How HBO's groundbreaking series brought gay relationships to prime time
Photos Jim Cox & HBO

Viewers who tuned in to the very first episode of HBO's prison series OZ in the summer of 1997 probably expected to see a smart, well-written drama depicting life behind bars – as evidenced by OZ creator/producer Tom Fontana's previous work on critically acclaimed shows like St. Elsewhere and Homicide. What they probably didn't – and couldn't have – predicted were the horrifically realistic depictions of duplicity, murder, forced sodomy and even a branding that took place in the show's debut episode.

Christopher Meloni as Chris Keller

Beecher & Keller in the prison gym

Fiona James as a gay gang member

Lee Tergesen as Tobias Beecher

And things just got worse – or was it better? – from there, as Fontana took fans on an emotional roller coaster ride that had viewers rooting for the characters one minute and praying for their demise the next. In fact, the show probably should have run a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode, paraphrasing the Divine Miss D in The Three Faces of Eve: "Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Going to Be a Bumpy Night!"

Indeed, it was, right up until the final episode, which aired this past March, much to the dismay of the show's loyal, cult-like followers. (Fear not: The first and second seasons of OZ are available on VHS/DVD, and HarperCollins just published a glossy swan song of a book entitled OZ: Behind These Walls, The Journal of Augustus Hill.)

Season after season, year after year, OZ was raw, it was scary, and it was very, very compelling, due in equal part to Fontana's inspired, thought-provoking writing and way-above-average acting from a cast that paired showbiz veterans (Rita Moreno, Ernie Hudson, B.D. Wong and Terry Kinney) with television newcomers (J. K. Simmons, Lee Tergesen, Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau, Kirk Acevedo, Lauren Velez and Eamonn Walker, among others). And OZ had what is perhaps the most wide-ranging, democratic guest star roster of all time: Broadway staples Charles Busch, Uta Hagen, Joel Grey, Patti LuPone, Edward Herrmann and Betty Buckley rubbed elbows with younger actors like Luke Perry, Edie Falco and Ally Sheedy, and musicians David Johansen, LL Cool J, Sandy "Pepa" Denton (of Salt n' Pepa fame) and Kiss drummer Peter Criss, to name a few.

Together, the characters played by this talented ensemble tackled every hot-button topic imaginable, from universal problems such as illness, racism, ageism and sexism; to issues surrounding the penal system, the death penalty and the limitations of rehabilitation; to more far-reaching, life and death questions about love, loss, loyalty and what a person will do to survive – whether they're in prison or not. All of which made for some truly gripping television.

"The show causes people to look at themselves," says Lee Tergesen, who played "everyman" character, Tobias Beecher, a blue-blood lawyer who is sent to OZ (a.k.a., Oswald Correctional Facility) after killing a young girl while driving drunk, and does what he must to complete his sentence and get out alive. "There are lessons and morals to the stories. It's like, look at what we do to each other. It's really about the world; it just happens to take place in a prison."

Ask any OZ enthusiast and they'll tell you that one of the main reasons the show appeals to such a wide audience is because Fontana treats all of his characters with nonjudgmental objectivity – regardless of their antisocial or self-destructive tendencies – which allows viewers to understand why a character feels compelled to behave the way he or she does, even if it is violent or morally reprehensible.

And while OZ boasts fans of every age, ethnicity and social class, it is a huge hit with the gay audience in particular, who are drawn to the show's gritty, behind-the-scenes look at prison life, its evenhanded treatment of same sex relationships and (let's be honest here), its frequent display of full frontal male nudity and hot, mano a mano lovin', especially as it played out in the torturous "he loves me, he loves me not" pairing of boyishly handsome, married-with-children Beecher (Tergesen) and divorced, self-loathing sexual predator, Chris Keller, played with reckless abandon by Christopher Meloni. (Can you say "Yum, yum gimme some," boys and girls?)

Whether they were on again or off again – which could happen in a single episode – viewers tuned in to see whether Beecher and Keller would be swapping spit (as in the infamous laundry room kiss) or throwing punches – both literally, as when Keller broke Beecher's arms and legs and Beecher retaliated, post-recovery, by stabbing Keller in the back – or figuratively, in the form of gleefully malicious insults or hit-'im-where-it-hurts confessions of infidelity. (Hey, boys will be boys.)

"My sense is that people relate to it," says Tergesen. "OZ is sort of the world in the extreme, and I think the Beecher/Keller relationship is love in the extreme. There are things that are common between our relationship and every relationship, and I think it's something that people hope for. They hope that it's going to work out."

"I also think the gay audience [likes it] because we never label ourselves," he adds. "We are just two people that found each other. I know how hard it is in this world to find someone to be with and to love. It's a challenge whoever it is, and if you can find love, you're lucky."

Tergesen's not the only one who thinks the Beecher/Keller relationship reflects the harsher realities of love – and of life in prison. "Lee and Chris do such a great job with their characters," says Fiona James, the cross-dressing actor/actress who has portrayed a flamboyant gay gang member since OZ's second season. "The reality is their characters are in this gay relationship but they're not necessarily gay, per se. They are in this situation and the circumstance is such that they ended up falling in love."

So what does James think their relationship says about love? "I think it says the flip side to love is hate and that whether you're gay or straight, in prison or out of prison, relationships are hard and, quite frankly, most of them are fucked up," he says. " I, like most people, wanted them to work it out and I wanted to see this beautiful couple in love and happy and all of that. Their relationship was such a roller coaster ride, and it made for a great storyline."

James also thinks the way the relationship is depicted appeals to romantics everywhere, regardless of sexual orientation. "I stopped by the book signing at Rockefeller Center a few weeks ago, and the line outside Barnes & Noble was three blocks long," he says. "Ninety-five percent of the people in line were straight couples who recognized me and were like, 'Oh my God, we love you!' I mean, these were diehard fans. So I think straight people see this show and see that yeah, you could be in prison and theoretically be straight but these characters are open to doing anything with anyone – and they are not being judged. I think that says a lot."

For his part, Christopher Meloni – who jokingly calls the Beecher/Keller relationship "The Luke and Laura for the new Millennium" – has said that his love scenes with Tergesen were "very intimate" and resulted in "the closest working relationship I've ever had." In fact, when asked on Last Call with Carson Daly what he thought immediately after the duo's first kiss, Meloni raised his eyebrows and said with a wolfish grin, "I'm gonna have to do this more often!"

Meloni – who also plays detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU – has discussed the show on his website (www.christophermeloni.com) as well, saying that the thing he'll miss most about his role on OZ are "the places I was allowed to roam in my head and heart and then let out." "Throwing away labels has made me more open, which makes me smarter, stronger, less fearful and has helped me see the better side of myself," he added. "I think people are celebrating the mere fact that a homosexual relationship, however dysfunctional, is being examined in a public forum through TV."

Lest you think that sounds like hyperbole, consider the fact that OZ predates Will & Grace, Sex and the City and the supposedly forward-thinking Queer as Folk by several years. "We were the first," says James. "All of these of these shows came afterwards. When OZ came out – and it was the first real series that HBO had – it broke so much ground and was so cutting edge. I definitely feel like we broke the mold and set off this wave. Not to say there weren't gay characters before OZ, but not on an ongoing basis and not on a regular series that I can think of." In any case, OZ is certainly one of the few series that treats homosexual relationship as the everyday occurrence that they are, and does so in a manner that is more inclusive than any show before or since.

"I know that people love Queer as Folk, but I find it somewhat offensive because it is so over in the corner of gay that a lot of times it comes off as seeming stereotypical," says Tergesen. "It doesn't seem friendly. Not that it has to be friendly, but you don't have any other perspective. What I think is great about OZ is that it's just people doing what they're doing."

He pauses. “Actually, I just got back from LA, and this guy came up to me at a gathering and said, ‘I just want you to know that you’ve given us so much courage in Wisconsin.’ It was really awesome. That kind of shit really touches me at a core level. That’s one of the great things about the show, and if we’re doing that for somebody, it’s great.”

So what, does Tom Fontana, the great and powerful wizard behind OZ, see as the show’s overriding message? “Life, inside a prison or outside on the street, is hard,” says Fontana. “Love, in whatever form, makes it less hard. God is elusive, but not impossible to find. We all want to survive at any cost.” Amen.
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