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Oz - HBO

post #1 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:08am
Thread Starter 
HBO Zone has been reairing episodes of Oz, a show I had never seen. And now, about 15 or so eps in, I'm really digging it. What I was wondering was if the show ever, for lack of a better term, jumps the shark. Am I going to hit episode 3 of season 4 and it turns out that Oz is all the dream of Michael from Lost? God, I hope not. And speaking of, Jesus shit there are a TON of "Hey, it's that guy!" actors on this show.
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post #2 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:24am
Around season 5, the show really jumps the shark. Season 4(which is 16 episodes long)treads some deep water.

You'll see.
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post #3 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:28am
It does, somewhat, but it's solid through the end. Definitely takes a few strange paths a few times but manages to recover from them, thankfully. Because it really is a strong show with lots of great, memorable characters and performances. And you can get your women to watch the show because there's dicks all over the place!

But yeah, it was funny because I went from watching this whole show right into The Wire, and about half of that damn cast is straight out of Oz.
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post #4 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:32am
Few shows have jumped a shark so large.
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post #5 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:33am
OZ is great show that allows for an entertaining drinking game.

Anytime someone says "Prag" you take a shot.

Anytime someone gets shived, you take 2 shots.

Anytime Beecher cries, you take 3 shots.

Anytime you see a dick, you take 5 shots.

After an episode of doing that, good luck trying to stay alive!
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post #6 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
Few shows have jumped a shark so large.
But you know what? At least the show was aware of some it's dumb turns. Its been awhile, but I remember Schillinger outright dismissing the "aging pill" idea as being some of the dumbest shit..

Even during it's apex of absurdity, the characters made it regular viewing for my family and me.

But we all thought the series finale was fucking lame.
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post #7 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:54am
Yeah, that's what saved it for me. It's as if Fontana watched the episode after it aired and realized what a mistake it was, and took steps towards forgetting it ever happened.
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post #8 of 33
8/28/08 at 5:58am
Faraci's assessment is absolutely correct, in it's last few seasons Oz went into self-parody and it never came back. It got to the point where if there'd been an episode where Schillinger engineered an escape plan involving a pack of velociraptors tear-assing through Emerald City, I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised.
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post #9 of 33
8/28/08 at 6:13am
First 3 seasons are killer, but I'd recommend avoiding the rest if you want your memories of the show to remain good.
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post #10 of 33
8/28/08 at 6:49am
Thread Starter 
Shit. For some reason, this is what I was afraid of. Unlike these other HBO shows with memorial finale's and final seasons, I just hadn't heard anything about later seasons of Oz and that was worrying me. Oh well. When it starts to suck, I guess I'll stop.

And Mr. Eko's penis...surprisingly modest. I expected a prayer stick. He and Viggo must have been born next to same nuclear power plant.
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post #11 of 33
8/28/08 at 7:07am
I got into the show later on, so I never had that much of a problem with the later seasons... then I saw the early ones and realized the loltasticness... but really, its not like the show starts with a cannibal saying he kinda likes catholicism because of transubstantiation.

It's basically a very violent soap opera, and very enjoyable. It did become O'Reilly's Family Circus Show... but I always liked that scene with the prison hitting the walls because of Cyril's execution. Some of the season 6 deaths were beyond anti-climatic, though.
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post #12 of 33
8/28/08 at 7:19am
I didn't feel it jumped the shark, so much as it just lost steam, lost fresh ideas, although I did watch it ages ago.
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post #13 of 33
8/28/08 at 7:58am
Ain't that like the official definition for jumped the sharked? That it just wasn't as good as it originally was anymore?
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post #14 of 33
8/28/08 at 9:13am
Ditto to all of the above, though I get a kick watching it on Demand every now and then.
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post #15 of 33
8/28/08 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis Wolcott View Post
Ain't that like the official definition for jumped the sharked? That it just wasn't as good as it originally was anymore?
That's a part of it, but there is usually a left-field narrative event that serves as the catalyst for the lack of quality. Like Fonzie jumping over a tank of sharks for no reason at all. Or an out of nowhere character that disrupts the flow of the show(Example: Cousin Oliver).

I refuse to believe the Ted McGinley theory. Married With Children proves that shit doesn't hold water.
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post #16 of 33
8/28/08 at 11:37am
Don't let that one story arc ruin the final seasons for you. Though it takes a wild detour from reality for a couple of episodes, they kind of get back on track and the show is still very watchable and entertaining. There are only two plots that really pissed me off, the closing story arcs of Luke Perry and Ernie Hudson were both just stupid beyond belief.
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post #17 of 33
8/28/08 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Riviello View Post
But yeah, it was funny because I went from watching this whole show right into The Wire, and about half of that damn cast is straight out of Oz.
Yeah, I watched OZ through to the end (sort of wincing and snorting through the last few seasons -- wasn't there something about a ghost once? Chrissakes.) and this was exactly one of the reasons I just couldn't get into The Wire that first season. Actually til after a couple seasons had gone by and I'd caught on to the hyperbolic buzz.

I usually have no problem separating actors from multiple roles (Edie Falco, from OZ to Sopranos? No sweat), but this was so immediate and so fucking many of em. Didn't help that their OZ roles was all I'd known them from. Too fast a jump for my little brain.

Probably shoulda left this in the Wire Virgin Confessions thread. Anyway, OZ was great for several seasons, then WHOOSH. Really needed to be shut down sooner.
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post #18 of 33
8/28/08 at 11:48am
It was all about Luke Perry in this show. That shit cracked me up. Although the first 3 season are pretty epic. I don't hate the later seasons, I just don't care that much about them.
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post #19 of 33
8/28/08 at 12:45pm
What was interesting about this was that this subject matter was touched on by Fontana in I think a Season 5 or 6 episode of Homicide. Then OZ just shows up a year or two later.

Still, Jerry Seinfeld in OZ. One of the better SNL skits out there.
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post #20 of 33
8/28/08 at 12:54pm
Everytime my girl and I see Lee Tergesen in anything we yell out "Beechball!". I thank Vern for giving us that. Lee rocked in that show.
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post #21 of 33
8/28/08 at 12:59pm
I heard one of the memebers of the aryan nation was actually Jerry Seinfeld's cousin.
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post #22 of 33
8/28/08 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
What was interesting about this was that this subject matter was touched on by Fontana in I think a Season 5 or 6 episode of Homicide. Then OZ just shows up a year or two later.

Still, Jerry Seinfeld in OZ. One of the better SNL skits out there.
Yeah, there was an OZ like episode in Homicide where Bayliss is investigating a prisoner's death in a riot, and it shows all the past collars that the cops had made. Interesting aftermath for a lot of the past cases that the detectives pulled.

Dean Winters played a rogue prison bitch who was deemed a "shim". O'Reilly would not have stood for that shit.
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post #23 of 33
8/28/08 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken View Post
I heard one of the memebers of the aryan nation was actually Jerry Seinfeld's cousin.
I think you're talking about Evan Seinfeld-lead singer of Biohazard and played the biker Hoyt. The one who helped brick up Luke Perry in the kitchen, and felt bad about it.

I don't think he and Jerry are related.

Oh yeah, the dude is balling Tera Patrick.
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post #24 of 33
8/29/08 at 12:41am
Great thread and discussion so far guys.

As you can tell from my avatar, I'm a pretty big fan. It's one of the best shows HBO produced and formed a great trifecta of crime shows along with The Sopranos and The Wire.

As for the period when OZ began the downward slide, I would say it started around the time Adebisi got killed off. During that season and the next, they had the ridiculous aging pills subplot, Luke Perry's ghost, making O'Riley too invincible and so forth. I also felt some of the deaths in the final season were lame and did the characters a disservice(Said, Omar and Peter Schibetta for example).

Still I liked a lot of the series finale and they way they resolved the Beecher/Keller/Schillinger storyline.
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post #25 of 33
8/29/08 at 1:14am
The last season really went into apocalypse mode when they started killing characters off left and right.

Still, this was a really awesome show, that had a semi-decent ending. I also liked how Adewale Akinoyue Agbage went from the sadistic monster that was Adebisi on this show to the kindly priest that was Mr. Eko on Lost.

Plus it had this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVAOq...eature=related
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post #26 of 33
8/29/08 at 2:17am
I kinda agree that you could take Adebisi's death as the turning point... and I wonder if we just completely spoiled OP?

In any case, like I said, I can enjoy the later seasons and I'll just pretend they didn't kill Kareem Said for no reason whatsoever... even Augustus' death made more sense and that was because he wanted time for the Matrix sequels.
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post #27 of 33
8/29/08 at 3:21am
A few twists and turns may have been disappointing, but anyone who denies the overall quality of writing and performance throughout is wrong.
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post #28 of 33
8/29/08 at 3:42am
I agree on that.

Plus, really... Keller & Beecher are up there with, I don't know, Buffy & Angel or Bruce Willis and Cybil Shephard... if you add lots of sociopathy and fuckedupness.
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post #29 of 33
8/29/08 at 5:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravi View Post
As for the period when OZ began the downward slide, I would say it started around the time Adebisi got killed off. During that season and the next, they had the ridiculous aging pills subplot, Luke Perry's ghost, making O'Riley too invincible and so forth. I also felt some of the deaths in the final season were lame and did the characters a disservice(Said, Omar and Peter Schibetta for example).
Dude, honestly... This thread was started by someone who's still on the first season, so why don't you invisotext that shit?
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post #30 of 33
8/29/08 at 6:02am
Well, dude, he's going to find out sooner or later. Plus it's not like I'm revealing the exact situation or which episode it happens.
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post #31 of 33
8/29/08 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, fuckhead.

But seriously, whatever. Shows been done for awhile. While inviso spoilers are appreciated, it's not gonna kill me. I just finished season 2 last night. Still totally good.
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post #32 of 33
8/29/08 at 3:49pm
Season 3 is pretty fucking good if I remember correctly.
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post #33 of 33
8/30/08 at 11:35am
The pleasure in shows like this are the texture, the thematic worth, and the performances. The idea of spoilers destroying your notions of this show are fucking stupid.
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