EmbreyBaumgartner713

Nominated for 2 Emmys, including Best Casting for a Series, Oz is commonly thought to be one of many greatest prison dramas ever made. The brainchild of author Tom Fontana (former author for such hit TELEVISION shows as Homicide: Life On The Streets and St. Elsewhere), Oz was certainly one of numerous an extremely successful HBO original collection to initial in the 1990s, keeping good company among such shows as Sex And The Town and The Sopranos. Premiering in mid-summer 1997, Oz quickly built a large and faithful following of voyeuristic people hypnotized by the series' vivid representation of no-holds-barred prison life. Following six significantly recommended seasons, Oz was cancelled in early 2003, but lives on via DVD

Oz is the road name for the Oswald State Penitentary, a tough and tough jail where survival of the fittest is the prevailing law. Nevertheless the concentration of Oz is Level 5, an experimental cell block considered "Emerald City" that is maintained by Unit Administrator Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) and thick-skinned Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson). Among the prisoners, wheelchair-bound convicted killer Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr. of Lost) narrates for the viewer, tying together the different storylines that play out within the prison. In a environment of well-governed anarchy, prisoners come and go (some paroled; some murdered), jail pads uphold their duty (while some are damaged), and various groups (such as Muslims, Aryans, Latinos, Italians, gangstas, gays, etc.) compete for power over each other and over the predominant medicine industry rampant within the walls of Oz. Tobias "Toby" Beecher (Lee Tergesen) represents the "everyday man," having been convicted for manslaughter while driving drunk, and his character's activities force the audience to place himself in the shoes of the prisoner. Other notable characters include Prisoner Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo), Prisoner Joe Rebadow (George Morfogen), Hostage Vernon Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), Prisoner Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), Prisoner Tony Experts (Steven Wishnoff), Official Diane Whittlesey (Edie Falco of The Sopranos), and Father Lewis Mukada (B.D. Wong of Law & Order: SVU). Together, they form a good cast which makes Oz one of many most readily useful original wire dramas ever produced

The Oz DVD includes a amount of dramatic episodes including the sequence premiere "The Routine" in which people are presented to the most recent crop of inmates to enter Oz (ala Shawshank Redemption). Among them are Miguel Alvarez (who is instantly stabbed in the chest), Kareem Said (a Muslim leader who lets it be known that he now rules the prison), and Tobias Beecher (an out-of-place lawyer incarcerated for killing only a little girl while driving drunk). As the newest inmates become acclimated alive in Oz, they also learn that "the routine" and not the ubiquitous violence is what will finally destroy their spirits Other distinctive episodes from Season 1 include "God's Chillin'" in which, among other things, some damaged pads arrange and videotape a makeshift gladiator struggle between inmates, and "A Game of Checkers" in which a riot breaks out when some inmates begin fighting over a game of checkers

Below is a listing of episodes involved on the Oz (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (The Routine) Air Date: 07-12-1997

Episode 2 (Visits, Conjugal, and Otherwise) Air Date: 07-14-1997

Episode 3 (God's Chillin ') Air Date: 07-21-1997

Event 4 (Capital G) Air Date: 07-28-1997

Episode 5 (Straight Life) Air Date: 08-04-1997

Episode 6 (To Your Quality Of Life) Air Date: 08-11-1997

Episode 7 (Plan B) Air Date: 08-18-1997

Episode 8 (A Game of Checkers) Air Date: 08-25-1997 foglights