Line #24 Trivia/Oz


1	!!Comic Book
2	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Marvel had intended to adapt all fourteen of Creator/LFrankBaum's ''Oz'' books but they stopped at six (the SeriesFauxnale) due to declining sales.
3
4	!!Series
5	* ActorLeavesCharacterDies:
6	** [[spoiler:Jefferson Keane is executed halfway through the first season because the actor portraying him, Leon, refused to commit to a series. When Leon asked Tom Fontana why he was being killed off, Fontana told him it was because he said he wouldn't commit to more than four episodes. Leon replied that he thought he'd been talked out of that and actually wanted to stay]].
7	** [[spoiler:Simon Adebesi was killed off when Creator/AdewaleAkinnuoyeAgbaje was cast in ''Film/TheMummyReturns'']].
8	** [[spoiler: On a similar note, Kareem Said was killed off when Creator/EamonnWalker was cast in ''Film/TearsOfTheSun'']].
9	* ActorSharedBackground: Both Anthony Chisholm (Redding) and Creator/JohnDoman (Galson) served in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, as did their characters. Chisholm was a platoon leader and Doman was commissioned second lieutenant in the Marines.
10	* CastTheExpert: Chuck Zito (Pancamo) and Craig muMs Grant (Poet) were the only cast members who had actually done time in prison.
11	* CastTheRunnerUp: Chuck Zito (Pancamo) first auditioned as a Biker, having being a veteran member of the Hell's Angels Biker Club. However because of his complexion and heavy New York accent, Tom Fontana thought he'd fit in better with the Italians on the series.
12	* TheCastShowoff:
13	** muMs the Schemer wrote every one of the poems his character Poet recited.
14	** The basketball tournament allows real-life pro ball player Rick Fox to show his skills.
15	** Prior to the boxing scenes in season 3, Tom Fontana asked the actors involved if they had experience boxing. All said yes, but it turned out that only Chuck Zito had ever done any actual boxing.
16	** The talent showcase episode showed off the pipes of a number of the cast members, almost all of whom had band or Broadway experience.
17	*** Bonus points to Creator/RitaMoreno (Sister Pete) who has an Emmy, Oscar, Tony, Grammy, and Golden Globe for her singing roles.
18	* CreatorCouple:
19	** Terry Kinney ([=McManus=]) and Creator/KathrynErbe (Shirley Bellinger) were married for 13 years and have two children together.
20	** Creator/JKSimmons' spouse Michelle Schumacher made guest appearances as Norma Clark. Their characters don't interact in any way, but Vern notes that Norma's letter is "stinking with cheap perfume" during a mail delivery scene.
21	* TheDanza:
22	** Chris Keller is played by Creator/ChristopherMeloni.
23	** Chuck Pancamo is played by Chuck Zito.
24	* DirectedByCastMember: Averted. Somewhat bizarrely, the show had a long list of actors show up in the director's chair, Creator/SteveBuscemi, Creator/KathyBates, Creator/MattDillon and Creator/RobMorrow among others, none of whom ever actually acted on the show.
25	** Well, Creator/TerryKinney did direct that one episode.
26	* FakeAmerican: Said is played by Brit actor Creator/EamonnWalker.
27	* FakeNationality: Adebisi is played by British actor Creator/AdewaleAkinnuoyeAgbaje of Nigerian descent.
28	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Mike Doyle plays the intensely homophobic Adam Guenzel in season five. In real life, Doyle is openly gay. Similarly, Aryan biker Hoyt is played by the Jewish Evan Seinfeld who even has a Star of David tattoo on his stomach.
29	* PlayingAgainstType:
30	** Creator/ZeljkoIvanek asked to play a villainous character in this because he was fed up with being type-cast as dull nice guys or {{Reasonable Authority Figure}}s. His subsequent career proves that it worked.
31	** Creator/BillFagerbakke as the sinister corrupt prison guard and Neo-Nazi Karl Metzger.
32	* PostScriptSeason: Tom Fontana was convinced that season four would be the final season, so he wrote two endings: one where Beecher got paroled and one where he didn't. If the show was canceled they would end on the happy note of Beecher being paroled.
33	* ProductionPosse:
34	** A very large number of the actors also played main, recurring, or guest characters in the ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' franchise. This is likely because both series were filmed in New York rather than California, so it pulled from the same pool of actors.
35	** Dean Winters (Ryan O'Reilly), Lee Tergesen (Beecher), Kristin Rohde (Clare Howell), Creator/ZeljkoIvanek (Governor Devlin) and Edie Falco (Diane Whittlesey) had all played recurring or guest roles in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', which Tom Fontana had played a major production and writing role in.
36	* RealLifeRelative:
37	** Resident ManipulativeBastard Ryan O'Reily (played by Creator/DeanWinters) and his mentally retarded older brother Cyril O'Reily (Creator/ScottWilliamWinters) are brothers in real life. Their eldest brother, Bradford Winters, was series creator/head writer Tom Fontana's main collaborator for most of the series' run, as well.
38	** Creator/ErnieHudson's son Ernie Hudson Jr. made recurring appearances as inmate Hamid Khan.
39	* RealitySubtext: Chuck Zito (Pancamo) and Craig muMs Grant (Poet) were the only cast members who had actually done time in prison.
40	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Some cast members that played prisoners have noted that, throughout the series, if you showed up late to the set, your punishment would be that your character would either die or be raped the next week.
41	* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/TerryKinney and Creator/KathrynErbe were married in real life during the show. They divorced in 2006.
42	* StarMakingRole: Quite a few: for Creator/JKSimmons, Creator/EamonnWalker, Creator/AdewaleAkinnuoyeAgbaje, Creator/HaroldPerrineau, Creator/ChristopherMeloni and Creator/BDWong (though the latter two also had ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' for this).
43	* TechnologyMarchesOn:
44	** In season 3, one of the inmates writes his memoirs. He saves it on a disk, which is then intercepted. Today, the file would be sent via email or online submission form, and stored elsewhere.
45	** Early in Season 5, Beecher's computer gets upgraded...to 128MB of RAM (which was slow even in 2002).
46	* WagTheDirector: According to Tom Fontana, Creator/DeanWinters had a crush on Luna Lauren Velez and requested a sex scene to be filmed with their characters. A scene in which O'Reily fantasizes about having sex with Nathan was filmed much to Winters' delight.
47	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
48	** Tom Fontana said that Rick Fox would have been in more episodes if he'd played for New York Knicks instead of the Los Angeles Lakers.
49	** Creator/MichaelKWilliams auditioned for a role.
50	* WrittenByCastmember: Sean Whitesell (Donald Groves) wrote two episodes for the fifth season.

Context Trivia / Oz