the networks. basically quality migrates to cable. >> "oz" comes on in '97. it's set in this fictional penitentiary. wow, what a strange show that was. >> in "oz" sometimes the things you can't touch are more real than the things you can. hatred, loneliness are more real to me than a shank and a soul. >> it was jaw droppingly violent. it's a men's prison. it probably should be. but, you know, it kind of announces the idea that hbo is going to get very serious about doing scripted dramas. >> it's finished! it's over. >> but hbo really in my mind comes into its own in 1999 with "the sopranos."