Was OZ a good show?

[Jumpy]

Oz is a great to good show.

 

[Bullitt68]

Never understood all the bitching about the later seasons. Oz was never a documentary, people. Rebadow talked to God, Adebisi had a voodoo buddy, and Luke Perry was a fucking wizard. The show's sensibility was consistent from beginning to end, detailing the monotony and the minutia of prison life while also highlighting, sometimes through surreality, other times through melodrama and metaphor, existential philosophical concepts.

 

[Sanshou Kid]

O'Reilly, Adebesi, Beecher, and Dr. Gloria Nathan make the show awesome.

You forgot Agamemnon "The Mole" Busmalis and his wacky escape attempts and Bob Rebadow, the man who talks to God. Best double act in the show.

Oh and the best character, in my opinion at least, is Kareem Said.

First few seasons were good then it just got ridiculous. The fucking aging pill? Come on, man.

Oh yeah, that was terrible

Spoiler

The bomb scare with the IRA guy in the final episode wasn't well handled either

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

I thought they nerfed some of the characters a bit.

They portrayed the Mafia guys as puzzies.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

Never understood all the bitching about the later seasons. Oz was never a documentary, people. Rebadow talked to God, Adebisi had a voodoo buddy, and Luke Perry was a fucking wizard. The show's sensibility was consistent from beginning to end, detailing the monotony and the minutia of prison life while also highlighting, sometimes through surreality, other times through melodrama and metaphor, existential philosophical concepts.

Well the final seasons it completely changed from a gritty prison drama to basically a circus.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

Oh and the best character, in my opinion at least, is Kareem Said.

Said was basically the hero of the show.

 

[raines513]

i pretty much lost all interest when Adebisi died... but i would still put it in my top 10 shows of all time for me.

 

[Cmart]

I liked the series. I have the complete series, all six seasons on DVD, in case you want to make me an offer on them you can PM me.

 

[Sanshou Kid]

Said was basically the hero of the show.

I dunno, I always had Beecher as the hero of the show, with Schillinger obviously being the villain.

I remember watching the first episode and thinking Dino Ortolani was going to be the main character. Then he got set on fire.

Oops.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

I dunno, I always had Beecher as the hero of the show, with Schillinger obviously being the villain.

Beecher was the popular anti-hero. Said was the hero of the show and Adebisi was the main villain which is why they wrote Said to be the one to finally kill him.

 

[Sanshou Kid]

Beecher was the popular anti-hero. Said was the hero of the show and Adebisi was the main villain which is why they wrote Said to be the one to finally kill him.

I never considered Said a "villain" per se, at least not in the same way as Schillinger or Adebisi. Those two were the main antagonists, then Ryan O' Reilly just below stirring shit up.

Also Kenny Wangler and Miguel Alvarez, although both of them had their "good" moments.

Beecher was the guy you felt sorry for in the beginning, then perhaps less so when he "snapped", but I thought he was the "main" character throughout.

Spoiler

One of the funniest scenes to me is when Clayton the guard goes mental in the solitary block and proclaims himself be Gamba Khufu, leader of The Republic Of Huru and locks himself and the cons in

 

[Bullitt68]

Well the final seasons it completely changed from a gritty prison drama to basically a circus.

And the riot and Adebisi running shit wasn't a circus? It's the same with Dexter and the way everybody bitches about how implausible some of the shit he does is when the entire premise is implausible. Too much of a good thing and people get suspicious, I guess. Unless it's The Wire. Nothing suspicious about the unequaled and unstoppable greatness there :icon_lol:

Not trying to single you out, Sohei. Just disagree with the general sentiment.

Beecher was the popular anti-hero. Said was the hero of the show and Adebisi was the main villain which is why they wrote Said to be the one to finally kill him.

Beecher isn't really a good fit for that label. Said is closer to being an antihero than Beecher, but I'd even hesitate to assign that label to him. If anybody in Oz was an antihero, it was O'Reily, with Keller probably next in line.

 

[Irenaeus]

Oz has been on my to-see list for quite a while, but for some reason I always find something else to watch before settling down with 56 hours of man-rape. Any day, now.

Behind Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I think Oz is the greatest dramatic series ever, and certainly the best HBO series. Fantastic from the very first episode to the very last.

Could you expand a little upon why you think Sarah Connor Chronicles was a great show? I enjoyed it on a kind of guilty pleasure-quota, and the statement puzzles me a little.

 

[Teefs]

And the riot and Adebisi running shit wasn't a circus? It's the same with Dexter and the way everybody bitches about how implausible some of the shit he does is when the entire premise is implausible. Too much of a good thing and people get suspicious, I guess.

What's there to be suspicious about? The only thing Oz had too much of was dick. Unless of course we're singling out the last two or three seasons for their weak plots and mediocre writing where those two qualities were also in abundance.

 

[Sasquatch Smith]

And the riot and Adebisi running shit wasn't a circus? It's the same with Dexter and the way everybody bitches about how implausible some of the shit he does is when the entire premise is implausible. Too much of a good thing and people get suspicious, I guess. Unless it's The Wire. Nothing suspicious about the unequaled and unstoppable greatness there :icon_lol:

Not trying to single you out, Sohei. Just disagree with the general sentiment.



Beecher isn't really a good fit for that label. Said is closer to being an antihero than Beecher, but I'd even hesitate to assign that label to him. If anybody in Oz was an antihero, it was O'Reily, with Keller probably next in line.

Spoilers galore in a thread asking if a show should be watched? What's the deal, brah? BAN YOURSELF!!!!

 

[Terror Zone]

If you've ever been watching SVU and suddenly found yourself wanting to see Elliot Stabler's asshole, then I can honestly recommend this show to you.

 

[Bullitt68]

Could you expand a little upon why you think Sarah Connor Chronicles was a great show? I enjoyed it on a kind of guilty pleasure-quota, and the statement puzzles me a little.

I don't want to hijack an Oz thread to talk about another show, even if it is great, so just briefly, I'll say that I've never seen better overall acting in a single series, from one-episode minor characters to the leads; the writing was insanely ambitious and unbelievably thought-provoking; the action was astonishing for a small Fox show nobody cared about; the cinematography was by far the greatest in any show I've ever seen; the music is the best I've ever heard for a show and just one of my favorite scores regardless of whether we're talking TV or movies.

Every single thing that goes into producing a TV show was exceptional in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and when the individual branches came together, the result was sublimity, IMO.

What's there to be suspicious about?

Bitching about shit in the last two seasons that had always been present. Oz always stretched reality in pursuit of thematic resonance.

Spoilers galore in a thread asking if a show should be watched?

How does mentioning plot points without explaining where in the show they occur, how they are brought about, or how they are resolved or discussing the merits of assigning the antihero label to various characters resemble spoilers in any way?

 

[Terror Zone]

How does mentioning plot points without explaining where in the show they occur, how they are brought about, or how they are resolved or discussing the merits of assigning the antihero label to various characters resemble spoilers in any way?

This can't be serious. If I had read this thread before watching the show, the entire experience would've been ruined. Spoilers all over the goddamn place.

 

[Final Rehab]

I liked the show a lot when I was watching it in the 90's, although it seems a little dated as I've started re-watching the series in the last few months. (As others have said, a bit too much weiner, but oh well) It is still cool to see the actors and actresses who went on to do other things-a lot of Law and Order cast members. I will say this though, Kathryn Erbe flashing bush=cool. Seeing Christopher Meloni's package=definitely not so much.

To Bullitt68-I'll be checking out Sarah Connor Chronicals now. I have always liked the general storyline and just didn't check it out because I figured it would suck. I'm taking your word on this one.

 

[Teefs]

Bitching about shit in the last two seasons that had always been present. Oz always stretched reality in pursuit of thematic resonance.

They did more than stretch reality. Someone with mental retardation like Cyril ending up in Oz gen pop as opposed to a mental facility? I mean... really? The Doctor whose husband is killed forgiving and ultimately cozing up to the one who planned the killing? Oh, sure. Or how about my personal favorite - the pill that artificially ages inmates so they can be released early, haha.

And these are just a few examples off the top of my head not having seen the majority of the series since the 90s.

Look, Oz isn't the worst show I've ever seen but it's far from highbrowed in any sense; and while the first couple seasons did have their share of ridiculous plots, you can't possibly say with a straight face the writers didn't ramp up the absurdity in the final two or three seasons.

Well, I suppose you could say as much, but you can bet I'd facepalm pretty damn hard.