#Oz series cast series
With 15 years having passed since the series finale aired on February 23, 2003, read below for 11 characters from Oz that struck an unforgettable chord with the hip-hop community. The first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO, Oz would run for six-seasons and be one of the more successful television dramas of its time, paving the way for The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and other shows that would follow in its wake. In 2001, Avatar Records even released a soundtrack inspired by the show, with contributions from artists from all coasts, further strengthening the show's standing within the hip-hop community. In addition to touching on the violence, corruption, addiction, and sexual assault that dictates the flow of power in prison, Oz was also notable for embracing the hip-hop community, with rap stars like LL Cool J, Master P, Treach, Lord Jamar, and Method Man all making appearances on the show. Simmons), Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo), Ryan O'Reily (Dean Winters) and Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Oz became one of the more riveting and influential TV shows of its time, with an unfiltered look at the harsh realities that prison inmates deal with on a daily basis.
Created by Tom Fontana, Oz, which premiered on July 12, 1997, takes place in the Emerald City unit at the Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional level 4 maximum-security state prison that houses the most ruthless criminals.įollowing the life and times of inmates like Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen), Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau), Vernon Schillinger (J.K.
There has been a slew of television shows that have impacted the hip-hop community and stood the test of time, but few have left viewers on the edge of their seat like the HBO original series Oz, which gave listeners a realistic fictional account of life in the penal system.