A prison is a place of confinement and restriction, but Orange Is the New Black found unexpected laughter, tears, conflict and camaraderie behind those mysterious walls. In its debut season, the series did an exceptional job of subverting our expectations of what a woman’s prison drama might be like. Orange began as the tale of a white woman whose life went sideways and viewers may have assumed that Piper Chapman’s (Taylor Schilling) discomfort at her prison life would be the show’s central thread. But creator Jenji Kohan had some tricks up her sleeve. She and her writers deftly wove the sagas of incarcerated women of all races, beliefs and personality types into a rich tapestry of humor, satire, poignant regret and unexpected heartbreak. The percolating energy of these indelible individuals animated Orange‘s complex, funny and perceptive exploration of race, class, power and the persistence of a ragged kind of hope – all centered in a failed prison system that incarcerates more people than at any other time in its history. For exposing a prison system shrouded in mystery and making it a place of possibility and connection, Orange Is the New Black wins a Peabody Award.

Credits

Executive Producer: Jenji Kohan. Co-Executive Producers: Sara Hess, Michael Trim, Lisa I. Vinnecour. Producer: Neri Kyle Tannenbaum. Co-Producers: Tara Herrmann, Jonathan Talbert. Consulting Producer: Mark A. Burley. Supervising Producer: Gary Lennon. Directors: Michael Trim, Uta Briesewitz, Jodie Foster, Andrew McCarthy, Matthew Penn, Phil Abraham, Constantine Makris. Writers: Jenji Kohan, Liz Friedman, Marco Ramirez, Sian Heder, Gary Lennon, Nick Jones, Lauren Morelli, Sara Hess, Tara Herrmann. Talent: Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Michael J. Harney, Michelle Hurst, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Biggs, Alysia Reiner, Constance Shulman, Danielle Brooks, Dascha Polanco, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Laverne Cox, Lea Delaria, Matt McGorry, Natasha Lyonne, Pablo Schreiber, Samira Wiley, Selenis Leyva, Taryn Manning, Uzo Aduba, Yael Stone, Abigail Savage, Annie Golden, Beth Fowler, Catherine Curtin, Diane Guerrero, Emma Myles, Jackie Cruz, Jessica Pimentel, Joel Marsh Garland, Lolita Foster, Madeline Brewer, Maria Dizzia, Nick Sandow, Vicky Jeudy. Executive Story Editor: Marco Ramirez. Editors: William Turro, Tim Boettcher, Michael S. Stern, Shannon Mitchell.