Years before Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) sat down for his first session with Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) in The Sopranos, or Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) published stories about the perils of dating in Sex and the City, the inmates of HBO’s Oz were trying to survive to the next day. The first hour-long drama produced by HBO, Oz gave viewers an inside look at the fictional Oswald Maximum Security Correctional Facility (or Oz for short), and the inmates who regrettably called it their home. Oz was not only HBO’s first original drama, but it also remains one of its best, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Over six seasons, Oz would lay the groundwork for future shows on HBO before the term prestige television entered the pop-culture lexicon. Created by Tom Fontana, Oz was daring, violent, and explored social issues in an unflinching and, yes, sometimes melodramatic fashion. No inmate was safe from an unceremonious death, guards were as corrupt as those behind bars, and the only thing more dangerous than the wrong alliance was seeking redemption in a place that found honesty dangerous.
What Is HBO’s ‘Oz’ About?
While most of the prison operated in a “business as usual” approach, Oz focused on a new and experimental cellblock known to the inmates as “Emerald City.” Designed and run by Tim McManus (Terry Kinney), Emerald City’s goal was to reform offenders in a meaningful way, even if they were serving life sentences that guaranteed they would never step foot on grounds outside the prison walls. McManus’ idealism is tested hourly by the inmates in Emerald City, ranging from the charismatic but vicious white supremacist Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons) to the audience’s narrator and the show’s beating heart, Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau). Although Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson) thinks McManus’ mission is doomed, he attempts to provide support and advice that often goes unheeded.
HBO’s ‘Oz’ Was a Brutal Drama That Pulled No Punches
In the first moments of Oz, as we’re introduced to disgraced attorney Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergeson) entering his new home, a fellow arriving inmate is stabbed multiple times, much to his horror. This won’t be the third-worst thing to happen to Tobias within the next 48 hours of his time in Oz. In a series that remained riveting from the first episode to the last, Oz would throw its characters, cellmates, and administrative personnel alike into harrowing situations that never ran shorter than life or death stakes. No one — not even the individuals we assumed to be main characters — was safe from the brutal swings of prison life. That’s not to say, however, that the violence was without intent.
Fontana had previously written for the police series Homicide: Life on the Street for NBC, but there was curiosity about what happened to the criminals after their capture. Oz was able to explore the struggles of the prisoners and society on a larger scale, by introducing audiences to characters of all different races, backgrounds, and beliefs, and seeing what happened when they were forced to create a society there was no escape from. While the intelligent and amoral Ryan O’Reilly (Dean Winters) concocted a new scheme that would undoubtedly end in bloodshed, plotlines around his brother Cyril (Scott William Winters) were commentary on how the penal system treated inmates who weren’t of sound mind, and the humanity of the death penalty.
Sex, drugs, and emotional support were all used as currencies, and each created different scars when they were withheld from those who relied on them to get through the day. The prison setting was never lost or forgotten at any moment, but many of the challenges the inmates of Oz faced were relatable and felt by the viewing audience. These were people first and inmates second, and because of that, the pain they caused and received left visceral impressions on viewers even as the storylines trended toward the more unbelievable in later seasons. Despite their crimes, which were revealed in entertaining vignettes usually narrated by our guide Augustus, the inmates were sympathetic characters easy to grow attached to. Unfortunately for the audience, attachments are a bad idea in prison because the body count on Oz was so high, it was a wonder the prison wasn’t permanently shut down within the first season.
‘Oz’ Was the Edgy Programming HBO Needed
For HBO, a cable network primarily known for second-run movies and live sporting events like boxing, a show like Oz could be the perfect way for the fledgling network to grow into new avenues of programming. Unlike the network alternatives that needed to answer to censors, HBO allowed complete creative freedom never before seen on television, delivering a cinematic experience in episodic form. Oz represented more than an entertaining show; it was a proof of concept for HBO, evidence that they had what it took to enter a crowded but stagnated field of television offerings.
When prisoners misbehaved (which was frequently), their punishment was to be thrown naked into “the hole,” a version of solitary confinement designed to dehumanize the offender. In one such scene featuring Christopher Meloni’s sociopathic fan favorite, Chris Keller, the actor would actually urinate in a bucket on camera, a moment Meloni would remember as one of his favorites from the show. It’s safe to say scenes such as this weren’t happening on Frasier (not that anyone was asking for it), but on a cable channel looking to stand out, no boundary could be pushed too far.
Jail Time in HBO’s ‘Oz’ Launched Multiple Careers
Outside of giving HBO the confidence to seek more original programming, Oz would also give many actors a boost to their careers. Edie Falco would trade in her prison guard outfit for the life of a mob wife as Carmella Soprano on The Sopranos, Meloni would solve crimes instead of committing them as Elliott Stabler on Law and Order: SVU, and Simmons continued to film, where he would win an Oscar for his performance in Whiplash. These are only a few instances, as many of the actors who made up a cast of incredible characters went on to shows in the Law & Order franchise and other HBO programs such as The Wire.
Oz was the rare show that was violent and thoughtful, never straying too far from its message while in the pursuit of the next plot twist that likely ended with a dead cellmate. As nihilistic a program as it could sometimes be, there was also a kernel of hope within the carnage. The pursuit of redemption was never going to be easy or rewarding in the traditional sense, but there was more nobility in the attempt to better oneself than give in to the surrounding cynicism.
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