Oz is an American prison drama television series set at a fictional men's prison created and principally written by Tom Fontana . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO . Oz premiered on July 12, 1997, and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired on February 23, 2003.
31-532: [REDACTED] Look up -oz , -öz , Oz , oz , or öz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Oz or OZ may refer to: Arts and entertainment [ edit ] Land of Oz , the setting for many of L. Frank Baum's novels Fictional characters and entities [ edit ] Oz ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer ) , a character from
62-508: A Canadian radio station based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, known as OZ FM Asiana Airlines (IATA code OZ since 1988) Ozark Air Lines (IATA code OZ until 1986) People [ edit ] Oz (surname) , a list of people Oz (given name) , a list of people with either the given name or nickname Oz (record producer) , a Swiss record producer Oz Fox (born 1961), stage name of Richard Alfonso Martinez, lead guitarist of
93-536: A Drama Series ( Charles S. Dutton ), and Outstanding Casting for a Series (Alexa L. Fogel). The first two seasons of Oz were released on VHS in box sets. 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. Avatar Records released
124-414: A Manhattan synagogue sometimes abbreviated OZ The Opel symbol. See also [ edit ] Ornstein–Zernike equation , in statistical mechanics O2 (disambiguation) OS (disambiguation) All pages with titles beginning with Oz All pages with titles containing Oz Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
155-594: A game for the PlayStation 2 Oz: Into the Wild , a novel featuring the Buffy the Vampire Slayer character Oz Businesses and organizations [ edit ] OZ Group , an Italian wheel manufacturer OZ Minerals , an Australian mining company Circus Oz , an Australian circus group The Oz Film Manufacturing Company , an independent film studio from 1914 to 1915, co-founded by L. Frank Baum CHOZ-FM ,
186-538: A highland region on Pluto's moon Charon Science and technology [ edit ] Ounce , abbreviated oz., referring to several units of measure Oz (programming language) .oz, a former MHSnet domain .oz , an OpenNIC hosted Top-level domain OZ Virtual , a 3D world viewer Oz: an EEG electrode site according to the 10-20 system Other uses [ edit ] Oz Brigade , an Israel Defense Forces commando brigade Congregation Ohab Zedek ,
217-612: A mini-series Oz , a Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic Oz , a manga by Natsumi Itsuki Music [ edit ] Oz (band) , a Finnish heavy metal band Carmen Maki & Oz , a Japanese rock band Oz (album) , by Missy Higgins, 2014 Oz (soundtrack) , the soundtrack for the HBO television series FZ:OZ , an album by Frank Zappa "Oz", a song by Two Hours Traffic from their self-titled debut album Publications [ edit ] Oz (magazine) (1963–1973), Australia/UK underground satire magazine The Oz,
248-701: A nickname for the newspaper The Australian OZ (radio amateur magazine) , a Danish radio amateur magazine published by Experimenterende Danske Radioamatører Liber OZ , the Rights of Man. Ozwords (1994–2019), newsletter from the Australian National Dictionary Centre, Canberra Other arts and entertainment [ edit ] The Dr. Oz Show , a syndicated daytime television show Oz (TV series) , an HBO-produced prison drama Oz (1976 film) , an Australian update of The Wizard of Oz OZ - Over Zenith ,
279-465: Is an extremely controlled environment, with a carefully managed balance of members from each racial and social group, intended to ease tensions among these various factions. However, almost all of these factions are constantly at war with one another which often results in many prisoners being beaten, raped, or murdered. Under McManus and Warden Leo Glynn , all inmates in "Em City" struggle to fulfill their own needs. Some fight for power – either over
310-705: Is flat-out the most violent and graphically sexual series on TV." Oz has had a successful run at many award associations, including, four wins out of sixteen nominations at the ALMA Awards , three wins out if six nominations at the Artios Awards , three wins out of seven nominations at the CableACE Awards , one win out of twenty-two nominations at the Online Film & Television Association Awards, and two wins out of five nomination at
341-491: Is so gruesome and claustrophobic. Yet... as the series moves beyond its introductory shock value, it becomes more serious, disturbing and gripping.... The point of Oz , with its depiction of guilty men in torturous circumstances, is never subtle, but it is complicated and strong." Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Engaging, often Brutal." Other reviews were more critical of the series. Frederic Biddle of
SECTION 10
#1732771924943372-516: Is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional level 4 maximum-security state prison in an unspecified east coast state, although references throughout the series point to New York as its location. The nickname "Oz" is also a reference to the classic film The Wizard of Oz (1939), which popularized the phrase, "There's no place like home." A poster for
403-581: The Boston Globe said: "A pretentious exercise in cheap thrills, by great talents allowed to run amok." Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times reported: "Its uniqueness and arresting style don't earn it an unqualified endorsement here, for its first two Fontana-written episodes are absolute downers--there's no light at the end of a tunnel, nor even a tunnel--that offer no central characters to like or pull for...Be forewarned, too, that Oz
434-661: The Satellite Awards . It has also received awards at Il Festival Nazionale del Doppiaggio Voci nell'Ombra and the Edgar Awards . Additional nominations consist of the NAACP Image Awards (seven), a GLAAD Media Award , a Producers Guild of America Award , a Writers Guild of America Award , and although the series has not been the recipient of any major awards, it was however nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards , for Outstanding Guest Actor in
465-657: The Christian glam metal band Stryper Oz, ring name of Kevin Nash (born 1959), American semi-retired professional wrestler Places [ edit ] A nickname for Australia; see Name of Australia Oz, Isère , a town and commune in France Oz, Kentucky , an unincorporated community Oz Park , a public park in Chicago A nickname for Oswego, New York Extraterrestrial [ edit ] Oz Terra ,
496-600: The Gays (Hanlon, Cramer, Ginzburg), the Bikers (Hoyt, Sands, Burns), the Christians (Cloutier, Coushaine, Cudney) and many other individuals not completely affiliated with one particular group (Rebadow, Busmalis, Keller, Stanislofsky). In contrast to the dangerous criminals, central character Tobias Beecher gives a look at a usually law-abiding albeit alcoholic man who made one fatal drunk-driving mistake. Oz took advantage of
527-656: The TV series Oz ( One Piece ) , a manga character OZ (Ultimate Marvel) , a mutagen OZ, a virtual world, virtual reality in the movie Summer Wars Leonard "Oz" Osbourne , a Geordie bricklayer in British TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet , played by Jimmy Nail Chris Ostreicher , a character in the American Pie film series Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky, a character in the comedy film, The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards . Organization of
558-572: The United Kingdom, where Channel 4 aired the show in a late-night time slot. In Bosnia and Herzegovina , it was aired on the federal TV station called FTV . In Canada, Oz aired on the Showcase Channel at Friday 10 p.m. EST. In Croatia , Estonia , and Slovenia , the show was aired late at night on public, non-commercial, state-owned channels HRT , ETV , and RTV SLO , respectively. In Denmark , it appeared late at night on
589-520: The Zodiac, or Oz, an organization in the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Oz Vessalius, a protagonist in the manga Pandora Hearts Oz, a playable character in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ' s Exo Zombies mode Wizard of Oz (character) , often known simply as "Oz" Comics [ edit ] Oz (comics) , a comic book series based on The Wizard of Oz Oz (Judge Dredd story) ,
620-456: 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 just to see the next day. The show's narrator, inmate Augustus Hill , explains the show, and provides context, thematic analysis, and a sense of humor. Oz chronicles McManus' attempts to keep control over the inmates of Em City. There are many groups of inmates throughout
651-454: The early 2000s (decade). In Norway and Sweden, it aired on the commercial channels ZTV and TV3 late at night. In Panama , Oz aired on RPC-TV Channel 4 in a late-night hour. In Portugal , Oz aired late at night on SIC Radical , one of the SIC channels in the cable network. In Serbia , Oz aired on RTV BK Telecom . In Spain, the show aired on premium channel Canal+ . In Turkey , Oz
SECTION 20
#1732771924943682-424: The freedoms of premium cable to show elements of coarse language, drug use, violence, frontal nudity , homosexuality, and rape of males , as well as ethnic and religious conflicts that would have been unacceptable to traditional advertiser-supported American broadcast television. On an episode of Saturday Night Live that Jerry Seinfeld hosted on October 2, 1999, a sketch was produced that showed what life
713-478: The international TV rights, and Paramount Home Entertainment / CBS DVD owns the international DVD rights. Critical reception of Oz was mostly positive. The first season of Oz has been ranked a 70 based on the rating aggregator website Metacritic , indicating generally favorable reviews by critics. Caryn James from The New York Times stated: "Set almost entirely in the prison, a high-tech horror with glass-walled cells, Oz can also be unpleasant to watch, it
744-515: The non-commercial public service channel DR1. In Finland , it broadcast on the free-to-air channel Nelonen (TV4). In France, the show aired on commercial cable channel 'Serie Club,' also late at night. In Malaysia , full episodes of Oz aired late at night on ntv7 , while the censored version aired during the day. In the Netherlands , Oz aired on the commercial channel RTL 5 . In New Zealand Oz aired on The Box at 9.30pm on Wednesdays in
775-548: The series uses the tagline: "It's no place like home". Most of the series' story arcs are set in " Emerald City ", a wing named after a setting from the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum 's Oz books , first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). In an 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
806-495: The show in his typical quick-witted, sarcastic way. Seinfeld's second cousin, Evan Seinfeld , plays Jaz Hoyt in Oz. On April 21, 2009, Variety announced that starting May 31, DirecTV will broadcast all 56 episodes in their original form without commercials and in up-scaled "high definition" on The 101 Network available to all subscribers. The episodes will also be available through DirecTV's On Demand service. In Australia, Oz
837-722: The show, and not everyone within each group survives the show's events. There are the African-American Homeboys (Wangler, Redding, Poet, Keane, Adebisi) and Muslims (Said, Arif, Khan), the Wiseguys (Pancamo, Nappa, Schibetta, Zanghi, Urbano), the Aryan Brotherhood (Schillinger, Robson, Mack), the Latinos of El Norte (Alvarez, Morales, Guerra, Hernandez), the Irish (The O'Reilly brothers, Kirk, Keenan),
868-644: The title Oz . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oz&oldid=1243683495 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Oz">Oz The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Oz (TV series) "Oz"
899-641: Was aired on Cine5 ; DiziMax also aired the re-runs. In Japan, it aired on SuperChannel (now, Super! Drama TV) from 29 December 2001 to 22 July 2005. The series was co-produced by HBO and Rysher Entertainment (who owns the copyright), and the underlying U.S. rights lie with HBO Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which has released the entire series on DVD in North America. The international rights were owned originally by Rysher, then Paramount Pictures / Domestic Television after that company acquired Rysher. CBS Studios International currently owns
930-469: Was like for his character of the same name behind bars after being transferred to the Oswald State Correctional Facility sometime after the events of Seinfeld (1989–1998). The roughly four-minute sketch shows the opening credits for the HBO series with clips of Jerry mixed in doing various activities around the prison. The sketch continues and mixes in different story lines from both Oz and Seinfeld and has Jerry interacting with various characters from
961-697: Was screened uncensored on Channel "OH" on Optus TV, then free-to-air channel, SBS . This was also the case in Brazil, where it was aired by the SBT Network Corporation, late at night; in Ireland, where the series aired on free-to-air channel TG4 at 11 p.m.; 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 ; and in