So far the Leftovers is sadly lacking, Silicon Valley, Hello Ladies, Looking are practically unwatchable, and Boardwalk, True Blood and Game of Thrones have really jumped the shark in their latest seasons. Yes, Game of Thrones is visually impressive and has some good actors on cast, however there are just as many weak actors and the writing is atrocious.

I find myself wondering every time I watch a new show now, вЂњWhy canвЂ™t HBO get shows like this?вЂќ Orange, House of Cards, Ray Donovan, Penny Dreadful, Black Sails, even HistoryвЂ™s Vikings are all blowing HBO out of the water. I was a big Oz fan too, and while this is surely a different animal, it certainly stirs up memories of what HBO used to be. IвЂ™m so in love with Orange is the New Black, I canвЂ™t even stand it. Some episodes may have you forgetting that youвЂ™re watching this on Netflix and not a premium entertainment channel. While Orange Is the New Black is not a replacement for Oz, it does use a lot of what worked for the HBO series while adding some of its own style. The correctional officers can be as interesting as the prisonersВ in both shows and thereвЂ™s a fine line between them and the inmates. When you are taken back to a characterвЂ™s childhood, you can struggle to find subtle hints to answer the question: вЂњWho is this person, really?вЂќДЄmong the cast of characters are members of the prison administration, who have their own power struggles within the prison and outside. In Orange, it can be a bit confusing for some of the flashbacks because they are not accompanied by the words of Augustus Hill. A deeper look into the characters is illustrated through flashbacks in both shows and serves well to show not only how a character ended up behind bars, but helps explain some of their motivations. We are introduced to a variety of characters, each with a distinct personalities and a past that led them to where they are now. Orange and Oz are bothВ stories about a host of people as opposed to a single star. Tobias and Piper are both forever changed because of who they had to become to survive. This is the first step in a process that changes them from person they came in as. It doesnвЂ™t take long, however, for either to end up on the wrong side of someone in aВ position of power.

They quickly learn of the tribes that form in prison and each are offered a spot in one of them. Both characters are convicted for one mistake in an otherwise law-abiding life. Piper Chapman, OrangeвЂ™s protagonist, finds that her past has caught up with her when she is named as a member of a drug ring when she only helped carry drug money one time. In Oz, we meet Tobias Beecher, a lawyer who is disbarred after being convicted for killing a child while driving under the influence of his alcohol addiction. DonвЂ™t expect a character to die every episode or two like you would expect from Oz.ДЇrom the start of each show, we are introduced to a fish-out-of-water character that is incarcerated and tries to adapt to life as a prisoner. The maximum security prison of Oswald Correctional Facility is much darker and grittier than the minimum security womenвЂ™s jail that is Litchfield. ItвЂ™s plain to see that the shows take place in two different settings. The differences between these two shows may be obvious, but there are a lot of similarities that motivate its viewers to continue to the next episode and even binge-watch an entire season. While this Netflix original is a show about life in prison, one of its characters makes it clear when she says вЂњthis is not OzвЂќ. You may have even seen a commercial for their second season recently. Among its shows, Orange Is the New Black is getting a lot of attention. Netflix has quickly gone from being a subscription-based streaming service to producing an arsenal of original content. Since then, there wasnвЂ™t a show that brought its audience into the world of prison life quite the way that HBO did. Oz ended withВ six seasons after wrapping up most of story lines that kept their viewers tuning in. In 1997, it was Oz, a show about a prison with a cell block built under idealistic views of rehabilitation. A new prison drama worth mentioning comes every few years.

Hbo oz series cast