Oz (1997)

Name: Oz
Rating: 8.1

TV-MA — Mature Audiences

Rating: 8.1

IMDb

Synopsis

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

First Air Date: 1997-07-12

Last Air Date: 2003-02-23

Number of Seasons: 6

Number of Episodes: 56

Created By: Tom Fontana

Networks: HBO

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

Lee Tergesen as Tobias Beecher
Harold Perrineau as Augustus Hill
Dean Winters as Ryan O'Reily
Eamonn Walker as Kareem Saïd
Ernie Hudson as Leo Glynn
Terry Kinney as Tim McManus
Rita Moreno as Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
J.K. Simmons as Vernon Schillinger
Kirk Acevedo as Miguel Alvarez
Craig muMs Grant as Poet

Seasons

Select a Season

None

None (1997)

Welcome to Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison or "Oz." As run by Tim McManus and overseen by Warden Leo Glynn. Em City is about prisoner rehabilitation over public retribution. No matter how hardened a criminal or killer, whether you're in for a few years or in for life, you have a role to play. Once inside, choose your friends carefully. Every group - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to mutual friends and terrorize mutual enemies. Don't smile. Get yourself a weapon. Stay on everybody's good side... if you can find one.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: The Routine (1997-07-12)

In the "Emerald City" experimental unit of Oswald State Penitentiary, we meet some of the diverse inmates who live within a pecking order of Homeboys, Latinos, Muslims, Irish, Aryans, and Wiseguys. No clear-cut leader emerges—with the possible exception of Kareem Saïd, a Muslim author who preaches non-violence and abstinence. Saïd's arrival doesn't prevent a short-fused Mafia inmate named Dino Ortolani from ticking off just about everybody—a habit that ends up burning him.
Ep. 2: Visits, Conjugal and Otherwise (1997-07-14)

With Schibetta and the prison brass in a race to uncover Ortolani's killer (for very different reasons), we see how inmates react to visits from both their wives and, in one case, family members who are also in prison.
Ep. 3: God's Chillin' (1997-07-21)

As friction grows in the wake of increasing deaths, Schibetta, Saïd, and Keane are brought together by Glynn, who tells them to keep their respective groups quiet or else he'll lock the prison down. The tension increases following a visit from Governor Devlin, who was responsible for the ban on smoking and conjugal visits.
Ep. 4: Capital P (1997-07-28)

Governor Devlin has reinstated capital punishment in the state, and the first Oz prisoner scheduled to die is Keane.
Ep. 5: Straight Life (1997-08-04)

The infiltration of drugs into Oz has reached unprecedented levels, and the undercover efforts of McManus and Glynn to find out who's smuggling them in backfires in a deadly way. Despite a lockdown in Emerald City, the drugs continue to trickle in—and the blame shifts from prisoners to corrupt officials.
Ep. 6: To Your Health (1997-08-11)

Three generations of Alvarezes—all prisoners at Oz—are united when the partiarch, Ricardo, is found face down in his cell, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, Beecher, who as Schillinger's "prag" has been forced to wear women's clothes, flips out after taking PCP.
Ep. 7: Plan B (1997-08-18)

A recovered Saïd ostracizes Mershah for turning his back on him when he was dying—and orders the rest of the Muslims to do the same. Impressed by Saïd's power, Groves makes a deadly decision in his honor. Meanwhile, Beecher, transformed by prison life, finally gets revenge on Schillinger.
Ep. 8: A Game of Checkers (1997-08-25)

Beecher is released from the hole and Schillinger is left eyeless and weak. A riot breaks out after two white punks get into a fight over checkers. Frustration, sexuality, hate, revenge, racism all rear their ugly heads, causing the violence to escalate.