award,^[35] and although the series has not been the recipient of any major awards, it was however nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Charles S. Dutton),^[36] and Outstanding Casting for a Series (Alexa L. Fogel).^[37]

Home media

VHS & DVD

The first two seasons of Oz were released on VHS in box sets.^[38][39] HBO Home Video has released all six seasons of Oz on DVD in Region 1 and Region 2. The Region 1 releases contain numerous special features including commentaries, deleted scenes and featurettes. The Region 2 releases do not contain any special features.

Season	Release date			Additional
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	March 19, 2002	February 5, 2007^[40]	February 15, 2007^[41]	Released on VHS & DVD in U.S. 8 episodes BBFC rating: 15 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Second Season	January 7, 2003	August 6, 2007^[42]	August 16, 2007^[43]	Released on VHS & DVD in U.S. 8 episodes BBFC rating: 18 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Third Season	February 24, 2004	October 29, 2007^[44]	November 8, 2007^[45]	8 episodes BBFC rating: 18 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Fourth Season	February 1, 2005	March 3, 2008^[46]	March 20, 2008^[47]	16 episodes BBFC rating: 18 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Fifth Season	June 21, 2005	June 30, 2008^[48]	June 19, 2008^[49]	8 episodes BBFC rating: 18 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Sixth Season	September 5, 2006	September 22, 2008^[50]	September 18, 2008^[51]	8 episodes BBFC rating: 18 ACB rating: MA15+
The Complete Series (Seasons 1–6)	September 5, 2006	September 7, 2009^[52]	TBA	Released as Special Edition (U.S.) Released as The Emerald City Collection (UK) 56 episodes BBFC rating: 18 Re-released in UK on February 3, 2014

Soundtrack

Main article: Oz (soundtrack)

Avatar Records released a soundtrack containing East Coast, West Coast, and Southern hip hop on January 9, 2001. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Soundtrack Charts, #42 on the Billboard 200, and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.^[53] The soundtrack featured the song "Behind the Walls" recorded by Kurupt & Nate Dogg.

References

1. Adam Dunn (21 February 2003). "The end of 'Oz'". CNN. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
2. "Oz Production Notes". Retrieved 2010-08-05.
3. Bruce Fretts (11 July 1997). "Nasty As He Wanna Be". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
4. Beeler, Karin (Nov 7, 2005). Tattoos, Desire and Violence: Marks of Resistance in Literature, Film. p. 120. ISBN 978-0786423897.
5. Dilday, K. A. (5 January 2003). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
6. Klemm, Michael D. (July 2003). . Outcome. via cinemaqueer.com. Archived from the original (Reprint) on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
7. Saturday Night Live season 25
8. "SNL Transcripts: Jerry Seinfeld: 10/02/99: Oz". October 8, 2018.
9. MICHAEL SCHNEIDER (20 April 2009). "'Oz,' 'Deadwood' join DirecTV". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
10. "OZ: SEASON 1 (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
11. "OZ: SEASON 2 (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
12. "OZ: SEASON 3 (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
13. "OZ: SEASON 6 (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
14. "Oz Season 1". Metacritic. OCLC 911795326. from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
15. James, Caryn (12 July 1997). "High Tech Prison and the Face of Horrors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
16. "Oz Season 1". Metacritic. OCLC 911795326. from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
17. Biddle, Frederic M. (1997-07-11). "Prison Drama 'Oz' Locked in Bad Concept 'Homicide' Creators Fail Inside". The Boston Globe. ProQuest document ID 403849210, Accession number 04647083: The New York Times Company. p. D, 1. ISSN 0743-1791. OCLC 66652431.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
18. Biddle, Frederick. "Metacritic". Boston Globe. OCLC 911795326. from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
19. Rosenberg, Howard. "Metacritic". Los Angeles Times. OCLC 911795326. from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
20. "Oz (1997–2003) Awards". IMDb. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
21. "1998 Artios Awards". castingsociety.com. November 4, 1998. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
22. "1999 Artios Awards". castingsociety.com. September 22, 1999. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
23. "2000 Artios Awards". castingsociety.com. November 1, 2000. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
24. "2001 Artios Awards". castingsociety.com. October 4, 2001. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
25. "2002 Artios Awards". castingsociety.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
26. "CableAce Nominations". Variety. September 24, 1997. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
27. "CableAce Awards". Variety. November 16, 1997. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
28. "2nd Annual TV Awards (1997-98)". oftaawards.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
29. "3rd Annual TV Awards (1998-99)". oftaawards.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
30. . pressacademy.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
31. . pressacademy.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
32. "Category List – Special Edgars". edgarawards.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
33. . The Advocate. Pride Media. January 19, 2020. ISSN 0001-8996. Archived from the original on October 25, 2000. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
34. . Producers Guild of America. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
35. "Oz (TV Series) (1997)". filmaffinity.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
36. "Charles S. Dutton". emmys.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
37. "Alexa L. Fogel". emmys.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
38. . February 7, 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-02-07.
39. . February 5, 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-02-05.
40. "Oz : Complete Season 1 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
41. OZ Season 1. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
42. "Oz : Season 2 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
43. OZ Season 2. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
44. "Oz : Season 3 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
45. OZ Season 3. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
46. "Oz : Season 4 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
47. OZ Season 4. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
48. "Oz : Season 5 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
49. OZ Season 5. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
50. "Oz - Season 6 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
51. OZ Season 6. Booktopia. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
52. "Oz - Complete Season 1-6 [DVD]". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
53. Steve Rosen
    Dave Darlington. "Oz – Original Soundtrack (2001)". Billboard. from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2009-10-21.

Sources

• Season 1, Episode 2, DVD Commentary on "Oz: The Complete First Season."
• Season 2, Episode 5, "Oz: The Complete Second Season."

Further reading

• Chavez, Dannette (12 July 2017). . AVClub. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
• Jarvis, Brian. "The Violence of Images: inside the prison TV drama Oz". ResearchGate. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
• Oz: behind these walls: the journal of Augustus Hill. New York: HarperEntertainment. 2003. ISBN 0-06-052133-3. OCLC 51241977.
• Peden, Laura David (15 July 2001). . The New York Times. p. 2:24. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
• Stemple, Lara (2007). "HBO's OZ and the Fight against Prisoner Rape: Chronicles from the Front Line". In Johnson, Merri Lisa (ed.). Third Wave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts it in a Box. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 166–188. ISBN 978-1-84511-245-5. OCLC 72151012.
• Van Elteren, Mel. Hart, Kylo-Patrick (ed.). "Mediated deviance and social otherness: Interrogating influential representations". Journal of American Culture. Michigan State University East Lansing: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.2008.00674_33.x. ISSN 1540-5931. OCLC 1754751.

External links

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to Oz (TV series).

• Oz at IMDb