Oz
Rock SolidEvery season landed between 8.1 and 8.5 across 6 seasons.
Graphic violenceExplicit, unflinching violence.This show: 10/10BleakGrim and heavy, with little easy relief. These shows sit with suffering instead of softening it.This show: 9/10DisturbingContent that lingers uncomfortably after the credits.This show: 9/10GrittyRaw, unglamorous realism in both look and subject matter.This show: 9/10Emotionally heavyDemands real emotional stamina from the viewer.This show: 9/10Ensemble castMany characters carrying equal weight.This show: 9/10Dark toneShadowy mood and subject matter, a shade short of outright bleak.This show: 9/10Gut punchWilling to devastate you, and remembered for it.This show: 8/10
Rate this series
Starring
Ernie HudsonTerry KinneyJ.K. SimmonsLee TergesenDean WintersGeorge Morfogen
Written by
Tom Fontana
Starring
Ernie HudsonTerry KinneyJ.K. SimmonsLee TergesenDean WintersGeorge Morfogen
Written by
Tom Fontana
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Oz Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 9.2 | |||||||||
| S2 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.8 | |||||||||
| S3 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.2 | |||||||||
| S4 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.8 | |
| S5 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 8.5 | |||||||||
| S6 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 |
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About
"The brutal blueprint for prestige prison drama"
Set inside the experimental Emerald City unit of a maximum-security prison, Oz follows inmates, guards, and administrators navigating a brutal power structure divided along racial and gang lines. It's dense, ensemble-driven, and unflinching, mixing prison politics with moments of dark humor and philosophical narration from a wheelchair-bound inmate who breaks the fourth wall. The tone is grim and violent throughout, but the writing is sharp and character work is deep. It moves fast between storylines, rewarding attention, and it laid the groundwork for the prestige-drama era that followed on HBO.
Watch it for
the sprawling ensemble cast and unflinching look at prison power struggles before prestige TV existed.
Maybe skip if
you're sensitive to graphic violence, sexual assault, or unrelenting bleakness with little relief.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 11997
8.520K87h 34m
Welcome to Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison or "Oz." As run by Tim McManus and overseen by Warden Leo Glynn. Em City is about prisoner rehabilitation over public retribution. No matter how hardened a criminal or killer, whether you're in for a few years or in for life, you have a role to play. Once inside, choose your friends carefully. Every group - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to mutual friends and terrorize mutual enemies. Don't smile. Get yourself a weapon. Stay on everybody's good side... if you can find one.
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Season 21998
8.115K87h 50m
All that glitters is not Emerald City. Following the bloodbath that ended the prison riot, life is returning to far from normal for those who survived in the experimental unit of Oz. The Aryan Schillinger still butts heads with Beecher. The mob, led by Schibetta, continues to find its business cut into by the cold-hearted Adebisi. Warden Glynn and Tim McManus struggle to do the right thing for their prisoners, facing adversity at every turn from Governor Devlin. New prisoners include the sexually provocative child killer Shirley Bellinger and a guilty priest who will be forced to pay a terrible penance. The world of Oz will shatter your expectations in a new season where safety is not a option.
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Season 31999
8.314K87h 41m
The name on the street is Oz, but the name on the wall is the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary - or it was. Now it's being changed to the Oswald State Correctional Facility. Maybe by getting rid of the word "penitentiary," the state is finally admitting that nobody's penitent. Nobody's sorry. NOBODY.
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Season 42000
8.528K1615h 23m
The Millennium ended with a bang at Oswald State Correctional Facility, Level Four - aka, Emerald City - as racial tensions reached an all-time high. Now, following a two-week lockdown and the appointment of a new Unit Manager, things are definitely changing, but not necessarily for the better. Prison officials are looking for ways to end the hostilities and return Emerald City to normal... but when was Em City ever normal?
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Season 52002
8.213K87h 41m
It's a new year...but just another day in Oz. The renovations following the fire are complete: the walls are cleaner, the cafeteria is bigger and everything seems fresher...everything on the outside that is. Inside the hearts and minds of the prisoners, Oz is just as dark and raw as it ever was. Emerald City may look new, but the old, festering feuds are always just around the corner.
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Season 62003
8.314K88h 15m
On the surface, not much has changed inside the walls of Oswald State Penitentiary. Schillinger has revenge on his mind, Cyril is facing execution, Beecher is hoping for parole, and McManus is finding solace in a meditative maze. But there's toil and trouble brewing in the Oz cauldron, as the Oz players rehearse for their presentation of Macbeth and the climactic final act.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Ernie Hudson Warden Leo Glynn
Terry Kinney Tim McManus
J.K. Simmons Vern Schillinger
Lee Tergesen Tobias Beecher
Dean Winters Ryan O'Reily
George Morfogen Bob Rebadow
Rita Moreno Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
Harold Perrineau Augustus Hill
Eamonn Walker Kareem Said
Craig muMs Grant Poet
Crew
Tom Fontana
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