Oz is an American series that ran from 1997 until 2003 on the HBO premium cable network. The show centered on Oswald State Correction Facility, nicknamed Oz, which was a fictional prison that was located in New York. Much of the show is set in a section of the prison that is known as Emerald City. This unit of the prison is experimental and is run by Tim McManus(Terry Kinney). McManus believes that by focusing on rehabilitation instead of punishment, that the prison can get better results. Emerald City focuses on education and rehabilitation, but that doesn't stop criminal activity from taking place in this section of the prison.

The warden(Ernie Hudson) doesn't share the views of McManus. He has a more hard lined approach to running the prison. Augustus Hill(Harold Perrineau) is a prisoner and narrator of the series. Sister Peter Marie Reimondo(Rita Mereno) is the sympathetic nun that tries to reach out to the prisoners in Emerald City. Tobias Beecher(Lee Tergeson) is a prisoner that is trying to walk the right path, but keeps getting in trouble.

In the prison itself, inmates come and inmates go. Some are killed, while others only spend a short time in Oz before they are paroled or transferred to another prison. Each one of these characters brings their own issues and troubles to Oz. Some of them are not what they seem, while others are every bit the hardened criminal. The writers do an excellent job with developing the characters and plots on Oz. The show is very entertaining and is well worth viewing.