Orange Is the New Black (sometimes abbreviated to OITNB) is an American comedy-drama web television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix.[1][2] The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (2010), about her experiences at FCI Danbury, a minimum-security federal prison. Orange Is the New Black premiered on July 11, 2013 on the streaming service Netflix.[3] In February 2016, the series was renewed for a fifth, sixth, and seventh season.[4] The fifth season was released on June 9, 2017.[5] The series is produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. Orange Is the New Black has become Netflix's most-watched original series.[4][6] It has received critical acclaim and many accolades. For its first season, the series garnered 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, winning three. A new Emmy rule in 2015 forced the series to change categories from comedy to drama.[7] For its second season, the series received four Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, and Uzo Aduba won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Orange Is the New Black is the first series to score Emmy nominations in both comedy and drama categories.[8] The series has also received six Golden Globe Award nominations, six Writers Guild of America Award nominations, a Producers Guild of America Award, an American Film Institute award, and a Peabody Award. Show creator Jenji Kohan read Piper Kerman's memoir after a friend sent it to her. She then set up a meeting with Kerman to pitch her on a TV adaptation, which she notes she "screwed up" as she spent most of the time asking Kerman about her experiences she described in the book rather than selling her on the show. This appealed to Kerman as it let her know that she was a fan and she signed off on the adaptation.[9] Kohan would later go on to describe the main character, Piper Chapman, as a "trojan horse" for the series, allowing it to focus on characters whose demographics would not normally be represented on TV.[10] In July 2011, it was revealed that Netflix was in negotiations with Lionsgate for a 13-episode TV adaptation of Kerman's memoirs with Kohan as creator.[11] In November 2011, negotiations were finalized and the series had been greenlit.[12] Casting announcements began in August 2012 with Taylor Schilling, the first to be cast, in the lead role as Piper Chapman,[13] followed by Jason Biggs as Piper's fiancé Larry Bloom.[14] Laura Prepon and Yael Stone were next to join the series.[2] Abigail Savage, who plays Gina, and Alysia Reiner, who plays Fig, had auditioned for role of Alex Vause.[9][15] Prepon initially auditioned for Piper Chapman,[16] however Kohan felt she would not worry about her [in prison], noting a "toughness and a presence to her that wasn’t right for the character." Kohan instead gave her the role of Alex.[9] Stone had originally auditioned for the role of Nicky Nichols, but she was not considered "tough enough" for the character;[17] she was asked to audition for Lorna Morello instead.[18] Likability was important for Morello, whom casting director Jen Euston deemed "a very helpful, nice, sweet Italian girl."[18] Laverne Cox, a black transgender woman, was cast as Sophia Burset, a transgender character. The Advocate touted Orange Is the New Black as possibly the first women-in-prison narrative to cast a transgender woman for this type of role.[19] Natasha Lyonne was to audition for Alex, but was asked to read for the character Nicky Nichols; "[Kohan knew] she could do Nicky with her eyes closed. She was perfect," said Euston.[18] Uzo Aduba read for the part of Janae Watson but was offered the character Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren.[18][20] Taryn Manning was offered the role of Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett.[18] This American Life host Ira Glass was offered a role as a public radio host, but he declined. The role instead went to Robert Stanton, who plays the fictional host Maury Kind.[21] The series is set in a fictional prison in Litchfield, New York, which is a real town in upstate New York, but it does not have a federal penitentiary.[22] The series began filming in the old Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center in Rockland County, New York, on March 7, 2013.[23] The title sequence features photos of real former female prisoners including Kerman herself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Is_the_New_Black Image By http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/cavan-sieczkowski [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• published: 24 Nov 2017
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