FAQ

The likely explanation is that HBO put this series on HBOMax. Therefore HBO would want people to subscribe to the streaming service. Also, the series was filmed on a low budget and was always meant to look cheap and gritty with a full screen format. So the quality may not be worth putting on bluray. Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield also said this was the reason that show never got put on bluray, however the series did get a special limited bluray release.

Yes....and it's creator/writer Tom Fontana getting it too, seeing as he couldn't find anyone who would get it at the time.

The seasons of Oz were all planned to be eight episodes long. The sole exception is season 4, which is sixteen episodes. Part way through season 4 HBO found out that the Sopranos would not be producing a season that year. With the money which they would have spent on that season of the Sopranos, HBO decided to buy extra episodes of Oz. This is why season 4 is twice as long as the other seasons and why its structure is somewhat more disjointed, with two major arcs. Tom Fontana only found out about the extended season after production had begun and he had to write extra episodes for the season.

Tom Fontana has always said that he willingly sacrifices factual accuracy for dramatic purposes. In particular, Fontana has indicated that he believes that maximum security wings like Emerald City are significantly safer than depicted on his show. Chuck Zito, who plays Chucky Pancamo on the show, and who is one of only two cast members(the other is 'muMs da Schemer') to serve prison time, has commented that Oz is a heightened version of the reality of prison. The amount of violence, sexual assaults, and drug abuse which is depicted on the show is far in excess of reality, but most of the activities depicted have a basis in fact.

A constant source of speculation for both fans and characters such as Martin Querns, is how Adebisi manages to keep his hat on his head when it's cocked to the side. Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje, the actor who plays Adebisi claims to have based the hat on real African gangsters who he knew while growing up in London. Supposedly the more crooked you could manage to wear it, the higher status you were.

It's short for "prison fag" which generally relates to prisoners who aren't gay, but commit homosexual acts while inside prison. Also it is usually said by the dominating inmate to refer to the submissive. Akin to being a "prison bitch"

As said by the C.O.'s introducing new inmates to Em City; Emerald City is an experimental Maximum Security wing, staying there gets you special perks, such as being able to wear your street clothes, getting sealed rooms, which means you don't have to hear any commotion when trying to sleep, TV's set up to view whenever you feel like it, a computer room, card tables and chessboards, etc. These perks come at a price however, you're required to attend therapy sessions, classrooms, and there is a zero-tolerance for fighting, drug use, or sexual assaults. Getting caught doing any of these results in getting sent to "the hole" or "the cage". If your infractions are frequent enough or severe enough you get sent to solitary or to Gen pop (General Population). Where you have to wear prison issue jump suits and all or most of your perks are taken away.

It's interesting to note, that during all the flashbacks that show the crimes the characters commit that gets them sent to Oz, Kareem Said is the only one who isn't shown on camera actually committing the crime. All that is shown is a building exploding. He claims he is a political prisoner, but aside from this he never denies guilt for his crimes. Meaning he likely was guilty. However, one glaring contradiction is the fact that he is a pacifist. Nobody was killed in the explosion, so it's likely he waited until the building was empty before destroying it.

It should be noted that Tom Fontana has commented that he attempted to pointedly contrast other fictional representations of prison, such as The Shawshank Redemption, by not having a wrongfully convicted character.

The hole is meant as a punishment. Being locked in a cold, dark, dank room with nothing but a bucket to relieve yourself in, also being completely naked without being able to take a shower or shave for the duration of your time in the hole. The conditions of the hole are to deter inmates from breaking the rules. Being naked is probably also to keep the inmates from using their clothes to fashion a noose to commit suicide with if they have a mental breakdown.

Much of the slang used in the prison, such as "prag" for sex slave, "pod" for cell, and "tits" for drugs, was made up by the writers. Tom Fontana has said that some of the cast members who were familiar with street slang offered to teach him real slang terms but he declined the offer fearing that slang which was too accurate and on point would make the show look dated once that slang went out of style.