Oz
Top
Plot
Created by Tom Fontana and co-produced by Fontana and Barry Levinson (the same team responsible for Homicide: Life on the Street), the gritty, uncompromising cable drama series Oz was set within the walls of Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary (later rechristened Oswald State Correctional Facility), known to inmates and guards alike as "Oz". In a similar burst of grotesque whimsy, the action took place in "Emerald City," an experimental "prison within a prison," wherein the inmates were allowed to function as a more or less autonomous community, awarded with mobility and privileges in exchange for submitting to a daily routine and a strict set of rules and guidelines. Emerald City was established at the behest of Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson) by idealistic unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney), who hoped that by giving the inmates a sense of community and responsibility, he could smooth the road to rehabilitation. Unfortunately, there were some convicts who just couldn't see things from McManus' "New Age" perspective, leading to sundry outbreaks of violence and bloodshed throughout the season's six-year HBO run. Additionally, Glynn and McManus were at the mercy of Governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who sailed into office on a tough law-and-order platform, and who was dead set against McManus' alleged coddling of Em City's most dangerous cons. As it happened, Devlin's administration was itself waist-deep in corruption and collusion, making his entire pro-law stance somewhat laughable (except that no one was laughing).As for the inmates, they had divided themselves along ethnic and personality lines into various tribe-like factions, eternally enmeshed in deadly power struggles. Among these "tribes" were The Brotherhood, The Homeboys, The Muslims, The Italians, The Irish, The Latinos, The Gays, and a nebulous bunch called "The Others," of which the series' narrator, wheelchair-bound con Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.) was a member of long standing. The series boasted an enormous cast of characters on both sides of the bars. Those who were seen throughout the series' entire run included the aforementioned Leo Glynn, Tim McManus, James Devlin, and Augustus Hill (who remained a key player even after he was killed at the end of season five!), as well as inmates Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo), Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), Zahir Arif (Granville Adams), Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen), Bob Rebadow (George Morfogen), and the funky philosopher known as Poet (muMs).
Of the authority figures, those who went the full six-year distance included prison infirmary doctor Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez) and spiritual leaders Sister Peter Marie Reimondo (Rita Moreno) and Father Ray Mukada (B.D. Wong). Other recurring characters worth noting were volatile inmates Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni) and Simon Abedisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje), self-proclaimed escape artist Agamenon "The Mole" Busmalis (Tom Mardirosian), pregnant convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe), pro basketball player-cum-convict Jackson Vayhue (Rick Fox), imprisoned televangelist Jeremiah Cloutier (Luke Perry), sympathetic prison guards Sean Murphy (Robert Clohessy) and Diane Wittlesey (Edie Falco), and not-so-sympathetic turnkeys Claire Howell (Kristin Rohde) and Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam) -- the latter a psychopath who ended up attempting to assassinate Governor Devlin. Debuting July 12, 1997, Oz turned out between eight and 16 episodes per year (running times varied from 45 to 70 minutes), until its final first-run installment on February 23, 2003. ~ Rovi
Credit
Barry Levinson - Executive Producer, Tom Fontana - Executive Producer, Jim Finnerty - Executive Producer, David Darlington - Composer (Music Score), Stephen Rosen - Composer (Music Score), Jean de Segonzac - Cinematographer, Glenn Kershaw - Cinematographer, Alex Zakrewski - Cinematographer, Adam Bernstein - Producer, Sean Whitesell - Producer, Irene Burns - Producer, Tom Fontana - ScreenwriterEpisodes
Oz: Season 01 (1997)Seen mostly through the eyes of wheelchair-bound prisoner Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), who serves as narrator and "tour guide," the first season of Oz begins with the establishment of a "prison within a prison" on Cell Block 5 of Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary -- aka "Oz." Under the watchful eyes of Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson), Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) serves as unit manager of Cell Block 5, which he rechristens the Emerald City. It is the hope of the idealistic McManus that by allowing the prisoners more freedom and privileges, and getting them used to a daily routine, they will become rehabilitated more quickly. Perhaps it goes without saying that McManus is in for a lot of disillusionment and disappointment during the eight episodes of season one. Newly interned at "Em City" are former lawyer Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen), nervously serving time for murder; famed Muslim leader Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), who calmly informs Warden Glynn that he intends to become "top man" at Oz; pro basketball player Jackson Vayhue (Rick Fox); and cannibalistic serial killer Donald Groves (Sean Whitesell). Their assimilation into the prison population is uneventful until Governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who has sailed into office on a platform diametrically proposed to Glynn's "coddling" of prisoners, orders the removal of such newly installed privileges as smoking and conjugal visits. Going one step farther, Devlin reinstates the death penalty, resulting in the immediate execution of one of the Em City "residents." Clearly, this does nothing to alleviate the tension between cons and guards -- nor, for that matter, between the various powerful factions within the population. In the course of events, an undercover narc is found hanged in his cell, another prisoner is set afire, the Oz staffers wrestle with the problem of what to do with elderly inmates, a turf war breaks out over a game of checkers, and Kareem Said suffers a heart attack. The season ends with a bloody and destructive riot -- with no indication as to who will survive to appear in season two. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- The Routine
- Visits Conjugal and Otherwise
- Capital P
- Straight Life
- To Your Health
- Plan B
- A Game of Checkers
- God's Chillin'
Season two of Oz gets under way in the wake of the bloody riot at "Emerald City," the experimental unit set up on Cell Block 5 of Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary, in which eight are killed and 34 wounded. Though it is obvious to many observers that the ruthlessly ambitious Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek) has used the riot as an excuse to violently smash Warden Glynn's (Ernie Hudson) efforts to rehabilitate the prisoners via more freedom of movement and extra privileges, Devlin's questionable actions in the incident are condoned by the prison board. Ten months later, the convicts are herded into Emerald City's new facilities -- whereupon the old power struggles and drug trading resumes as if nothing had happened. The unit's still-idealistic manager, Tim McManus (Terry Kinney), hopes to mollify the prisoners and mold them into useful citizens worthy of rehabilitation by reinstating many of their privileges, and by attempting to bring the various factional subgroups -- the Latinos, the Italians, the Muslims -- into a homogenous "whole" in which everyone is equal and no one is mad at anyone. McManus has also convinced himself that the cons would benefit from an education program. Before long, alas, most of McManus' New Age notions are flattened beneath the juggernaut of reality. New to the Em City prisoner population this season are Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni), Agamemnon "The Mole" Busmalis, (Tom Mardirosian), and Cyril O'Reily (Scott William Winters). Events crucial to the action include the rape of Gov. Glynn's daughter by members of the Latinos; the publication of a "true" interpretation of the riot by inmate Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), the powerful and nationally famous leader of the Muslims; the governor's announcement that prisoner Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe) is to be the first woman executed by the state since 1841; and a "foolproof" escape attempt that ends in a double tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- The Tip
- Ancient Tribes
- Great Men
- Losing Your Appeal
- Family Bizness
- Strange Bedfellows
- Animal Farm
- Escape From Oz
Idealistic, "New Age" unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) persists in trying to mold "Emerald City" (aka Cell Block 5 of Oswald State Correctional Facility -- formerly Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary) into a model "prison within a prison" as Oz begins its third season. Part of McManus' pie-in-the-sky plan includes the hiring of his old friend Sean Murphy (Robert Clohessy) as a guard. Alas, Murphy's efforts to redirect the convicts' energies and hostilities into good, clean athletics are compromised when one inmate renders another inmate brain-dead in a boxing match. No one is more delighted at Tim McManus' frustration than the state's ambitious governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who as part of his platform to strip the cons of all perks and privileges has ruthlessly slashed the prison's budget to the bone. In addition to Sean Murphy, Officer Claire Howell (Kristin Rhode) joins the guard unit, immediately making enemies of everyone within the sound of her voice. Not only does Howell force the cons into having sex with her to lighten up punishment duty, but she also ends up suing McManus for sexual harassment. Sensing the opportunity to establish themselves as top dogs at Emerald City block leaders, convicts Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) and Wangler (J.D. Williams) likewise gang up on McManus, taking their complaints to the press. Elsewhere, the death sentence of Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe) is commuted to life without parole when it turns out she is pregnant; Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) hires Off. Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam), the son of one of Oz's former guards, only to discover that Hughes is a psycho on a revenge kick; Beecher (Lee Tergesen) hatches an elaborate revenge scheme of his own; and charismatic Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker) is among those thrown into solitary after a bitter racial showdown. The season ends with a not-so-merry Christmas for all, and to all a bad night. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- The Truth and Nothing But
- Napoleon's Boney Parts
- Legs
- Cruel and Unusual Punishments
- Out of Time
- Secret Identities
- U.S. Male
- Unnatural Disasters
As season four of Oz begins, the experimental unit at Oswald State Correctional Facility known as "Emerald City" is not living up to manager Tim McManus' (Terry Kinney) hopes. Ever since he set up the unit, wherein convicts are given more freedom of movement, extra privileges, and the opportunity for advancement, McManus has been frustrated that his good intentions have not paid off in wholesale rehabilitation. In fact, things seem to have gotten worse, with too many murders and suicides occurring within the unit. Hoping to alleviate the situation, McManus' head guard, Murphy (Robert Clohessy), suggests that all the cons -- including those in solitary -- spend an hour each day indulging in healthy recreation. Again, however, the plan fails when a killing takes place during that special hour. With more episodes this season than in previous years (16, compared to the usual eight), Oz is able to devote extra time to a plethora of subplots. One of these involves convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe), who after losing her unborn baby under suspicious circumstances is sent back to death row. Also, a group of illegal aliens sequestered in Emerald City is the catalyst for a rash of violence; Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) runs for lieutenant governor; an attempt to film a documentary in Oz ends in disaster; Busmalis (aka "The Mole") (Tom Mardirosian), manages to break out of prison, only to be recaptured as he stands outside the home of his favorite TV star; crooked evangelist Rev. Cloutier (Luke Perry) is tossed into the unit; and infirmary doctor Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez) is raped. Tensions continue to mount as McManus is fired and convict Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) escapes (these plot twists were designed to allow Acevedo and his co-star Terry Kinney to take leaves of absence to appear in other projects); new unit manager Martin Querns (Reg E. Cathey) cuts a sinister deal with drug-dealing con Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) to put a lid on the violence; fired guard Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam) tries to assassinate Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek); a plot is hatched to frame wheelchair-bound convict Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.) for a crime he hasn't committed; the children of inmate Beecher (Lee Tergesen) are placed in jeopardy thanks to orders from the "inside"; and incarcerated Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker) settles accounts with an old enemy. The season ends with a cliffhanger, sparked -- literally -- by a deadly gas explosion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- A Cock and Balls Story
- Obituaries
- The Bill of Wrongs
- Works of Mercy
- You Bet Your Life
- A Town Without Pity
- A Word to the Wise
- Gray Matter
- Medium Rare
- Orpheus Descending
- Revenge Is Sweet
- Blizzard of '01
- Conversions
- Cuts Like a Knife
- Even the Score
- Famous Last Words
Previously fired from his job as manager of "Emerald City," the experimental unit set up at Oswald Correctional Facility, Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) has been reinstated by the time Oz's fifth season gets under way. The season begins with an accounting of the damage caused by the gas explosion at the end of season four. Not long afterward, "Emerald City" has new facilities, and a whole new crop of inmates -- all from solitary, having been relocated due to ventilation problems. In another development, a bus accident kills the relatives of several Emerald City inmates; among those devastated by the loss is wheelchair-bound Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), who makes a dangerous choice when he tries to console himself. Elsewhere, convict Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) puts his life on the line to reassert his control over the prisoners; inmate Rebadow (George Morfogen) is cheated out of a two-million-dollar lottery prize; and the prisoners put on a variety show. Season five ends with an overabundance of cliffhanger situations involving (among other things) a comatose convict and a capital murder conviction. There is also a devastating loss at season's end -- even more devastating than the one incurred at the outset of the season. ~ Rovi
- Dream a Little Dream
- Laws of Gravity
- Next Stop, Valhalla
- Visitation
- Wheel of Fortune
- Variety
- Good Intentions
- Impotence
Although Oz's longtime narrator, wheelchair-bound prison inmate Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), was killed at the end of the series' fifth season, he is still very much in attendance at the beginning of season six -- albeit from beyond the grave. Hill is, in fact, one of several ghostly prisoners, all of them victims of past tragedies occurring at the experimental "Emerald City" unit at Oswald Correction Facility, who show up to narrate the eight episodes in this, the series' final season on the air. Undaunted by previous failures and setbacks, unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) remains steadfast in his belief that the prisoners living within "Emerald City" can be rehabilitated if given freedom of movement, extra privileges, and a sense of responsibility and self-worth. Unfortunately, he may not get the chance to carry out his reforms this season, inasmuch as several prisoners have become violently ill due to faulty building substances used to renovate the unit. In another disturbing development, Emerald City's most famous "resident," charismatic Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker), is murdered. On a more satisfying note, the ruthlessly ambitious Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who for six years has opposed the efforts by McManus and Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) to improve prison conditions, may finally be called to account for all of his crooked and underhanded dealings in the past. Oz's climactic episode, running 100 minutes, not only serves up just desserts for Devlin, but also charts the ultimate destinies of two other long-term series regulars, convicts Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) and Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen). "There's no place like home." ~ Rovi
- Dead Man Talking
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil
- Sonata da Oz
- A Failure to Communicate
- 4Giveness
- A Day in the Death
- Junkyard Dawgs
- Exeunt Omnes
Top
(ŏz) 
n.
An unreal, magical, often bizarre place: regarded New York City as the Oz of the Northeast.
Oz2 (ŏz)
n. Slang
Australia.
n.
An unreal, magical, often bizarre place: regarded New York City as the Oz of the Northeast.
[After the fantasy land Oz created by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful World of Oz and other novels.]
Oz2 (ŏz)
n. Slang
Australia.
[Alteration of AUS(TRALIAN).]
noun
noun
1: Australia. (1908 —) .
Private Eye If they guess I'm from Oz the shit will really hit the fan (1970).
2: An Australian. (1974 —) .adjective
3: Australian. (1971 —) .
Sunday Telegraph These Oz intellectuals fell over themselves in a desperate parade of learning heavily-worn (1989).
[Alteration of initial element of Australia(n); cf. Aussie.]
noun
1: Australia. (1908 —) .
Private Eye If they guess I'm from Oz the shit will really hit the fan (1970).
2: An Australian. (1974 —) .
3: Australian. (1971 —) .
Sunday Telegraph These Oz intellectuals fell over themselves in a desperate parade of learning heavily-worn (1989).
[Alteration of initial element of Australia(n); cf. Aussie.]
| Oxford scholar, Owsley acid, Oscar | |
| Ozzie, oaf, oafo |
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'Oz'
- Myths, Legends, and Fables - Oz: magical or otherworldly land described in Oz books of L. Frank Baum
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Oz (TV series)
| Oz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | |
| Created by | Tom Fontana |
| Written by | Tom Fontana Bradford Winters Sunil Nayar Sean Jablonski Sean Whitesell |
| Directed by | Adam Bernstein and others |
| Starring | Kirk Acevedo Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Ernie Hudson Terry Kinney Rita Moreno Harold Perrineau J.K. Simmons Lee Tergesen Eamonn Walker Dean Winters |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 56 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Tom Fontana Barry Levinson Jim Finnerty |
| Producer(s) | Debbie Sarjeant Mark A. Baker Irene Burns Bridget Potter Jorge Zamacona Greer Yeaton |
| Editor(s) | Deborah Moran |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Production company(s) | The Levinson/Fontana Company Rysher Entertainment HBO Original Programming |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original run | July 12, 1997 – February 23, 2003 |
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes.[1] It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO.[2] Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired February 23, 2003.[1][3] The show was filmed in New York City, New York and later Bayonne, New Jersey.
"Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional maximum-security prison (level 4). The nickname is a reference to the classic film The Wizard of Oz, which is notable for popularizing the phrase: "There's no place like home". In contrast, the series has used the tagline: "It's no place like home".
In 2008, the show was placed at #73 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.[4]
|
Contents
|
Plot
The majority of Oz's plot arcs are set in "Emerald City," also a concept from The Wizard of Oz. 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 number of members of each racial and social group, with the hope of easing tensions among these various groups.
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 even just to see the next day. The show offers a no-holds-barred account of prison life. All plots, subplots and conflicts are given context and explanation by the show's wheelchair-using narrator, Augustus Hill.
Oz chronicles McManus's 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 (Adebisi, Wangler, Redding, Poet, Keene, Supreme Allah) and Muslims (Said, Arif, Hamid Khan), the Wiseguys (Pancamo, Nappa, Schibetta, Zanghi, Urbano), the Aryan Brotherhood (Schillinger, Robson, Mark Mack), the Latinos of El Norte (Alvarez, Morales, Guerra, Hernandez), the Irish (the O'Reily brothers), the gays (Hanlon, Cramer), the bikers (Hoyt, Sands), and many other individuals not completely affiliated with one particular group (Rebadow, Busmalis, Keller, Stanislofsky). In contrast to the dangerous criminals, character Tobias Beecher gives a look at a usually law-abiding man who made one fatal drunk-driving mistake. Episodes are narrated and held together by inmate Augustus Hill, who provides the show with context, thematic analysis and a sense of humor.
The ensemble cast included Christopher Meloni, Ernie Hudson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Harold Perrineau Jr., Eamonn Walker, Rita Moreno, John Lurie, Terry Kinney, Betty Buckley, Kathryn Erbe, Lee Tergesen, B. D. Wong, J. K. Simmons, Dean Winters, Scott William Winters, Kirk Acevedo, Erik King, Evan Seinfeld, David Zayas, Lauren Vélez, and Edie Falco.
Eric Roberts, Joyce Van Patten, Method Man, Luke Perry, Master P, Treach, LL Cool J, Rick Fox, Dana Ivey and Peter Criss have made appearances on the show.
Style
Oz is primarily narrated by inmate Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau, Jr.), former drug dealer, convicted murderer and former drug addict. Now paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair-bound, he appears in surreal segments and introductions that usually relate to each episode's overall theme. He also sets up scenes, introduces characters and adds epilogues. When necessary — usually when a character is introduced — Hill appears as an omniscient narrator. Used as a literary device of the writers, he narrates details of characters' crimes, their inmate identification numbers and their sentences. Hill appears as a recurring character within the show's story lines until his death at the end of the fifth season; he and other deceased characters share narration duties throughout the final, sixth season.
Hill's narrations break the fourth wall, as Hill addresses the camera (and thus the audience) directly, out of the fictional context of the scene. Hill also appears in scenes where he interacts with other characters in the story (in these, he does not address the camera). Only once did Hill appear to directly address another character with one narration; in the Season 3 episode "Unnatural Disasters," the character Simon Adebisi turns on a computer and sees Hill, dressed as a pharaoh and speaking to him. Adebisi was troubled by this event, but wrote it off as a drug-induced hallucination.
Cast and characters
Main article: List of Oz (TV series) characters
Cast members are billed in alphabetical order.
Starring
- Kirk Acevedo as Latino inmate Miguel Alvarez (Season 2–6; recurring season 1)
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as inmate and gang leader Simon Adebisi, (Season 3–4; recurring season 1 & 2)
- Ernie Hudson as Warden Leo Glynn (seasons 1–6)
- Terry Kinney as Emerald City Unit Manager Tim McManus (seasons 1–6)
- Rita Moreno as prison counselor Sister Peter Marie Reimondo (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1)
- Harold Perrineau Jr. as inmate and narrator Augustus Hill (seasons 1–6)
- J.K. Simmons as inmate and Aryan Brotherhood leader Vernon Schillinger (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1)
- Lee Tergesen as inmate and former lawyer Tobias Beecher (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1)
- Eamonn Walker as inmate and wise devout Muslim Kareem Saïd (seasons 1–6)
- Dean Winters as manipulative Irish-American inmate Ryan O'Reily (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1)
Recurring
- Mason Adams as inmate Jaz Hoyt's father, Mr. Hoyt. His final acting role (season 6)
- Mary Alice as Augustus Hill's mother Eugenia (season 5)
- Tom Atkins as Mayor Wilson Loewen (season 6)
- Betty Buckley as Suzanne Fitzgerald, Ryan O'Reily's mother (seasons 4–6)
- Robert John Burke as FBI Agent Pierce Taylor (seasons 4–6)
- Bobby Cannavale as the Latino inmate Alonzo Torquemada (season 6)
- Reg E. Cathey as Emerald City Unit Manager Martin Querns, (seasons 4 and 6)
- Anthony Chisholm as Homeboy leader Burr Redding (seasons 4–6)
- Robert Clohessy as Correctional Officer Sean Murphy, (seasons 3-6)
- Kevin Conway as Seamus O'Reily, Ryan and Cyril's abusive father (seasons 4–6; guest starring previously)
- John Doman as Marine Colonel Edward Galson (season 4)
- Lance Reddick as undercover cop Johnny Basil (season 4)
- Kathryn Erbe as death-row inmate Shirley Bellinger, (seasons 2–4 and 6; guest starring previously)
- Edie Falco as correctional officer Diane Whittlesey, (seasons 1–3)
- Rick Fox as basketball player Jackson Vahue (seasons 4 and 6; guest starring previously)
- Joel Grey as cosmos-minded inmate Lemuel Idzik (season 6)
- Luis Guzmán as inmate and Latino gang leader Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez, (seasons 3–4; guest starring previously)
- Taylor Harrison as inmate T.J. (season 1)
- Željko Ivanek as Governor James Devlin (seasons 1–6)
- Dana Ivey as Patricia Nathan, Dr. Nathan's mother-in-law. (season 4)
- David Johansen as Eli Zabitz (season 4)
- Simon Jones as Judge Mason Kessler (seasons 4 and 6)
- Erik King as death row inmate Moses Deyell (season 4)
- Olek Krupa as assassin Yuri Kosygin, (season 4)
- LL Cool J as inmate Jiggy Walker (season 2)
- Domenick Lombardozzi as inmate Ralph Galino, (season 4)
- Gavin MacLeod as Cardinal Frances Abgott, (season 4)
- Mark Margolis as inmate and mob boss Antonio Nappa, (season 3; guest starring previously)
- John McMartin as Lars Nathan, Dr. Nathan's father-in-law. (season 3)
- Christopher Meloni as Beecher's love interest Chris Keller, (seasons 3–6; guest starring previously)
- George Morfogen as old inmate Bob Rebadow (seasons 2–6; guest starring season 1)
- muMs da Schemer as inmate Arnold "Poet" Jackson (seasons 1-6)
- Tony Musante as inmate and Mafia boss Nino Schibetta, (season 1)
- Brian F. O'Byrne as Irish inmate Padraig Connolly (season 4)
- Joyce Van Patten as Sarah Rebadow, Inmate Bob Rebadow's sister. (season 5)
- Austin Pendleton as William Giles (seasons 3–5; guest starring season 2)
- Luke Perry as Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier (seasons 4–5)
- Leon Robinson as inmate Jefferson Keane, (season 1)
- Jon Seda as wiseguy Dino Ortolani (season 1 and 6)
- Lauren Vélez as prison doctor Gloria Nathan, (seasons 2–6, guest starring previously)
- Sean Whitesell as inmate Donald Groves, (season 1)
- Scott William Winters as Cyril O'Reily, Ryan's mentally disabled brother (seasons 3–6, guest starring previously)
- B.D. Wong as the prison chaplain, Father Ray Mukada. (seasons 1–6)
- Michael Wright as drug addict Omar White (seasons 4–6)
- David Zayas as inmate and leaders of the Latinos Enrique Morales (seasons 4-6)
Episodes and broadcast history
Main article: List of Oz episodes
Oz took advantage of the freedoms of premium cable to show material that too excessive for traditional American broadcast television, including elements of coarse language, drug use, violence, male frontal nudity, homosexuality and male rape, as well as ethnic and religious conflicts.[2]
In Australia, Oz was screened uncensored on the free-to-air channel, SBS. This was also the case 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; in the United Kingdom, where Channel 4 aired the show late at night; in Ireland, where the series aired on free-to-air channel TG4 at 11 p.m.; and in Brazil, where it was aired by the SBT Network Corporation, also late at night.
In the Netherlands, Oz aired on the commercial channel RTL 5. In Sweden and Norway, it aired on the commercial channels TV3 and ZTV late at night, and in Finland, on the free-to-air channel Nelonen (TV4). In Canada, Oz aired on the Showcase Channel at 10 p.m. EST. In Denmark, it appeared late at night on the non-commercial public service channel DR1. In Spain, the show aired on premium channel Canal+. In Estonia, as well as Croatia and Slovenia, the show was aired late at night on public, non-commercial, state-owned channels ETV, HRT and RTV SLO. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was aired on the federal TV station called FTV. In Portugal, Oz aired late at night on SIC Radical, one of the SIC channels in the cable network. In France, the show aired on commercial cable channel 'Serie Club,' also late at night. In Turkey, Oz was aired on Cine5; DiziMax also aired the re-runs. In Serbia, Oz aired on RTV BK Telecom. In Panama, Oz aired on RPCTV Channel 4 in a late-night hour. In Malaysia, full episodes of Oz aired late at night on ntv7, while the censored version aired during the day. In New Zealand Oz aired on The Box at 9.30pm on Wednesdays in the early 2000s (decade).
The program's relatively low number of episodes per season (eight each; sixteen in Season 4), is part of the trend in cable network programming, in which shows often feature shorter seasons than programs on American free-to-air channels, which typically feature sixteen to twenty-two episodes per season.
On April 21, 2009, Variety announced that starting May 31, DirecTV will broadcast all 56 episodes in their original form without commercials and in high definition on the 101 network available to all subscribers. The episodes will also be available through DirecTV's On Demand service.[5]
References in other media
Music
- Rapper Beanie Sigel - "I'm moving out like Adebisi on Oz."
- Rapper Mannie Fresh references the show in the song lyrics of "Undisputed", featuring Baby, Lil Wayne, Lac, and Mikkey with the line: "I'm the greasey, Adebisi thats runnin' the tier."
- Rapper Noreaga references the show in the song lyrics of "Nothin", with lines such as: "Only time they seen jail, when they watchin' Oz" and "Adebisi, want a brick you pay double easy."
- The name of instrumental experimental rock trio Adebisi Shank is a reference to the Oz character.
Television
- In "30 Rock" episode "Goodbye, My Friend", Kenneth tells Tracey that even prisoners have birthday parties, because he saw one on Oz.
- The Arrested Development episode "Visiting Ours" featured a young, traumatized George Michael Bluth watching an episode of Oz, mistaking the show for the film The Wizard of Oz; consequentially, George Michael spends the entire series petrified of prisons.
- The episode "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High" of Fox's Family Guy featured a story in which Lois believed her son Chris had killed a man, whereas it was actually the man's wife who committed the murder. Lois briefly contemplates calling the police but forgets it, stating "I can't call the police. I have to get rid of this body or Chris will go to prison, and we all know what happens in prison showers! I've seen Oz!"' The scene then cuts to a group of naked inmates scrubbing each others' backs in the shower singing a song to the tune to Merry Old Land of Oz from The Wizard of Oz.
- In Gilmore Girls episode "Eight O'Clock at the Oasis", Lorelai's odd new neighbor, Dwight, comments about the unpleasantness of his former home. Lorelai later jokes to Rory that Dwight's former home was "Oz, and not as in the Wizard of."
- MADtv did two Oz parodies: one with Bill Cosby (Aries Spears) in jail in a skit called Coz, and another featuring Martha Stewart (Mo Collins) sent to the Oswald Correctional Facility, using her recipes and home decorating ideas to kill other prisoners.
- In an episode of The O.C., when Seth is picking out a comic to give to Ryan's brother in jail, Ryan suggests a different one and Seth says "The guy's in prison man, have you seen Oz? I'm sure that'll be fine..."
- In one episode of the American remake of Queer as Folk, Brian's nephew says he hopes Brian is sent to jail and anally raped by a black man. Justin comments that his parents must have HBO.
- In an episode of the Adult Swim series Robot Chicken, a segment parodies Oz, starring the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz", who gets shanked with a shiv in the cafeteria. A later segment goes into more detail, with the Tin Man committing suicide, and the Scarecrow depicted as being raped. After the Cowardly Lion is beheaded, the Scarecrow kills the inmate responsible and is sentenced to death. As the Scarecrow is electrocuted to death, an onlooking Dorothy weeps and rubs her breasts on the window, fulfilling the Scarecrow's earlier request.
- An episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live hosted by Jerry Seinfeld featured a skit parodying both Oz and the final episode of Seinfeld, in which Seinfeld's character is sent to prison. It was filmed on the actual Oz sets and featured many main actors from the series.
- The Simpsons episode "Pokey Mom," Chief Wiggum asks a criminal if prison is like what they show in Oz.
- Another episode of The Simpsons, "The Seven-Beer Snitch", features Homer Simpson becoming a prison snitch and receiving a series of gifts and privileges, one of which is an "adorable little hat" identical to the one worn by Simon Adebisi in Oz.
- In the HBO series Six Feet Under, characters David Fisher and Keith Charles are seen watching Oz and talking about the show on occasion.
- The South Park episode "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", in which Eric Cartman gets sent to prison, features music from Oz during establishing shots of the prison. Trey Parker and Matt Stone state on that episode's DVD commentary that the staff of Oz were fans of South Park.
- In the Season 3 episode of Stargate SG-1 entitled "Jolinar's Memories", which takes place in a hellish prison carved into a moon, Colonel Jack O'Neill says "Well... it's certainly not Emerald City." It can be debated that he references The Wizard of Oz (as he referenced it very often during the course of the series), but the "medieval" prison setting, violently contrasting the "clean and modern" look of this Oswald Penitentiary unit, tilt the balance in favor of the prison show.
- The Venture Bros. episode "Powerless in the Face of Death" features music similar to the Oz opening theme during a prison scene.
- On the third season premiere of Will & Grace, Karen tells Rosario that she should be thankful to her for "springing her out of Oz," after Rosario was imprisoned for smuggling Karen's drugs, which was set up by Karen herself.
- In a Season 3 episode of another HBO series The Wire, Omar Little and Dante are seen watching an intimate scene from a Season 6 episode of Oz between Tobias Beecher and Chris Keller.
Rights
The series was co-produced by HBO and Rysher Entertainment, and the underlying U.S. rights lie with HBO, which has released the entire series on DVD in North America. The international rights were owned originally by Rysher, then Paramount Pictures/Television after that company acquired Rysher. CBS Paramount International Television currently owns the international TV rights, and Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS DVD owns the international DVD rights.
DVD releases
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.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 8 | March 19, 2002 |
| The Complete Second Season | 8 | January 7, 2003 |
| The Complete Third Season | 8 | February 24, 2004 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 16 | February 1, 2005 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 8 | June 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Sixth Season | 8 | September 5, 2006 |
Soundtrack
Main article: Oz (soundtrack)
A soundtrack containing East Coast, West Coast and Southern hip hop was released on January 9, 2001 by Avatar Records. It peaked at #42 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[6]
References
- General
- Season 1, Episode 2, DVD Commentary on "Oz: The Complete First Season."
- Season 2, Episode 5, "Oz: The Complete Second Season."
- Specific
- ^ a b Adam Dunn (21 February 2003). "The end of 'Oz'". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/21/oz.end/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ a b Bruce Fretts (11 July 1997). "Nasty As He Wanna Be". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,288583,00.html. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Oz Production Notes". http://www.levinson.com/lf/oz/prod.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
- ^ "The New Classics: TV". Entertainment Weekly. June 18, 2007. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207339,00.html. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
- ^ MICHAEL SCHNEIDER (20 April 2009). "'Oz,' 'Deadwood' join DirecTV". Variety. Reed Business Information. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002639.html?categoryId=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Oz - Original Soundtrack (2001)". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/album/original-soundtrack/oz/457653. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
Further reading
- Stemple, Lara (2007). "HBO's OZ and the Fight against Prisoner Rape: Chronicles from the Front Line". In Merri Lisa Johnson. Third Wave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts it in a Box. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 166–188. ISBN 1-84511-245-8. OCLC 72151012.
- HarperEntertainment (2003). Oz: behind these walls: the journal of Augustus Hill. New York: HarperEntertainment. ISBN 0-06-052133-3. OCLC 51241977.[page needed]
External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Oz (TV series) |
- Oz at the Internet Movie Database
- Oz at TV.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Top
Oz.
Dansk (Danish)
abbr. - unse, 28,35 gram
n. - unse
Français (French)
abbr. - (abrév écrite = ounce(s)) once
n. - (GB) Australie
Deutsch (German)
abbr. - Unze
n. - (Slang) Australien
Ελληνική (Greek)
abbr., -
n. - ουγκιά/-ές
Português (Portuguese)
abbr. - oz
n. - medida de peso chamada onça (f)
Русский (Russian)
унция, Австралия
Español (Spanish)
abbr. - onza
n. - onza
Svenska (Swedish)
abbr. - ounce = 28,35 gram
n. - uns (28,35 gram)
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
盎司, 盎司的重量单位
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
abbr. - 盎司
n. - 盎司的重量單位
한국어 (Korean)
abbr. - ounce(s) (온스)
n. - 온스, 소량
עברית (Hebrew)
abbr. - אונקיה (כ-03 גרם)
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
TV Listings
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Read more
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010
All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.
Read more
Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
All rights reserved.
Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary
Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008
HarperCollins Publishers
All rights reserved.
Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Oz (TV series).
Read more
