"Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional maximum-security prison (level 4). The nickname is a reference to the classic film Wizard of Oz, which is notable for popularizing the phrase: "There's no place like home". In contrast, the series has used the tagline: "It's no place like home".

Many of the plot arcs are set in "Emerald City" ("Em City"), also a concept from The Wizard of Oz. In this experimental unit of the prison, unit manager Tim McManus attempts to emphasize rehabilitation and learning responsibility during incarceration, as opposed to pure punishment. Emerald City is an extremely controlled environment in which there is a carefully managed number of members of each racial and social group, with the hope of easing tensions among these various groups.

Under McManus and Warden Leo Glynn, the inmates in Em City all struggle to fulfill their own needs. Some fight for power; either power over the d*** trade or power over the other inmate factions. Others, corrections officers and inmates alike, simply want to survive long enough. In particular the prisoners want to make parole or even to see tomorrow. The show gives a no-holds-barred account of prison life with all the plots, subplots and conflicts given context and explanation by the show's wheelchair-using narrator, Augustus Hill.

The ensemble cast included Christopher Meloni, Ernie Hudson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Harold Perrineau Jr., Eamonn Walker, Rita Moreno, John Lurie, Terry Kinney, Betty Buckley, Kathryn Erbe, Lee Tergesen, B. D. Wong, J. K. Simmons, Dean Winters, Scott William Winters, Kirk Acevedo, Erik King, Evan Seinfeld, David Zayas, Lauren Vélez, and Edie Falco.

Eric Roberts, Joyce Van Patten, Method Man, Luke Perry, Master P, Treach, LL Cool J, Rick Fox, Dana Ivey and Peter Criss have made appearances on the show.

Finished some months ago
It gets definitely worse later but it still keeps being entertaining

great show, first 4 seasons r fantastic

Such a great mood and brilliant storytelling

Poor Beecher

quarantine got me like

Thread did almost family numbers
Augustus anecdotes and aphorisms are really amazing

they will come around

This was the beginning of hbo run of greatness

In. Need to start this soonest

People don't know about Oz.

Oz was HBO's first hour long drama series, and is one of the most experimental shows of all time.

This is a good piece about it. Oz is the proto Prestige drama.

google.com/amp/s/tv.avclub.com/20-years-ago-oz-locked-down-the-prestige-drama-formula-1798263937/amp

dis bout the producer correct?

Ngl, I cried when they were about to fry Cyril

Save Me hit hard

Bro spoil it
Yes scene saddened me too, lots of dead caught me off guard

One of the first hbo shows I saw. It's p good.

Bro how you spoil lol

edit: nvm got it. it was 2 instead of 1

Always meant to check it out but put it on the back burner

kinda fell off after Season 4 IMO but definitely agree it was a groundbreaking show

one of the silliest and most entertaining shows i've ever seen
peter schibetta and clayton hughes

Remember they were hyping alvarez a lot before and everything hinted at this to the only possible outcome but I still hoped he would betray luis guzman character

Too much d***s but great series

Lmao @ both of their fates

Just finished, My new favorite series! HBO shows never fail ! It's easy to say this is the older brother of "The Wire"

no @Beast_Barz comment yet
Lord Jamar, Method Man and LL Cool J snapped on this show.

Almost done wit season 4
Season 1 was da peak with the riot

Adeibbc is da goat

Beecher vs schillinger beef is outrageous