“Tom’s broken down more barriers than anyone,” said Winters. Of course, the show was a game-changer in TV for a number of reasons, including on-screen representation that was ahead of its time. I was sitting on the set with Vince Gilligan and he told me he…became a writer because of seeing Tom Fontana’s work in Homicide,” Winters shared, “and made Breaking Bad because he thought he could get away with it after watching Oz.” “I did a show seven years ago called Battle Creek. The actor, who played Ryan O’Reilly, also shared a fond memory, suggesting that the legacy of Oz continues to unfold.

“He looked around and very quietly goes, ‘You guys got it right,’ and walked out.” We were in the bathroom and Chuck D from Public Enemy came in and saw us,” he recalled. Winters then shared an anecdote speaking to how resonant Oz was while it was on the air. “We were all out there going, ‘Lets see what happens.'” “Nobody knew how people were going to take it,” he recalled. His one-time collaborators started out by praising the risk-taking Fontana mentioned, offering up their recollection of just how disruptive the show was in its time. Tergesen, who played Tobias Beecher, noted “the balls” Fontana had to write a show like Oz, at a time when there was nothing else like it on TV.

On the panel, Fontana was joined by actor-director Terry Kinney, as well as cast members Lee Tergesen, Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau and Kirk Acevedo, who of course, weren’t going to allow him to get away with being humble. 'Faking It' Reunion: EP Carter Covington Says Show With Groundbreaking Representation &

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