Oz

This is one of HBO's first big hits and is still one of not only HBO's best but one of the best in general! Oz will hook you from the very first episode through the finale and every episode is great!

On HBO, all the Emmy's for hard core drama go to THE SOPRANOS, and I dont' think that's bad. It is a great show. But Oz is better. It might well be the best thing on television. It doesn't get the press of the Sopranos. And the other people who watch HBO (those who don't like all the violence) whould much rather watch Ferris Beuller's wife in SEX AND THE CITY, which I will NEVER watch. Oz is amazing because almost every charachter in it's sea of people is in some way a terrible human being. But the magic of this show is that these terrible people become understandable. They do terrible things, but they are not all bad. Ryan O'Rielly, for example, is a cold-blooded killer. But when it comes to his brother and doctor Nathan, and more recently the priest he befriended, he is a warm and caring person who's pain you empathize with. Oz takes murderers, rapists, thieves, and even a rich lawyer who ran down a young girl in a drunken stuper, and makes them likeable and forgivable. That's incredible. And this show is incredible. It goes off the air soon for good, and I wish it had gotten the respect it deserved.

Consistently well-written and acted, Oz is without a doubt the best thing on TV. Quality wise, it's up there with the first 4 seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street as the most compelling hour of television drama. Presenting a harsh and realistic view of prison life, Oz is a wonderful mixture of superb acting and character development; all of which rides on a nuanced and erudite core (Foucault's Panopticon is the inspiration for Em City's design...and ultimate failure). It is the only show on TV, that I can think of, that has presented characters who were intensely dislikable one moment and oddly empathetic the next. That I am repulsed by, sympathetic with, intrigued about, and involved with every character that has lived, died or survived on the show, is no small feat. Good TV exists. And, for my money, Oz is not only good TV, it is better than most films released throughout the year.

Oz is, flat-out, one of the best series I have ever seen. It is filled with characters that you "love to hate," always intriguing story lines, mind-blowing plot twists and just awesome acting. I think that Oz isn't recognized or critically acclaimed as much as it deserves. I watch that show and I forget that they are actors, it is that convincing! You just get sucked into it and if you're like me, you just want MORE!! I can't get enough of it! I love the fact that it has a rotating cast of "main" characters that is always well above 25. Oz does a very good job of focusing due attention on all the characters individually, as well as their many complex interactions with others. I have to say, I have the hots for about 75% of the cast, hehe. Oz is definitely worth seeing but also it is not for the fainthearted. There is gratuitous violence, foul language, and nudity/sex. But hey, it is a great show and the above named only help show the grit of prison life.

There was nothing on and I switched on HBO and got hooked on OZ. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. The characters are real and are well acted. By the end of my first episode I was hooked. I find myself wanting to know more about each character and what makes them tick. This is a definite must see show.