Prison drama `Oz’ to launch 2nd season

Welcome to “Oz.”

But this “Oz” isn’t a Technicolor dreamland filled with chattering Munchkins and friendly traveling companions. Instead, it’s a simmering cauldron which forcibly melds convicts and correctional officers into an alloy that is always ready to boil over into violence.

“Oz” is the critically acclaimed HBO prison drama which returns for its second season at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, July 11.

The best known names in the ensemble cast are Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney and Rita Moreno. But “Oz” has a cast that runs deep, with stellar performances in supporting roles from B.D. Wong, Lauren Velez and Edie Falco as prison staffers, and Eamonn Walker, Lee Tergesen and George Morfogen as prisoners.

“Oz” is set in Emerald City, the experimental unit of the urban Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary. In Emerald City, prisoners are divided by type (Muslims, Aryans, Italians, etc.) in four-man pods, which frequently form uneasy alliances.

A great framing device is the use of paraplegic prisoner Augustus Hill, played by Chris Rock look-alike Harold Perrineau, who serves as an angry, yet philosophical, narrator, tying each episode’s segments together.

The second-season opener, “The Tip,” provides an excellent jumping-on point for new viewers. It recaps the riot that erupted in the final episode of last season, and serves to introduce the extensive cast.

Executive producers of “Oz” are Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, also the team behind NBC’s cop drama “Homicide.” Like “Homicide,” “Oz” is grim and intense, only lightened occasionally by moments of black humor. Likewise, its camerawork can often be dizzying. But since it is on HBO, “Oz” isn’t handicapped by network censors and can show the depredations, and the inhumanity that is a daily part of prison life.

Movie director Levinson (“Rain Man,” “Bugsy”) uses his Hollywood connections to bring talented directors to “Oz,” including young auteurs Nick Gomez (“New Jersey Drive”), Uli Edel (“Last Exit to Brooklyn”) and actor-director hyphenates Kathy Bates and Bob Balaban. This gives each episode a distinctive flavor and the look of a short film.

One problem with “Oz” is that it’s hard to digest the large cast of 14 regulars and numerous guest stars crammed into each episode. It will take new viewers a few episodes to determine who’s who, and why they’re in Emerald City.

Also it becomes clear, from the conga- and brass-driven opening credits showing snippets of prison life, that “Oz” can be brutal. For those whose idea of TV drama is “Diagnosis Murder” or “Touched by an Angel,” “Oz” will be overwhelming. But, it is also riveting, and among the top dramas available on TV today.

“Oz” premieres at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, July 11, with repeats at midnight July 12, 10 p.m. July 13, 11 p.m. July 15 and 12:30 a.m. July 18. Future episodes will debut at 10 p.m. Mondays.