Anyone seen "Oz"?

Misty1 · Nov 30, 2005

Just watched the first 3 episodes of "Oz," the HBO show that takes place in a prison, and I loved it! However.... while I work in a jail and not a prison, I found some of the things to be a little bit unbelievable. For example:
Inmates are given metal clipboards to write things down on.
The sexy female doctor stitches up a convicted murdered with absolutely nobody else around.
There are all these dark shadowy hallways with no cameras or COs where inmates can meet to make deals or kill each other.
Inmates can work providing direct patient care in the medical wards with no supervision whatsoever.
There are no cameras in the cells.
It's very easy to bribe a guard to let you burn somebody alive.
Etc.
What other things have you seen in the media about jails/ prisons that ring untrue? Or are the above TRUE, and I just don't know it...?

I love that movie Oz. I don't work in corrections so can't comment on how true it is, but like anything else on TV its just entertainment.

nurseT · Dec 2, 2005

That sounds familiar, I think I saw the previews and forgot to watch it. When is it on? Have you seen Prison Break on FOX? The doctor is real pretty and sees the inmates by herself. She has some sexual tension between her and one inmate. In the first episode, she gives him an insulin injection on the inside of his forearm and in a fresh tatoo. She even gets up and leaves him alone in the exam room with all the meds and instruments. The show is a pretty good story line but I see all the mistakes too. I work in a jail also. We are maximum security so there is very little freedom at all. So the inmates write me all the time and act like they're dying and all they had was a pimple. They can really wear me down sometimes. They know when the lazy crew is working and when the tuff guy crew is working and behave accordingly. Corrections is a whole different animal. :devil:

jailnurse1033 · Dec 3, 2005

I've gotta say, I just watched season 1 of "Oz" on DVD and I'm hooked! Looking all over for season 2! I think they do take some creative license with the show -but the type of things you mention probably wouldn't be picked up on by the general public (on the outside). A lot of it is true to form in regards to the subculture of society that is incarcerated men. I can't wait to watch the rest of the seasons!

BSNinTX · Dec 5, 2005

Well, no show or movie I've ever seen is like any correctional setting I've ever seen! Has anyone seen any accurate depiction? Especially of the health care? "Crossing Jordan" had an episode with an inmate in jail; there was a "nurse" who had bandaged a penetrating abdominal wound and said "I can't give antibiotics." Any time we show up on TV, it makes us look like monsters. Of course, "ER"/"Grey's Anatomy"/"Scrubs" don't show nurses in the proper light either.

irish_std/n · Dec 6, 2005

OZ is brilliant but it is super unrealistic!

Crawsu · Jan 2, 2006

It is sooo not realistic. The first season wasn't bad, but it has gotten sillier every year. I mean, really, if there are inmates who have been involved n fights etc, they would never be housed in the same pod. Surgery in the facility? I don't think so. Transfusions,not likely. A staff member assaulted and then allowed to work in the same facility, puleeze...it's a fantasy

The staff is so involved with the inmates on a personal level, it is an example of what NOT to do if you work in corrections. Females housed in the same area as males? It's just stupid.

Still, I do feel compelled to watch it, even though it's pure BS.

:imbar

Grace Oz · Jan 2, 2006

phew! for a minute there......... i thought someone was looking for me! lol

jen42 · Jan 5, 2006

Sorry... I just had to post this... I just started watching Season 3, and in the first episode the doctor is going around with a tray passing out meds!! I nearly died laughing. Every time my fiancee asked what was so funny I started to explain and then cracked up again. He wanted to throttle me. :)