Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired February 23, 2003. The show was filmed in New York City, New York and later Bayonne, New Jersey. "Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional maximum-security prison . The nickname is a reference to the classic film The Wizard of... Oz, which is notable for popularizing the phrase: "There's no place like home". In contrast, the series has used the tagline: "It's no place like home". In 2008, the show was placed at #73 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list. The majority of Oz's plot arcs are set in "Emerald City," also a concept from The Wizard of Oz. In this experimental unit of the prison, unit manager Tim McManus emphasizes rehabilitation and learning responsibility during incarceration, rather than carrying out purely punitive measures.
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| On the air: | July 12, 1997-February 23, 2003 |
| Number of seasons: | 6 |
| Network: | HBO |
| Producer: | Irene Burns, Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana |