| Oz | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Tom Fontana |
| Showrunner | Tom Fontana |
| Written by | Tom Fontana |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 56(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
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| Cinematography |
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| Running time | 55–80 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | July 12, 1997 (1997-07-12) – February 23, 2003 (2003-02-23) |
Oz is an Americanprisondrama television series created, co-executive produced, and principally written byTom Fontana.[1][2] Set at a fictional men's prison, it was the first one-hour dramatic television series produced by thepremiumcable networkHBO.[3]Oz ran for six seasons, from its premiere on July 12, 1997, to its series finale on February 23, 2003.
"Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictionallevel 4maximum-securitystate prison in an unspecified East Coast state, although references throughout the series point to New York as its location.[4] The nickname "Oz" also refers toL. Frank Baum's fictionalLand of Oz. Where the classic filmThe Wizard of Oz (1939) popularized the phrase, "There's no place like home," a poster for the series used the tagline "It's no place like home".[5] Most of the series' story arcs are set in "Emerald City", a wing of the prison that is named aftera fantastic place in theOz books.
In an experimental unit of the prison, unit managerTim 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 WardenLeo 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, inmateAugustus 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-AmericanHomeboys (Wangler, Redding, Poet, Keane, Adebisi) andMuslims (Said, Arif, Khan), theWiseguys (Pancamo, Nappa, Schibetta, Zanghi, Urbano), theAryan 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 characterTobias Beecher gives a look at a usually law-abiding albeit alcoholic man who made one fatal drunk-driving mistake.
| 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[a] | |||||
| Kirk Acevedo | Miguel Alvarez | Starring | Main[b] | ||||
| Rita Moreno | Sister Peter Marie Reimondo | Starring | Main | ||||
| J. K. Simmons | Vernon Schillinger | Starring | Main | ||||
| Lee Tergesen | Tobias Beecher | Starring | Main | ||||
| Dean Winters | Ryan O'Reily | Starring | Main | ||||
| Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje | Simon Adebisi | Recurring | Starring | Main[c] | |||
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 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 ofpremium cable to show elements of coarse language, drug use, violence,frontal nudity, homosexuality, andrape of males, as well as ethnic and religious conflicts that would have been unacceptable to traditional advertiser-supported American broadcast television.[6][7][3]
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" onThe 101 Network available to all subscribers. The episodes will also be available through DirecTV's On Demand service.[8]
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 theSBT Network Corporation, late at night; in Ireland, where the series aired on free-to-air channelTG4 at 11 p.m.; in Israel, whereOz was displayed on the free-to-air commercialChannel 2; in Italy, where it was aired on the free-to-airItalia 1; and in the United Kingdom, whereChannel 4 aired the show in a late-night time slot.
InBosnia and Herzegovina, it was aired on the federal TV station calledFTV.In Canada,Oz aired on theShowcase Channel at Friday 10 p.m. EST.InCroatia,Estonia, andSlovenia, the show was aired late at night on public, non-commercial, state-owned channelsHRT,ETV, andRTV SLO, respectively.InDenmark, it appeared late at night on the non-commercial public service channel DR1.InFinland, it broadcast on the free-to-air channelNelonen (TV4).In France, the show aired on commercial cable channel 'Serie Club,' also late at night.InMalaysia, full episodes ofOz aired late at night onntv7, while the censored version aired during the day.In theNetherlands,Oz aired on the commercial channelRTL 5.In New ZealandOz aired onThe Box at 9.30pm on Wednesdays in the early 2000s (decade).InNorway and Sweden, it aired on the commercial channelsZTV andTV3 late at night.InPanama,Oz aired onRPC-TV Channel 4 in a late-night hour.InPortugal,Oz aired late at night onSIC Radical, one of theSIC channels in the cable network.InSerbia,Oz aired onRTV BK Telecom.In Spain, the show aired on premium channelCanal+.InTurkey,Oz was aired onCine5;DiziMax also aired the re-runs.In Japan, it aired on SuperChannel (now, Super! Drama TV) from 29 December 2001 to 22 July 2005.
The series was co-produced by HBO andRysher 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, thenParamount Pictures/Domestic Television after that company acquired Rysher.CBS Studios International currently owns the international TV rights, andParamount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD owns the international DVD rights.
| Season | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|
| 1 | 80% (25 reviews)[9] |
| 2 | 100% (6 reviews)[10] |
| 3 | 100% (6 reviews)[11] |
| 6 | 92% (12 reviews)[12] |
Critical reception ofOz was mostly positive. The first season ofOz has been ranked a 70 based on the rating aggregator websiteMetacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews by critics.[13] Caryn James fromThe 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 ofOz, with its depiction of guilty men in torturous circumstances, is never subtle, but it is complicated and strong."[14] Steve Johnson of theChicago Tribune wrote: "Engaging, often Brutal."[15]
Other reviews were more critical of the series. Frederic Biddle of theBoston Globe said: "A pretentious exercise in cheap thrills, by great talents allowed to run amok."[16][17] Howard Rosenberg of theLos 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."[18]
Oz has had a successful run at many award associations,[19] including, four wins out of sixteen nominations at theALMA Awards, three wins out of six nominations at theArtios Awards,[20][21][22][23][24] three wins out of seven nominations at theCableACE Awards,[25][26] one win out of twenty-two nominations at the Online Film & Television Association Awards,[27][28] and two wins out of five nomination at theSatellite Awards.[29][30] It has also received awards at Il Festival Nazionale del Doppiaggio Voci nell'Ombra and theEdgar Awards.[31]
Additional nominations consist of theNAACP Image Awards (seven), aGLAAD Media Award,[32] aProducers Guild of America Award,[33][34] aWriters Guild of America Award,[34] and although the series has not been the recipient of any major awards, it was however nominated for twoPrimetime Emmy Awards, forOutstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Charles S. Dutton),[35] and Outstanding Casting for a Series (Alexa L. Fogel).[36]
The first two seasons ofOz were released onVHS in box sets.[37][38]HBO Home Video has released all six seasons ofOz onDVD 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[39] | February 15, 2007[40] | |
| The Complete Second Season | January 7, 2003 | August 6, 2007[41] | August 16, 2007[42] | |
| The Complete Third Season | February 24, 2004 | October 29, 2007[43] | November 8, 2007[44] | |
| The Complete Fourth Season | February 1, 2005 | March 3, 2008[45] | March 20, 2008[46] | |
| The Complete Fifth Season | June 21, 2005 | June 30, 2008[47] | June 19, 2008[48] | |
| The Complete Sixth Season | September 5, 2006 | September 22, 2008[49] | September 18, 2008[50] | |
| The Complete Series(Seasons 1–6) | September 5, 2006 | September 7, 2009[51] | TBA |
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Avatar Records released a soundtrack containing East Coast, West Coast, and Southernhip hop on January 9, 2001. It peaked at #1 on theBillboard Soundtrack Charts, #42 on theBillboard 200, and #8 on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[52] The soundtrack featured the song "Behind the Walls" recorded byKurupt &Nate Dogg.
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