The Pop Culture OZ Conspiracy

Birds of a feather flock together, right? That definitely holds true for the cast members of the ground-breaking television series from HBO called OZ. The show was the first real big success from a cable network in the television show wars. Critically and fan acclaimed, OZ focused on the inmates of Oswald Prison. With narration cuts from an inmate in a wheelchair that set up the episodes almost with a fairy tale enthusiasm at times. Even though OZ was only on the air for six seasons, it set the mark that all other cable shows had to leap over to make into today's gritty cable television show network.

It was also brought to my attention by a friend that those six seasons seemed to have formed a bond between many of the players of OZ. She went on to point out that a couple of the stars often acted in other shows together after the final season of OZ. Well I took it one step further and realized that there may be some Pop Culture OZConspiracy at work around here. More and more often, even today, OZ alum are traveling in packs all over the television landscape.

In the hit television show LOST, we met characters Michael and Mr. Echo. Before Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a mystical, time-traveling island, they were Augustus Hill and Simon Adebisi and were locked up together in OZ. Harold Perrineu Jr. and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje worked together for four seasons in OZ.

FOX jumped into the OZ matching game when their hit television show Fringe was cast by placing Kirk Acevedo and Lance Reddick as FBI agents Charlie Francis and Phillip Broyles. Almost a decade ago they were on opposite ends of the justice system though, with Kirk Acevedo playing Miguel Alvarez, a prisoner who was on the show for all six seasons, and Lance Reddick playing undercover agent Desmond Mobay. Funny note: Lance Reddick also plays Mathew Abaddon, a representive of he island in LOST with his other two buddies.

Finally I want to take a look at Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. You are probably wondering what stars did time before becoming officers. Well Christopher Melonie was a prisoner by the name of Chris Keller who did not portray the same ethics and morals as his SVU counterpart Detective Elliot Stabler. On the other hand, BD Wong was Father Ray Mukada, man of the cloth that was forced to work in OZ, before his calling brought him to be Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: SVU.
I hope this opens up your mind to the realization of their plan... To take over the world, one television show at a time!