Season 1 (1997) The first season of
Oz stars
Ernie Hudson as Warden
Leo Glynn,
Terry Kinney as Emerald City Unit Manager
Tim McManus,
Harold Perrineau as inmate and narrator
Augustus Hill, and
Eamonn Walker as new inmate and devout Muslim
Kareem Saïd. It also stars
Kirk Acevedo as Latino inmate
Miguel Alvarez,
Edie Falco as correctional officer
Diane Whittlesey,
Rita Moreno as prison counselor
Sister Peter Marie Reimondo,
Tony Musante as inmate and Mafia boss
Nino Schibetta,
Leon Robinson as inmate
Jefferson Keane,
J.K. Simmons as inmate and Aryan Brotherhood leader
Vernon Schillinger,
Lee Tergesen as new inmate
Tobias Beecher,
Sean Whitesell as cannibalistic inmate
Donald Groves,
Dean Winters as
manipulative Irish inmate
Ryan O'Reily, and
BD Wong as the prison chaplain
Father Ray Mukada. Recurring guest stars included
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as inmate and Homeboys gang leader
Simon Adebisi,
Rick Fox as inmate and former basketball star Jackson Vahue,
goodfella Mike G as inmate and Schibetta's right-hand man
Joey D'Angelo, Stephen Gevedon as biker inmate
Scott Ross,
Craig muMs Grant as inmate
Arnold "Poet" Jackson,
Željko Ivanek as
Governor James Devlin, Tim McAdams as Homeboys inmate
Johnny Post,
George Morfogen as long-term inmate
Bob Rebadow,
Steve Ryan as corrupt Officer
Mike Healy,
Lauren Vélez as prison doctor
Gloria Nathan, and
J. D. Williams as Homeboys inmate
Kenny Wangler. Season 1 chronicled the spiritual and political journeys of many of the characters as they descend into insanity, rise and fall politically, and seek redemption. The season showed how the different gangs fight each other as well as the prison system, culminating in a riot in which the inmates take over Emerald City.
Season 2 (1998) The second season of Oz starred
Kirk Acevedo as Latino inmate
Miguel Alvarez,
Ernie Hudson as Warden
Leo Glynn,
Terry Kinney as Emerald City Unit Manager
Tim McManus,
Rita Moreno as prison counselor
Sister Peter Marie Reimondo,
Harold Perrineau as inmate and narrator
Augustus Hill,
J.K. Simmons as reformed Aryan Brotherhood inmate
Vernon Schillinger,
Lee Tergesen as the mentally unstable inmate
Tobias Beecher,
Eamonn Walker as inmate and devout Muslim leader
Kareem Saïd, and
Dean Winters as manipulative Irish-American inmate
Ryan O'Reily. It also starred
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as inmate and Homeboys gang leader
Simon Adebisi,
Edie Falco as correctional officer
Diane Whittlesey,
George Morfogen as long-term inmate
Bob Rebadow,
Lauren Vélez as prison doctor
Gloria Nathan, and
BD Wong as the prison chaplain
Father Ray Mukada. Recurring guest stars included
Bryan Callen as Christian inmate
Jonathan Coushaine,
Kathryn Erbe as death row inmate
Shirley Bellinger,
Bill Fagerbakke as corrupt corrections officer
Karl Metzger,
Rick Fox as inmate and former basketball star Jackson Vahue,
Craig muMs Grant as inmate
Arnold "Poet" Jackson,
Luis Guzmán as new inmate and Latino gang leader
Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez,
Željko Ivanek as
Governor James Devlin, Jordan Lage as homosexual inmate
Richie Hanlon, Eddie Malavarca as inmate and new leader of the mob Peter Schibetta,
Tom Mardirosian as inmate
Agamemnon "The Mole" Busmalis,
Mark Margolis as Peter Schibetta's godfather and new inmate
Antonio Nappa,
Christopher Meloni as new inmate
Chris Keller,
Austin Pendleton as inmate and Alzheimer's patient
William Giles,
Evan Seinfeld as new biker inmate Jaz Hoyt,
J. D. Williams as homeboy inmate
Kenny Wangler, and
Scott William Winters as Ryan O'Reily's brother,
Cyril O'Reily.
Tony Masters played by
Steven Wishnoff, Fiona Zonioni and Kiki Dowling are introduced as The Gays when Emerald City reopens in episode 2. Season two of
Oz continued to show the aftermath of the riot and the lessons each character learned from it. Throughout the course of the season, each principal character was forced to confront their own demons, and some prevailed while others faltered.
Season 3 (1999) The third season of
Oz starred
Kirk Acevedo as Latino inmate
Miguel Alvarez,
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as inmate
Simon Adebisi,
Ernie Hudson as Warden
Leo Glynn,
Terry Kinney as Emerald City Unit Manager
Tim McManus,
Rita Moreno as prison counselor
Sister Peter Marie Reimondo,
Harold Perrineau as inmate and narrator
Augustus Hill,
J.K. Simmons as Aryan Brotherhood inmate
Vernon Schillinger,
Lee Tergesen as the mentally unstable inmate
Tobias Beecher,
Eamonn Walker as inmate and devout Muslim leader
Kareem Saïd, and
Dean Winters as manipulative Irish inmate
Ryan O'Reily. It also starred
Kathryn Erbe as death row inmate
Shirley Bellinger,
Edie Falco as correctional officer
Diane Whittlesey,
Luis Guzmán as inmate and Latino gang leader
Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez,
Mark Margolis as inmate and Italian gang leader
Antonio Nappa,
Christopher Meloni as inmate
Chris Keller,
George Morfogen as longterm inmate
Robert 'Bob' Rebadow,
Lauren Vélez as prison doctor
Gloria Nathan, and
BD Wong as the prison chaplain
Father Ray Mukada,
Granville Adams as Muslim inmate
Zahir Arif,
Arija Bareikis as Tricia Ross, the sister of dead inmate Scott Ross,
Philip Casnoff as new Russian inmate
Nikolai Stanislofsky,
Robert Clohessy as new head CO of Emerald City
Sean Murphy,
Seth Gilliam as new CO
Clayton Hughes,
Tom Mardirosian as inmate
Agamemnon "The Mole" Busmalis,
Craig muMs Grant as inmate Arnold "Poet" Jackson, Kristin Rohde as new CO
Claire Howell,
J. D. Williams as inmate and Homeboy gang leader
Kenny Wangler, and
Scott William Winters as inmate
Cyril O'Reily.
Season 4 (2000–01) Season 5 (2002) Season 6 (2003) Bonus Episode: Zo: On May 1, 2024, the 16-minute short film
Zo was released on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu_yujhtkpI). Set over 20 years after the series' end, it portrays a tense phone conversation between Tobias Beecher and Ryan O'Reily, both now out of prison for different reasons. The film stars Lee Tergesen and Dean Winters (reprising their roles from the series) and was written by longtime Oz showrunner Tom Fontana ==References==