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Oz

  • TV Series
  • 1997–20031997–2003
  • TV-MATV-MA
  • 55m
IMDb RATING
8.7/10
101K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
490
14
Oz (1997)
Home Video Trailer from HBO Home Video
Play trailer0:31
6 Videos
99+ Photos
CrimeDramaThriller
A series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.A series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.A series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.
IMDb RATING
8.7/10
101K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
490
14
    • Tom Fontana
  • Stars
    • Ernie Hudson
    • J.K. Simmons
    • Lee Tergesen
    • Tom Fontana
  • Stars
    • Ernie Hudson
    • J.K. Simmons
    • Lee Tergesen
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 214User reviews
    • 29Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated TV #81
    • Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys

    Episodes56

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos6

    Essential Guide to Rita Moreno
    Clip 8:44
    Watch Essential Guide to Rita Moreno
    Oz: The Complete First Season
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Oz: The Complete First Season
    Oz: The Complete First Season
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Oz: The Complete First Season
    Oz: Season 5
    Trailer 1:16
    Watch Oz: Season 5
    Oz: Season 1
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Oz: Season 1
    Oz: Season 6
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch Oz: Season 6

    Photos773

    Oz (1997)
    Leon in Oz (1997)
    Craig muMs Grant in Oz (1997)
    Terry Kinney in Oz (1997)
    J.K. Simmons in Oz (1997)
    J.K. Simmons in Oz (1997)
    Philip Casnoff in Oz (1997)
    Otto Sanchez and Michael Wright in Oz (1997)
    Terry Kinney in Oz (1997)
    Craig muMs Grant in Oz (1997)
    Ernie Hudson in Oz (1997)
    Derrick Simmons in Oz (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ernie Hudson
    Ernie Hudson
    • Warden Leo Glynn
    J.K. Simmons
    J.K. Simmons
    • Vern Schillinger
    Lee Tergesen
    Lee Tergesen
    • Tobias Beecher
    Dean Winters
    Dean Winters
    • Ryan O'Reily
    George Morfogen
    George Morfogen
    • Bob Rebadow
    Terry Kinney
    Terry Kinney
    • Tim McManus
    Rita Moreno
    Rita Moreno
    • Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
    Harold Perrineau
    Harold Perrineau
    • Augustus Hill
    Eamonn Walker
    Eamonn Walker
    • Kareem Said
    Craig muMs Grant
    Craig muMs Grant
    • Poet
    Luna Lauren Velez
    Luna Lauren Velez
    • Dr. Gloria Nathan
    Granville Adams
    Granville Adams
    • Zahir Arif
    Tom Mardirosian
    Tom Mardirosian
    • Agamemnon Busmalis
    Kirk Acevedo
    Kirk Acevedo
    • Miguel Alvarez
    BD Wong
    BD Wong
    • Father Ray Mukada
    Chuck Zito
    Chuck Zito
    • Chucky Pancamo
    Philip Scozzarella
    • Officer Joseph Mineo…
    Scott William Winters
    Scott William Winters
    • Cyril O'Reily
      • Tom Fontana
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Some cast members that played prisoners have noted that, throughout the series, if you showed up late to the set, your punishment would be that your character would either die or be raped the next week.
    • 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...
    • Quotes

      [repeated line]

      Vern Schillinger: Niggers are up to something

    • Connections
      Featured in The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1999)

    User reviews214

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    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!
    helpful•167
    15
    • thensheappeared
    • Jul 20, 2004

    FAQ16

    • Its been 20 years since Oz finished airing... Why no Bluray as of yet?
    • Is that a real tattoo getting inked in the credits?
    • Why is season 4 longer than the others?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 12, 1997 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Bayonne, New Jersey, USA
    • Production companies
      • Rysher Entertainment
      • The Levinson / Fontana Company
      • Viacom Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 55 minutes
      • Color

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