Oz: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

HBO's violent men-behind-bars drama is an addictive, testosterone-driven soap opera for guys. The eight episodes of the first season set the style for the show: a massive cast of a vivid characters on both sides of the bars, four or five stories unleashed at a breakneck pace and framed by angry, oddball introductions, and a soaring casualty rate. Created by Homicide producer Tom Fontana, this drama quickly earned its rightful reputation as the most brutal show on TV. It's simple chemistry: combine volatile ingredients in a confined space, shut tight, and shake.

Series details

• Title: Oz
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Crime
• Premiere date: 1997-07-12
• Final broadcast date listed: 2003-02-23
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: HBO
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 8.7/10
• TVMaze ID: 748

Cast and credited roles

• Ernie Hudson — Warden Leo Glynn
• Terry Kinney — Tim McManus
• Harold Perrineau — Augustus Hill
• Rita Moreno — Sister Peter Marie "Sister Pete" Reimondo
• J.K. Simmons — Vernon "Vern" Schillinger
• Lee Tergesen — Tobias Beecher
• Dean Winters — Ryan O'Reily
• George Morfogen — Robert Rebadow
• Eamonn Walker — Kareem Said
• Granville Adams — Zahir Arif
• Lauren Vélez — Dr. Gloria Nathan
• Kirk Acevedo — Miguel Alvarez

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1997-07-12; final listed air date 1997-08-25; episode order: 8.
• Season 2: premiered 1998-07-11; final listed air date 1998-08-31; episode order: 8.
• Season 3: premiered 1999-07-14; final listed air date 1999-09-01; episode order: 8.
• Season 4: premiered 2000-07-12; final listed air date 2001-02-25; episode order: 16.
• Season 5: premiered 2002-01-06; final listed air date 2002-02-24; episode order: 8.
• Season 6: premiered 2003-01-05; final listed air date 2003-02-23; episode order: 8.

Source and licence

Adapted from Oz on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.