Oz: The prison series that changed television as we know it.
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| "On the streets they call me Mayhem." |
Long before
shows like The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad were pop culture sensations. Before half the shows on the big four networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) were
mindless singing and dancing competitions, HBO began production of its
first hour long drama with a gritty, fearless prison series called Oz.
Created by
Tom Fontana, Oz set out to literally go where no television show had gone
before. Set in the fictional Emerald City unit of the Oswald State Correctional
Facility. the series depiction of prison life and culture broke nearly every
barrier that existed on television at the time. Hardly an episode went by
without someone being brutally raped, shanked, murdered or
otherwise abused. The language was completely unfiltered and full frontal male
nudity was so common it would make Game of Thrones blush. And it worked. The
show quickly gained pop culture and critical acclaim. The show went on to run
for six seasons. By the time it wrapped in 2003 the landscape of television
would already be changing.
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| "Did someone say sleepover?" |
HBO wanted
to be more than just a place to watch unedited movies and the occasional
concert. They wanted to be a destination for original content and would challenge the
major networks. Encouraged by the early success of Oz the network gave the
green light to David Chase for The Sopranos. Other shows like The Wire and Sex
in the City would follow. HBO had a new blueprint for success, allowing show
creators the freedom to write and produce their own shows with little to no
interference. Rival networks like
Showtime took notice and began to copy the formula with programs of their own
such as Dead Like Me, Weeds and Dexter.
The
trickle-down effect would lead to basic cable networks getting in on the action
and redefining their image. AMC picked up Mad Men in 2007 after it was rejected
by both HBO and Showtime. The success of Mad Men would lead to AMC picking up
Breaking Bad while they completely overhauled the channel in to a destination for
original programming. TBS, FX and many other upstart cable networks would also
follow suit.
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| "Bitch, call us New Kids one more time!" |
While this
renaissance of television dramas was happening on cable, the major networks
largely turned to reality television due to its ultra-low production costs and
(sadly) high ratings which translate in to bigger advertising dollars. The major
networks loss was cable's gain as today virtually every drama worth watching is
on one of the cable channels. So the next time you are enjoying an episode of
Boardwalk Empire, Homeland, The Americans, Shameless or any of the other quality
dramas currently on TV you can think back and say a little thank you to Oz,
the brutal prison drama that changed the game. Just don’t drop the soap.
-Brian Rohe
-Brian Rohe