OZ
CRIME / DRAMA / THRILLER
USA
1997- 2003
OZ is an American drama series set in a fictional male prison created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all 56 episodes of the series. It was the first hour-long dramatic television series produced by the premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons. The last episode aired on February 23, 2003. OZ consists of 56 episodes of 1 hour.
STORY: Most of Oz's storylines are set in "Emerald City," named after a setting from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). In this experimental prison unit, unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) puts an emphasis on rehabilitation. City is an extremely controlled environment, with a carefully managed balance of members from each racial and social group, intended to reduce tensions between these different factions. However, all these factions are constantly at war with each other and fights, rape or murder are the order of the day.
GAY COUPLE STORYLINE: Beecher (Lee Tergesen), a successful lawyer and family man, is an alcoholic who kills a nine-year-old girl while drunk behind the wheel. The judge decides to follow suit and sentences him to 15 years in Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary ("Oz") with a chance of parole after four years. Arriving in Oz without any street skills and with a naturally timid personality, he becomes an easy target for abuse and hardened by his experiences. Beecher finds himself in one cell with Chris Keller (Chris Meloni), a charming sociopath. Beecher gradually discovers that he is attracted to Keller and Keller also falls in love with Beecher.
Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni) & Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen)
CHRISTOPHER MELONI (2014) April 2, 1961, Washington D.C., USA
LEE TERGESEN (1993-2003) July 8, 1965, Ivoryton, Essex, CT, USA
SPECIAL: The gays are one of the many prison gangs in Emerald City. They are seen as one of the weakest gangs in Oz, both because the majority of inmates in Oz are homophobic and because they have no control over anything.
AWARDS: ‘OZ’ won 2 Primetime Emmys. 16 wins 54 nominations
7.4 IMDB
