Oz (1997–2003)

A series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.

Creator:

Tom Fontana

Stars:

Ernie Hudson, J.K. Simmons, Lee Tergesen

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 11 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ernie Hudson	...	Warden Leo Glynn (56 episodes, 1997-2003)
J.K. Simmons	...	Vern Schillinger (56 episodes, 1997-2003)
Lee Tergesen	...	Tobias Beecher (56 episodes, 1997-2003)
Dean Winters	...	Ryan O'Reily (56 episodes, 1997-2003)
George Morfogen	...	Bob Rebadow (56 episodes, 1997-2003)
Terry Kinney	...	Tim McManus (55 episodes, 1997-2003)
Rita Moreno	...	Sister Peter Marie Reimondo (55 episodes, 1997-2003)
Harold Perrineau	...	Augustus Hill (55 episodes, 1997-2003)
Eamonn Walker	...	Kareem Said (51 episodes, 1997-2003)
Craig muMs Grant	...	Poet (49 episodes, 1997-2003)
Lauren Vélez	...	Dr. Gloria Nathan (48 episodes, 1997-2003)
Granville Adams	...	Zahir Arif (48 episodes, 1997-2003)
Tom Mardirosian	...	Agamemnon Busmalis (47 episodes, 1998-2003)
Kirk Acevedo	...	Miguel Alvarez (46 episodes, 1997-2003)
BD Wong	...	Father Ray Mukada (46 episodes, 1997-2003)
Chuck Zito	...	Chucky Pancamo (46 episodes, 1998-2003)
Philip Scozzarella	...	Officer Joseph Mineo (46 episodes, 1997-2003)
Scott William Winters	...	Cyril O'Reily (45 episodes, 1998-2003)
Otto Sanchez	...	Chico Guerra (40 episodes, 1998-2003)
Christopher Meloni	...	Chris Keller (38 episodes, 1998-2003)
Robert Clohessy	...	Officer Sean Murphy (38 episodes, 1999-2003)
R.E. Rodgers	...	James Robson (36 episodes, 1998-2003)
Kristin Rohde	...	Officer Claire Howell (35 episodes, 1999-2003)
Carl DiMaggio	...	Officer Len Lopresti (34 episodes, 1999-2003)
Evan Seinfeld	...	Jaz Hoyt (33 episodes, 1998-2003)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Simon Adebisi (32 episodes, 1997-2000)
Timothy L. Brown	...	Officer Jason Armstrong (32 episodes, 1997-2003)
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Governor James Devlin (27 episodes, 1997-2003)
Steven Wishnoff	...	Tony Masters (27 episodes, 1999-2003)
David Zayas	...	Enrique Morales (26 episodes, 2000-2003)
Sean Dugan	...	Timmy Kirk (26 episodes, 1998-2003)
Anthony Chisholm	...	Burr Redding (23 episodes, 2001-2003)
Edie Falco	...	Officer Diane Whittlesey (23 episodes, 1997-2000)
J.D. Williams	...	Kenny Wangler (23 episodes, 1997-2000)

Storyline

Oz chronicles life inside an experimental cell block in the Oswald Maximum Security Correctional Facility: Level Four called Emerald City. Under unit manager Tim McManus and Warden Leo Glynn, the inmates in Em City all struggle to fulfill their own needs. Some fight for power; either power over the drug trade or power over the other inmate factions. Others want money, either through slinging 'tits' (drugs), gambling or other scams. Others, Corrections officers and inmates alike, simply want to survive long enough to make parole or even to see tomorrow. The show gives a no-holds-barred account of prison life with all the plots, subplots and conflicts given context and explaination by the show's wheelchair-bound narrator, Augustus Hill.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | aryan | prison life | gambling | parole | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kylmä rinki

Filming Locations:

Bayonne, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levinson / Fontana Company, The, Rysher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 100 min (series finale) 60 min (53 episodes) 63 min (season 4 finale) 68 min (season 2 finale)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (1997-1998) Dolby (1999-)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The prison set was actually an old warehouse that Tom Fontana had revamped. Fontana was also able to move his production offices into the space. Fontana would renew the lease on the space one year at a time in case the show got cancelled. During production on the fourth season, Tom Fontana learned that the owner of the property signed off a 10-year lease to NY1, a local New York City news station. The fourth season finale was titled "Famous Last Words" and ends with a fiery explosion in the prison. This was so that the episode could also serve as the series finale in case Fontana was unable to find a new filming location for the show. Fortunately, Fontana found a similar looking warehouse in New Jersey he could use and the show was able to continue.

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Goofs

When Doctor Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez) talks to Ryan O'Reilly (Dean Winters) about his cancerous tumour in his chest, she says that the lump is "under the left nipple". However, he was clearly bleeding from the right nipple and ever clutching the right one while in the infirmary...

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Quotes

Chris Keller: You saw my ex, Bonnie. When I met her she was all alone, very unhappy. So I knew it would be easy to get her to fall in love with me. But what I didn't know... was after I broke her heart would she still love me.
[He pauses and lets this settle]
Chris Keller: See, I'm a piece of shit. I am worthless. As bad as they come and to have someone keep loving me, no matter how bad...
[he pauses]
Chris Keller: You happy now? You got me to open up and spill my guts all over your table.

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Connections

Referenced in Grounded for Life: Lily B. Goode (2001)
Eddie asks Brad if he's ever seen Oz.

User Reviews

More genius from the creators of "Homicide: Life on the Street"

OK, it's violent and bloody and vicious and cruel. It's also wildly creative, beautifully filmed, brilliantly acted (with very few exceptions) and has a great framing device. The stories are both filled with detail and minutiae, and also have overarching moral tales and "big picture" flow. At the end of almost every episode you'll probably find yourself muttering "This is SUCH a good show!"

Although it is ostensibly the story of a prison and its many prisoners, 'Oz' can be viewed as primarily the story of one man, Tobias Beecher. Beecher has committed vehicular manslaughter while driving drunk. Because Beecher is a lawyer, the court decides to make an example of him and sends him to maximum security at Oswald Penitentiary. His journey through Oz is basically the rest of the series, and it's certainly no yellow brick road he follows. Everything that you could imagine happening in a prison setting happens, and probably a lot you wouldn't imagine.

He gets assigned to "Em" City (Emerald City), an experimental unit in Oz; the goal of Em City is to try a different living environment, one that might give the prisoners a chance at changing their lives and possibly rehabilitate them. Managed by a true prison reform zealot, Tim McManus, Em City is for many prisoners the only hope in their lives. The inmates of Em City are some of the most brutal offenders in the entire penitentiary - McManus insists that these are the prisoners to try to reach. McManus also picks newer prisoners, ones that don't have life sentences, to add to the mix and to give them a shot at rehabilitation.

Every episode has a storyteller - most of the time the storyteller is Augustus Hill, shot while killing a cop and now confined to a wheelchair. Because he is unable to be physically brutal anymore, because he is more imprisoned than even his fellow prisoners, Augustus is very insightful and is used to heighten and clarify themes for the audience.

The other inmates in Em City all have their own character development and story arcs - some are impressively vibrant but brief, others last for the whole series - but ultimately the writers always return to Beecher and his story. His friends (few), his enemies (many), his family, and his relationships with the prison staff.

Amid the worst that prison can dish out, the inmates struggle with the meaning of religion, with definitions of family, with the corruption of politics, with friendship, betrayal, and ultimately, survival. There are moments of sheer wanton destruction, unspeakable violence, shocking cruelty, and pure evil. It's prison! There is nothing glorified here; inmates do drugs to escape the horror of their realities, gangs murder each other over trivialities, inmates and guards commit rape just because they can. But how they manage to survive - and IF they manage to survive - keeps you watching.

Some key performances: The always perfect J.K. Simmons as Schillinger, the leader of the Aryans; Chris Meloni as Chris Keller (quite a different part than his character on L&O: SVU!); Lee Tergesen as Beecher; Eamonn Walker as Said, the leader of the Muslims; Dean and Scott Winters (real-life brothers) as Ryan and Cyril O'Reilly; and Kirk Acevedo as Miguel Alvarez, a member of the Latinos. But honestly, the whole cast is excellent. Even most of the "guest starring" roles - new inmates who practically have an expiration date stamped on them - are good, and at least are pretty interesting.

It's coming out on DVD in dribs and drabs - rent it, borrow it, steal it, whatever. But watch it!