Masterpiece Cinema - Oz

Oz

Starring Harold Perrineau Jr., Lee Tergesen, JK Simmons, Christopher Meloni, and many others.

Written & Directed by various.

Created by Tom Fontana.

Genre: Drama

Released: 1997-2003

Running time: Generally 50 mins, give or take.

Rated: About as hard a rating you could get, really.

IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0118421/


To those of you living in the States who are fortunate enough to have HBO, Oz is really old news. But for us in Australia, its a completely new revelation, with the hardcore prison drama having debuted on our screens only a couple of months ago. And ever since it did, Ive been getting increasingly obsessed with it, to the point that its now one of my favourite television shows.

Oz is an hour-long drama series set in the confines of a maximum-security prison, detailing the lives of both the inmates and the staff. Being that its a cable series, there are absolutely no punches pulled; theres full frontal nudity, graphic violence, coarse language, drug use, rape scenes basically all the stuff youd encounter if you were thrown into a maximum-security prison. All of this makes for some pretty tough viewing, but somehow the show transcends the horrific nature of its content and becomes truly engrossing, to the point where you cant wait to see the next episode.

Perfectly cast, the series has a large ensemble of characters from a variety of backgrounds who, over time, become truly three-dimensional. Though theyve all done despicable things, you cant help but like and care about a good portion of them with the exception of neo-Nazi Schillinger, that is, whom you just love to hate (and whom, by the way, has played bombastic newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson in both the Spider-Man movies, and has done so to a tee).
[BB]
Another interesting aspect of the series is its storytelling structure. Scriptwriting is, overall, extremely formulaic; especially in television. In TV, you have your A plot, which is the episodes main storyline, your B plot, your C plot, and so on. All of them interweave, and in general, all of them are resolved by the end of the episode. Oz, however, is told in vignettes. Though the storylines are continued week-to-week, theyre generally separate in the episodes themselves. The first ten minutes of the show will be the A plot -- and then youll have to watch the next episode to see the continuation of that plot. It makes for some truly unique television -- that much is certain.

Adding to this uniqueness is the shows production values. Each week, the paralysed character Augustus Hill gives a series of monologues that parallel the various storylines. It sounds fairly flat, until you actually see it, and some of the amazing visuals they use to help sell the things that Hill is saying. Perhaps the most vivid example is when Hill is sitting in the middle of a glass-walled cell that is constantly revolving as he talks, so one minute hes upside down and the next hes right side up. Another example would be when the monologues are projected on a giant screen behind whatever character Hill is discussing, the character acting out whatever problem he is suffering through in a somewhat pantomime fashion.

The first hour-long show to be produced by HBO, Oz often gets lost amongst the other shows on the network; stuff like Sex & the City and Six Feet Under. This is a real shame. Obviously, its not a show that everyone can watch, being that its as troubling as it is. But its also an extremely satisfying series. With strong character development and storylines that never fail to have as many twists and turns as possible, it makes for riveting viewing. If you live in the States, you can pick up a number of the shows six seasons on DVD. If you live in Australia, make sure to catch it every Monday night at 10:00 on SBS. And if you live anywhere elseumI have no clue. Sorry.

Next week: Back to the movies!

Politics Factzone: The truth about Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il, the leader of the free world, has decided to move on to more fertile grounds, leaving with us just the memories of 8-color rainbows, singing Korean women and couple of nuclear weapons. But who was this man whose next ambition would have been to get the next Nobel Peace prize? Here are just a few facts you should know about. more Top 5 Conspiracy Theories Related to John F. Kennedy's Assassination 26.Aug 2011 Since just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theories abou...read ISRAEL KEEPING GHADDAFI AFLOAT 10.Mar 2011 ...read Glen Beck Is NOT the Anti-Christ! 10.Mar 2011 Hurtful and fiery rhetoric is now media’s default setting! This slippery and m...read Recipe for A REVOLUTION! (10 easy steps - try not to get burned!) 28.Feb 2011 Rebellion is cooking in the air. People are mad as hell, and not going to take...read THE ASSANGE CASE. CIA INTERFERED WITH SWEDISH LEGAL PROCESSES EXTREME RIGHT POLITICS A DANGER TO EUROPEAN UNITY THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY. OUT OF TOUCH, OUT OF FOCUS, OUT OF CREDIBILITY AND HOPEFULLY, OUT OF THE DOOR Opinion World governments charged with criminal negligence (in response to Megaupload case) EARTH (thecheers.org) - Federal authorities of the universe have charged the governments of all the countries in the world as well as the operators actually in power in these countries with operating a criminal enterprise, the Galaxy warriors announced Today. more The Great OSCARS 2011 – or so it would seem 5.Mar 2011 So, how exciting......a morning off, the Academy Awards. I wish I could say the...read Top 7 Expensive Bordellos. Prostitution: Shakedown, Tier Down, and Priced Out 31.Jan 2011 According to a report of the Washington DC-based US Department of State, The Ph...read The Great Secret and Reason for the JFK Assassination 11.Oct 2010 The great question is why the great secret? On June 4 1963, President Kennedy s...read Don't Do it! The 3 Worst Times to Get Tattoos 4.Oct 2010 As a general rule, tattoos gotten after 2 am are a bad idea. But in a bigger pi...read

Travel Travel Warning 13 September 2010 - DO NOT TRAVEL TO IRAN 13.Sep 2010 TRAVELWISE has been watching the situation in Iran for some months in relation ...read more TRAVELWISE TRAVEL ADVISORY 5th June 2010. DO NOT TRAVEL TO ISRAEL. 5.Jun 2010 Given the recent incident whereby the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, used...read TRAVELWISE. 16 APRIL 2010. EUROPEAN TRAVEL ALTERNATIVES 16.Apr 2010 Travelwise issues the following advice in relation to cancelled flights to, fro...read TRAVELWISE 6 APRIL 2010. AUSTRALIAN AIR TRAVEL. THE BEST WAYS TO TRAVEL BY AIR IN AUSTRALIA. 5.Apr 2010 Regular readers might have seen and read the various advisory and no-fly notice...read TRAVELWISE 2 APRIL 2010. QANTAS. 2.Apr 2010 Some concerns have been raised in relation to some of the maintenance practices...read Sport No Payoff From the Playoffs $16.50 will Get Anyone in the Hall Mr McGwire Stupid Athlete Tricks Technology Think Big! Think the World's Largest International Trade Show Top 9 cool laptop accessories for laptop geeks Twittering: I'm not that interesting Cheers Jesus' Answering Machine Brown Couch or twelve midgets in the town square How To Be Happy Drugged Out Saturday Nights Muslim Decapitation: Bad, or Simply Misunderstood?