Netflix Crime Comedy Series Turned Streaming Into Must-See TV
These days, Netflix is one of the biggest heavy hitters in the field of original content, producing new hit movies and streaming shows every year. Though it may seem as though it’s been this way for decades, this was not always the case, as the streaming giant first broke into the field of original content in the early 2010s. One of the first smash-hit Netflix originals to take the streamer into the stratosphere was Orange Is The New Black, which premiered in 2013.
Based On A Real Experience
Orange Is The New Black was created and developed for television by Weeds showrunner Jenji Kohan, based on the bestselling memoir Orange Is The New Black: My Year In A Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman.
The true-to-life tale outlines Kerman’s time in a minimum security federal prison following her small role in an international drug trafficking ring. Glee and American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy initially purchased the rights to adapt the book into a series, though he later offered deference to Kohan, explaining that he never could have pulled off the intense subject matter as well as she did.
The Show Wasn’t About Piper
While the television series takes increasingly growing liberties with the true story as the seasons progress, the central plot follows a semi-fictionalized version of Kerman as she encounters a wide array of misunderstood convicts with varying backgrounds and stories.
The material from Kerman’s memoir was certainly fascinating enough to build a series out of, though Jenji Kohan specifically used the author’s lived experience as a spring-board to tell BIPOC stories of underserved prison communities. This is made evident by Orange Is The New Black‘s decreased centralization of Piper over the course of its seven seasons and added focus on the sprawling ensemble of other inmates.
Proved Streaming Was Viable
Orange Is The New Black was an immediate hit upon release in 2013, garnering millions of watch hours, bolstering Netflix subscriptions, and even earning over a dozen Emmy nominations for the first season alone. In 2016, Netflix announced that Orange Is The New Black had become its most-watched series of all time, though the show has since been dethroned by Stranger Things.
A Talented Cast
The cast of Orange Is The New Black is massive and includes a revolving door of characters who join the prison as others are freed, transferred, or occasionally killed.
The show includes career-defining performances from Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Uzo Aduba, Selenis Leyva, Dascha Polanco, Kate Mulgrew, That 70’s Show‘s Laura Prepon, and 8 Mile‘s Taryn Manning. By the time the show ended in 2019, the massive cast had spread out to encompass stories in and out of prison, including those in foreign locales such as El Salvador.
The Show That Built Netflix
If you’re a fan of complex character dramas, crime shows, or poignant critiques on the state of the modern prison complex, Orange Is The New Black is the show for you.
You can stream Orange Is The New Black in its entirety on Netflix today. Luckily, the Netflix home-viewing model means that you don’t have to worry about sneaking any contraband into the binge-fest like you would in a traditional movie theater.
