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

Jefferson Keane is executed halfway through the first season because the actor portraying him, Leon, refused to commit to a series. When Leon asked Tom Fontana why he was being killed off, Fontana told him it was because he said he wouldn't commit to more than four episodes. Leon replied that he thought he'd been talked out of that and actually wanted to stay.

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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

[Repeated line]
Robert Rebadow: God told me.

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Connections

Referenced in Seinfeld: A XXX Parody 2 (2010)
Title mentioned by Gerry

User Reviews

Not only the best show on TV currently, but one of the best shows of all-time.

Consistently well-written and acted, Oz is without a doubt the best thing on TV. Quality wise, it's up there with the first 4 seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street as the most compelling hour of television drama. Presenting a harsh and realistic view of prison life, Oz is a wonderful mixture of superb acting and character development; all of which rides on a nuanced and erudite core (Foucault's Panopticon is the inspiration for Em City's design...and ultimate failure). It is the only show on TV, that I can think of, that has presented characters who were intensely dislikable one moment and oddly empathetic the next. That I am repulsed by, sympathetic with, intrigued about, and involved with every character that has lived, died or survived on the show, is no small feat. Good TV exists. And, for my money, Oz is not only good TV, it is better than most films released throughout the year.