TV Timeout: "Orange Is the New Black"

 As much as I love me a good book, I am also an avid TV watcher -- couch potatoes with hermit tendencies, you know.  So every now and again I'd like to do a little featurette, if you will, on a TV show that has captured my fancy.  Not that "Orange Is the New Black" is completely outside of literary bounds; it is based on a book, after all.

I'm sure you've heard of this show by now, which is a fairly new introduction by Netflix due to its initial success with attempting original programming (see "House of Cards").  People are raving about this show for good reason - my boyfriend and I are now seven episodes in, trying not to binge on the first season and stretch out the goodness for as long as we can.  (The great thing about Netflix original programming is that the entire season becomes available at once, so you can have marathon viewing sessions if you'd like.  Awesome, but also dangerous.)

The show centers around Piper, a middle-class-to-affluent 30-something who seems to be at a good place in her life; she's found a great guy, is surrounded by her good friends and her luxury soap-making business venture seems to be taking off ("We're going to be in Barney's!").  Then it all comes crashing down when the poor decisions she made in her 20s come back to haunt her.  Staring down the barrel of a 15 month prison sentence, Piper and her fiance (played by Jason Biggs) try to keep their relationship alive through regular prison visits and phone calls.  Piper watches as the lives of those around her continue on as usual while she is stuck in the "fish bowl" of prison.  (For more on the prison "fish bowl" watch Episode 5, "The Chickening" - a particularly hilarious look at the inner workings of prison life.)

The first thing I look for in a show that I'm potentially going to be tuning in to regularly is quality.  I have to say, this series is produced with the same quality as any cable or specialty network (ie. HBO, Showtime).  The acting caliber is out of this world and the writing is stellar.  Like other premium cable networks, don't look for family friendly entertainment here - you will hear some pretty raunchy language and see boobies galore.  The setting is a women's prison, after all.   Netflix is to be commended in that they fully committed to doing these shows the right way instead of just throwing any old crap out there for their viewership.  Clearly this commitment is paying off for them in a big way now that their shows have developed what appears to be a bit of a following.

One of the reasons I love this show is its heart.  There are some amazing characters, all flawed but all authentic.  As the series unfolds you get to see each character's story, including how they ended up in prison to begin with, and you realize that many of them just made one wrong turn too many.  In addition to the above, here are some more great reasons to watch:

• Laverne Cox, one of the first transgender actresses to make it to a successful mainstream show, puts on amazing performances each episode as Sophia Burset.
• Taryn Manning plays a terrifyingly deranged religious zealot who smothers the other women in her own self-righteousness.
• Natasha Lyonne brings her crazy curls to the screen as Nicky, a former drug addict who is also now a prisoner, making the show feel like a mini "American Pie" reunion since she shares the screen again with Jason Biggs.
• Pablo Schreiber is the prison guard you love to hate - he plays George "Pornstache" Mendez, the proverbial thorn in the prisoners' sides.

If Netflix keeps coming out with such great programming maybe we'll be able to get rid of cable after all!  My boyfriend is a devout watcher of "House of Cards" which I have yet to try, but since I have discovered "Orange Is the New Black" maybe I'll give it a go.  If supernatural fantasies are more your genre, check out "Hemlock Grove" - another Netflix original (I've watched one episode so far and the premise seems pretty promising).