Overview
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"Oz" is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility, formerly Oswald State Penitentiary, a fictional maximum-security prison (level 4) in an unnamed state in the US, though most likely New York State, considering the frequent references by characters to "upstate," a term used by New Yorkers to describe the upper region of the state. When a public official on the show delivers an address, the New York State flag can be seen in the background with the New York motto "excelsior." One of the Homeboy inmates also makes a reference to the Polo Grounds, an area of Harlem.
The nickname "Oz" 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". Curiously, the name Oswald is also that of Correctional Services Commissioner Harold G. Oswald during the Attica prison uprising, in Attica, New York. Tim McManus's hometown is Attica, and he describes the Attica uprising as being one of the reasons he wanted to reform corrections.
In 2008, the show was placed at #73 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.
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