Wiseguys in the HBO show "Oz"

the HBO show Oz is one of my favorite shows, behind the wire and the sopranos of course! For anyone who hasn't seen it I suggest you get watching it! There is a strong element of the mob in it, with quite a few wiseguys in the prison.
For those of you who have seen the show, what did you think of the mob guys, or show in general? In my opinion Chucky Pancamo is one of my favorite characters from a TV series.
Also did you think the portrayal of mafia guys in jail and their standing inside was accurate?
Thanks guys

Never been in a prison...so I couldn't really say if the portrayal of the mob guys inside of OZ was an accurate one!

As for the acting itself, I thought that Chuck Zito and Tony Musante both did an excellent job in their respective roles.

I thought there was some great acting all round.

The Wiseguy's were always one of my favourite "factions" or "crews", whatever you want to call them. They are one of the only crews to fully disdain prison rape and not once throughout the series do you see one of them indulging in some of the fucked up shit you see Adabisi and Schillinger do.

I thought it was pretty realistic too actually, in that the wiseguys are amongst the best organised with outside contacts, but are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of other factions and therefore far weaker in modern prisons. Still hold their own but.

And Chuckie "The Enforcer" Pancomo is one of the longest lasting characters on the show. I think I remember reading somewhere that actor Chuck Zito insisted on his character being portrayed the way he is.

I loved how Dino Ortilani is presented as an anti-hero in the first series. Beside's Beecher, the early episodes feature much of him, a faulted character but one adverse to rape and therefore we root for him. As soon as we start to empathise, Tom Fontana lets us know early on what sort of plans he had for the show, with Dino being killed very early on. It makes for brutal viewing.

Nino Schibetta was another great character, and once again Fontana lets us get close to him before killing him off too. His son's character (the name escapes me now) was a great plot device, the young kid all to eager to fill his fathers shoe's. The scene where he and Chuckie try to take out Adabisi with disasterous consequences (I think his name was Peter...?) is pretty full on.

Antonio Nappa, another great character. All the wiseguys so excited to learn he's coming to Oz, and then so quick to dump him once dealt with by Adabisi.

On another note, apparantly actor Chuck Zito was known to run with the Hells Angels back in the day. And the Italian guy that Chuckie tries to befriend in the series (the one who brushes him off and insults him for giving Italians a bad name) is played by the same guy that does Herc in The Wire.

yeah Peter was his name, That scene with Adebisi was really good, Adebisi himself was a great character...
The character of Herc was in the show yes, but Chucky had no time for him when he found out he wasn't connected. There are many characters from the wire in it, Bodie is a big character and of course Edie Falco is in the show too from the sopranos.

Definitely right, Nicky. Lance Reddick is another one (also starred in Lost with Kirk Acabvedo and Ken Leung, the last of whom was also in Soprano's) Method Man (Tug Daniels in Oz, Cheese Wagstaff in The Wire) and Seth Gilliam (Ellis Carver in The Wire and the screw turned inmate Clayton Hughes in Oz) Almost certain there'd be more, stuffed if I can think of any others right now but.

Actually, there are a bunch of solid character actors in it who can be seen in heaps of different series.

But Oz, as the first hour length HBO drama, definitely led the way. I personally feel that The Wire, Soprano's, Deadwood and even non HBO productions such as Brotherhood and Breaking Bad owe a huge debt to Oz as a reference point for pushing the envelope in regards to crime-drama.

Yeah your sure right, I think the gritty level of violence also broke moulds and paved the way for darker drama series, I mean some of Oz is really on the verge of being too much for tv.
I think the actor who portrayed Schillinger did a tremendous job, very nasty but yet also funny at times. I hear in America the Aryan Brotherhood are real powerful in Prison.

Hell yeah Nicky. Some of the most brutal viewing to this day.

Wanna hear something fucked up? One time I was at home, kickin' it with the missus and watching Oz (she's really into Kirk Acavedo for some reason, go figure) when out of the blue mu Uncle and Aunt rock up for a visit. They were "in the neighbourhood". They have three little sprogs, my cousins, who upon arrival were clamoring for attention and clambering into my lap within seconds. I reached desperately for the remote. Of all scenes, it was that one where "Killer" Keller (Christopher Maloni) is in the hole and shows him taking a huge piss into a bucket (and as a bit of trivia, apparantly it was the real thing) I couldn't turn off the DVD fast enough, and had to endure some serious awkwardness.

I guess it coulda been worse. It coulda been Schillenger's rape of Petey Schibetta, aided by axle-grease *shudder* Or Beecher's prison bitch make-up. Or assorted other prag and sodomy references.



JK Simmons. Great actor. Check him out as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spidey franchise, the dad in Juno and the CIA boss in Burn After Reading. Also a small role in I think its I Love You Man with Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. He's on the screen for like four minutes for throughout the whole movie buit cracks me up like crazy every time.

Haha yeah I've had before too scrabbling for the remote! Keller also did a great job acting, it was brave of a lot of those guys to do those sort of scenes. The acting really was phenomenal, Syed the Muslim was a great actor, so too O'Reilly, there's too many to mention!

This is great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-OAi7Tz718

"Schillinger!!! God Damn it, Schillinger!!! Been here nine fuckin' years you'd think you'd learn how to say my god-damn name!"

Funny how Beecher is one of the only characters to pronounce is name properly, without putting in that hard "g" (except when he's fucking with him, of course).

Schillingers such a mean asshole you cant help but hate him. But conversely, Simmons is such a great actor that you cant help but wait for him to be back on the screen. In later series you cant help but wonder "Where's Schillinger? And what's goin' on with him and the AB?".

You know what? Ive watched "Oz" in random episodes a million times, and all the way through three or four times, and this thread has inspired me to want to watch it again, this time more conscious of the acting of and interplay between characters.

Im such a geek. I love this site.

Yeah man I've recently re-watched the entire thing, you always miss stuff that you spot later.

Yeah, "Oz" is the same way for me. I've watched a bunch of random episodes, know the groups, and know what the characters are about generally. I've never watched the show from beginning to end, though, so I'm clueless as to what happens plot-wise.

So Im about to start the fourth season again, having watched it every episode again from the start. I love it. Its soap opera on a grand scale, a brutal melodrama.

Its like even though at first some of the acting and characterization can seem a little wooden and "over the top", you still come to embody a particular character/actor with those same traits that mean you almost cant see them as anybody else (since they each had long enough to really develop their characters)

Adebisi is one of those guys I hated first time 'round (I would get super high, turn the lights off and literally freak out every time that dirty predator came on the screen. Not only is he devious, he's practically a criminal genius within the series, farsighted beyond any other inmate. "...and Adebisi got a new hat...." one of the funnest lines in the series. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is/was a driving force behind Oz for a fair while, and his character cast a long shadow over Emerald Cty and Oz.

Ryan O'Reily too; perhaps the most manipulative and devious character on the show. This time around, for some reason, Im seriously rootin' for the guy. At first my opinion was galvanised; O'Reily should have approached Schiabetta about taking out Adebisi, instead the other way around. But more and more Im seeing how its really all about his best interests. And then him and his brother, damn, can you imagine that? Bein' with your little brother in a place like Oz? Goddamn...

still, like I said, melodrama. Except they play it up to such an epic scale, with the whole concept of the prison rape, that "feminization" such a pivotal and crucial aspect.

Later on of course, its still melodrama, sure; but they delve so much deeper. With the power connotation's so developed by this point, the concept of sex in prison is looked at alot harder. Tergeson and Maloni showed some real balls taking on those roles the way they did, I mean Im no homophobe but some of those scenes were decidedly unsettling, to say the least. Not the sort of thing you want to be watching with, for example, your grandparents, amongst others.

By this point the have all made the roles their own, you can tell they're that much more comfortable. As an early blueprint for things like The Soprano's as far as featuring a range of directing and writing talents its rather interesting as well, to see who contibuted. And the later episodes do get that much more hyperrealistic and almost surreal in parts. And Seth Gilliam/Clayton Hughes doing his Travis Bickle bit in S$ Ep. 7...crack up.

Chuck Zito, one of the few cast members to have actually served time in prison, when asked if he thought Oz was realistic, basically said that the writers in Oz basically take everybody's worst nightmares about prison and prison gangs and amplify it up a bunch of times (Sorry Ill find the actual quote) and make it seem like prisons are like that all the time. I think thats a pretty apt description of Oz, but it's still compelling as hell.

I remember Petey Schibetta, an implied made guy getting molested a few times. Any cases of actual prison rape on made guys? Sorry to take OC talk in here.

On topic: I see bits and pieces of Oz here and there. For what it's worth, Wikipedia does great recaps and character profiles that really help someone with memory problems like me. That's one thing Wikipedia does really well, is HBO articles. Something like 100 character profiles for reference. I've never personally been able to sit through more than a couple episodes. It can really depress you. One episode that stuck with me was the pilot with a gangster named Dino Ortolani. The ethnic slurs he threw out were highly exaggerated. Dialogue wasn't too realistic. But ultimately the portrayal worked when it was shown he was a necessary representative of the new school of gangsters, and a lesson in how not to survive in prison. In this sense he was kind of a plot device, but once you get to know Nino Schibetta it really works. These are the kind of guys who answer to a mob boss these days. I liked it.

And thanks for the Chuck Zito quote, Mickey! That's...surprisingly reassuring.

I know what you mean BarrattM; the over the top melodrama makes for some unrealistic dialogue in part, especially in the first series. Even so, it does get far better in later series IMO. Especially once the actors have come to embody thier characters so totally; certain "over the top" traits become less noticable as aspects of the characters themselves.

Im not sure about actaul rape, but some Philly guys in the early 70's had some "Oz" style problems with some black inmates; it's the third story down on the page.
http://phillymobspot.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

SPOILER ALERT!!! (I gotta figure out how to do the nice one)

The first few times Id watched Oz, by the time I got to the sixth season I had kinda lost interest and was ultimately disappointed; I felt like the plethora of unfinished plotlines, Alvarez and Pancomo seeming to give up and throw in their lots with Torquemada and the "Fags" by default (Alvarez alot more graphically, to say the least) and Kellers "anthrax scare" to be unworthy of capping of such a great and groundbreaking series.

But having recently watched it again...wow. I see. I see how in a way, it does "close" a number of plotlines. O'Reilly and Gloria actaully make-out following Cyril's execution, thereby "confirming" his longtime unrequited love; Claire Howell finally gets pregnant off one of the "dinks", and has to face her reality. After all McManus's work, a dick like Querns ends up with his baby. And of course the number of chief pro/antagonist's throughout the series that are simply killed off in the sixth. Said. Schillinger. Guerra just fuckin' loses it, which at first I felt was contrived and stupid but can now understand within the context.

Alonzo Torquemada infuriated me the first time I watched it, a few years ago. After all we'd been through, after everythng, this guy was the gonna be the new "boss", so to speak? Especially the scene where Torquemada asks Pancamo (after securing a "business" deal with the Sicilians) "Have yor boys ever tried D-Tabs? Here..." and passes a handful to Chucky. Of course the wiseguys aren't actually going to take the drugs, but by moving them see how D-Tabs and other synthetic "happy" drugs are the way of the future in a shithole like Oz. Even though it was 2003, it seems to reflect the "club kids" scene and cases like Michael Alig's around the turn of the century.

So in retrospect, I see how Fontana was trying to say that "just because we dont see them no more, doesn't mean shit isn't still going down in OZ:, which is how he leaves it. The thing is, anything could happen, we just aint there to see it. Beecher's back in Oz. Arif, and by default, the Muslims, are disgraced. Burr Reddings could go either way. Jeffries, Reboadow, Poet, etc, etc, etc....

Bravo, Fontana (not only the writer and creator, but the guy that actually got the "Oz" tattoo in the opening credits too) The guy, and every one involved in that series, did a great job.

SEVERE THREAD DRIFT ALERT

Anyway, after all the shit they take, by the sixth series, the appearance of Frankie "The Fixer" Urbino seems to coincide with an upturn of fortune for the Sicilians. They're one of the crews that were regularly "sponsoring" new guys to Em City.

At the start, they're strong in tits and presence. But of course, Fontana has to prove to us that the "strongest" dont always survive in Oz, and kills off some real muscle in first Dino Ortilani and then Nino Schibetta (and in such a devious way!) It just Chucky left, and in a way, all the wiseguy "associates" will congregate around him from now on.

Petey comes in and does his thing and...er...fails. Just...just...fails. The Sicilians take a pretty big hit. Rep wise. Despite this, they show their solid connect's and composure.

Antonio Nappa comes in. The wiseguys are happy. Adebisi takes Nappa out. Wiseguys unhappy. Pancamo "loses" to Cyril (which obviously, but for O-Reilly's cheating, never would have happened) and more digraces with Petey.

But all throughout that; they dont "fight" amongst themselves, they dont fuck each other and they stay relatively strong throughout the series. And by the time Franky the Fixer is there, he and Chucky the Enforcer seem to run a pretty tight ship. All in all arguably the most stable crew in Em City.

It was because of "Oz" that I became interested in Sicilians and discovered so many classic films about them.


Anytime I see Wiseguys in movies and other TV shows, I typically find their actions and words repulsive. As a result, I am not cheering for them. Whenever I watch the Sicilians on "Oz" however, I like and root for them. I suspect the reason why I do that is because they are feuding with very horrible men and I see the Wiseguys as the lesser of two evil's. Why do I see them that way? Well, I enjoy the fact that the Sicilians are rich, dress formally, speak intelligently, act mature, have machoism and class, which are things a lot of criminals don't have.


Out of all the Wiseguy characters I have seen elsewhere, the Sicilians on "Oz" will always be my favorite group of Wiseguys.

Oz is one of my favorite series either to show how the violence that the sex scenes, and since the series is the 1997, without it many of the series like the Sopranos wouldn't have been produced.
The series has unfortunately not been very successful in Italy both because being very violent, it was decided to pass it late at night. It wasn't easy to find and the last series I must watch it with subtitles.


Between the Sicilian my favorite character is Charles "Chucky The Enforcer" Pancamo, even if he commits many mistakes throughout the series; so muscular fails to stand up to Adebisi and makes Adebisi rapes Peter Schibetta, then kill him when Ryan O'Reily makes him believe that Petey wants to throw him the evil eye.

Tom Fontana, who hired Chuck Zito to play Pancamo, said, "I'm going to push you and your character. I'm going to take you to places you've never been." Zito replied, "That's fine. But there's one thing you should know. I don't do rapes, and I don't get raped. And I do my own wardrobe."Zito is one of the few actors on the show that has spent time in prison.When Zito auditioned for the role, the characters first name was "Sam", but was changed to Chucky after Zito received the part.

The majority of Wiseguys for the most part feud with their own kind and/or the law in other productions, but in Emerald City, the Sicilians battled different racial tribes and I found that highly entertaining. I also like the fact that the Sicilians were not portrayed as being all-powerful and untouchable, unlike how most writers always make Wiseguys seem like the scariest group on earth that never faces trouble unless it's from the F.B.I. or like-minded folks. But in prison, clearly a gang war is not going to always be an easy win for the Sicilians because they can't bribe or blackmail the whole staff, they have limited time to communicate with their associates and each other due to being in lock-down from 5:00 PM - 7:00 AM, they have little space to move around and do business in, and are they greatly outnumbered by the black guys. The struggles the Wiseguys had made me cheer for them all the more and I appreciated seeing a human side to those kinds of hoodlums.

In Oz (as in the real life) you can see that even the most ruthless among prisoners can be killed; Adebisi that has infected with AIDS Antonio Nappa,is eventually killed by Kareem Said, Nino Schibetta is killed with the glass in the food and my favorite, Schillinger that is killed by Beecher during the Mcbeth.

In a lot of films about Wiseguys, the roles are typically played by well-known actors or people who often perform as Wiseguys in other various movies. On "Oz", the cast of Sicilians were completely unknown and I never saw those guys in other stuff, so that added realism and credibility to those characters.

I opened this channel on youtube and I'm uploading the episodes of Oz, both in English and in Italian, if youtube don't delete the channel.
I'll put all the episodes, for now take a look at the first.

It seems Fontana stopped giving the Wiseguys a lot of screen-time after "The Sopranos" came out. I suppose it would have been too much red sauce for one network. But it was okay because it made me appreciate all the Sicilians more when they did appear.

bumping this thread as I have just been re-watching Oz, fuck its a great show, brutal and nasty. Anyone else currently watching? I read that the guy who played Nino Schibetta died in real life.

Was that tony Masante?

Scillenger got best supporting actor in a movie during the sag awards and the golden globe awards.

He is still doing the car insurance commercials as well.

I no I laugh everytime I see him on the commercial. I can only picture him on oz.

It's appropriate for Schillinger to do Farmers ads as their premiums are virtual ass rape.

Here's the SNL parody with Jerry Seinfeld...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18kvo_seinfeld-in-oz_people

That was funny

Yup Tony Musante passed away in Nov 2013

I first notice Musante in the movie the incident. He played a crazy on a subway bothering the people in one of the cars.

Great movie his partner in crime literally was Martin sheen.

Then he got a tv show toma. It was a big hit. Then he got tired of it and just left the show to do other things.

It was replaced by the show staring Robert Blake with his pet cockatoo.

Musante moved to stage work and the occasional movie. Like the pope of Greenich village.

Yeah I read he made the makers of toma agree that if he wanted he could walk away after 1 season, which he did. I really liked him in OZ, was a pretty clever, brutal way of killing him off too!

Schillinger hosts Saturday Night Live this weekend