Edit this page to add other similar items to it, for instance:

Oz was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO. The show, which aired for six seasons (1997-2003), was created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson.

Oz is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison of undisclosed location. Many of the plot arcs are set in Emerald City ("Em City"), an experimental unit of the prison, where the unit manager tries to emphasize rehabilitation and learning responsibility during incarceration. Emerald City is a controlled environment. There are a limited number of members of each racial and social group. The microcosm of Emerald City mirrors the racial and economic tensions in the then present-day United States.

Oz avoids any easy answers as to the origin of violence and criminality. Even the worst offenders are shown to have moments of humanity, while the supposedly "normal" characters come to commit their own atrocities. One of the perspectives shown by Oz is that the rehabilitation of the prisoners is impossible when the system is largely corrupt. The show also focused largely on the abuse of the prisoners' rights and on the large increase of the incarcerated population on the U.S of the late 1990s. Whenever possible, the show presented a major negative perspective over the death penalty.

The large ensemble cast included many famous actors including Rita Moreno, Ernie Hudson and Betty Buckley, as well as Law & Order stars Kathryn Erbe, Christopher Meloni, B. D. Wong, J. K. Simmons, Dean Winters and Kirk Acevedo, Lost stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Harold Perrineau Jr., and Dexter stars Erik King, David Zayas, and Lauren Vélez. Many of the actors from Oz have appeared as guest stars or stars in the various Law & Order series, The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Black Donnellys, New York Undercover, and Lost.

• Official Website

You can edit this page to add links to blogs, sites, and other information... If this page has a "PageType" set above - that will determine where the page is listed on SideReel. You can add text, a picture, links or more by editing the page... Check out the links above if you need help.