NBC Unknowingly Helped Fund One Of HBO's First Dramatic Series

Well before "The Sopranos," "Band of Brothers," or "The Wire," HBO's original drama slate hinged on a single show. Tom Fontana's violent, captivating prison drama "Oz" premiered in 1997, kicking open the door for the network's prestige reign that continues to this day. Though HBO's first original drama sometimes liked to bring out its shark-jumping water skis — the less said about the rapid aging pill from Season 4, the better — the show held its characters and audiences equally captive throughout its six-season run, and time hasn't diminished its ability to stand proudly alongside newer shows.

Fontana had already spent 15 busy years writing and producing two of NBC's best 10 p.m. shows ever — "St. Elsewhere" and "Homicide: Life on the Street." Despite his TV chops, it soon became apparent that no conventional network would touch his high-concept prison drama ... and even though HBO expressed interest based on its success with prison documentaries, the budget Fontana was given to film wasn't big enough. Dedicated to his vision, Fontana came up with an ingenious way to cut costs. Since he was still working on "Homicide," he reused the show's locations for "Oz" scenes, thus stealthily forcing NBC to foot part of the bill.  

"I probably shouldn't say this, but I will — it wasn't enough money!" Fontana said in an interview for Yahoo! Entertainment's oral history of the show. "We shot it in Baltimore while we were shooting 'Homicide,' so we would book a location and I would say, okay, we'll shoot the 'Homicide' scene here, and then we'll shoot the 'Oz' scene. So, in a way, NBC paid for it a little bit, if you know what I'm saying."

"Oz" boasted a massive cast, intense action scenes, elaborate sets that represented the fictional Oswald State Correctional Facility's experimental Emerald City wing, and regular flashbacks to the often-inventive crimes that led to the incarcerations of various prisoners. As such, it was no simple show to shoot, and it's no surprise that Tom Fontana did what he could to bring his vision to life. 

"Back then there were only four networks, and none of them were the least bit interested in my version of a prison show," Fontana told Yahoo! Entertainment. "I sort of pathetically adapted it as I got each rejection. I can't remember which network I pitched which version to, but one of them was set in a juvenile detention center, and another was a 'Club Fed,' where it was rich white-collar guys [who'd] been sent up the river." 

Fortunately, Fontana ended up sticking to his very first idea, which was effectively a contemplation on what would happen to the kind of criminals "Homicide" featured after they were caught and sent to prison. This ended up being a winning formula for both him and HBO, especially since the show managed to attain a powerful cast that featured names like Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, Eamonn Walker, Harold Perrineau, Rita Moreno, and J.K. Simmons (whose bone-chillingly evil Vern Schillinger is still one of HBO's best characters ever).