| Oz History (shanks for the memories) |
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| Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson develop a show called "Oz". Fontana researches the show for about two years by going in and out of prisons. Jokingly, he names it 'Club Med'. Detractors have called Oz 'Melrose Prison'. The origins of the name comes from the warden at Attica during the 1972 riots. All conventional networks reject the show except HBO. Oz becomes the first hour long drama for the upstart cable company. It debuts in June with Fontan himself getting the logo tattooed on his shoulder in the opening credits. Fontana and crew suspects Oz will:"Last the eight weeks of the first season and nothing more". He is graciously mistaken. The first four seasons of Oz are shot in Chelsea Market on the sixth floor of a non-descript office building with a 60,000 square foot space at 15th Street and Ninth Ave. |
| June 1997 |
| Oz wins four Cable ACE Awards -- including best drama. Season two begins production. |
| 1998 |
| Oz gets two Emmy nominations. One for outstanding series casting, the other for outstanding guest actor, Charles S. Dutton who plays the part of Alvah Case. Oz loses in both categories with the latter going to Edward Herrmann's guest spot on "The Practice". |
| 1999 |
| Tom Fontana proclaims: "Oz will be back. We're still making Oz." Fans breath a sigh of relief. |
| June 14, 1999 |
| The show is booted from Chelsea Market. The reason? The landlord did not give the show's producers the option of re-negotiating their lease. Renting instead to New York 1 "the cable news station" for 10 years. Oz could only lease yearly. Fontan finds this out by " reading about it in The Villager". |
| 2001 |
| The new location: Building 73, at Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne. The 437- acre Army base had been closed since 1998. With a 120,000 square foot warehouse and 6,000 wquare foot office space, HBO leases the site for $570,360 a year for three years. It becomes home to Oz for the remaining seasons. |
| April, 2002 |
| From 6-8 pm, Oz cast members sign autographs and meet fans at Tower Records at 66th St. and Broadway in New York to promote the release of the first season on DVD and VHS. Hundreds show up, with many turned away. A segment is done of the signing on the entertainment show EXTRA! |
| March 11, 2002 |
| Fontana announces Season six as the last installment of Oz. |
| 2002 |
| "Oz: The Complete First Season" is released on VHS and DVD. Along with the full episodes, the DVD includes deleted scenes, cast and crew mini- bio's, a small featurette, along with a music video by Kurupt and Nate Dogg. It sells faster thatn the first season of Sex and the City and The Sopranos. |
| March 19, 2002 |
| "Oz: The Complete Second Season" to be released. No news yet as to what extras are included in the package. |
| 2002 |
| New and last episodes are finished filming. |
| July 11, 2002 |
| New and last episodes are to be aired. |
| Jan. 2003 |
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| July , 2002 |
| Wrap party for the show. |
| Jan 4, 2003 |
| Signing for Season 2 VHS/DVD at 4th and Broadway in NYC. between 6 and 8 pm. |
| Jan.28 2003 |
| Seminar at The Museum of Television and Radio in NYC about the t.v. show, "OZ". 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. |
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