December 19, 2014
'OITNB' Shares Holiday Greetings From Litchfield
Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The Interwebs are buzzing this morning, as the cast of the hit Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black" share their YouTube holiday greetings, � la "The 12 Days of Christmas."
E News reports that all your favorites took part, including Sophia (Laverne Cox), Piper (Taylor Schilling), Alex (Laura Prepon), Big Boo (Lea DeLaria), Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), Black Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore), Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning), Nicky (Natasha Lyonne), Taystee (Danielle Brooks), Morello (Yael Stone), Gloria (Selenis Leyva) and Red (Kate Mulgrew), who they say, "steals the show. Naturally."
They also note that it appears Red is on the mend, as she's got a scar from Vee's (Lorraine Toussaint) attack. Although details on the new season are as rare as a hen's teeth, spoilers include that Lori Petty (Kit from "A League of Their Own") will have a larger role is Season 3; "Fringe" star Blair Brown will appear; comedian Mike Birbiglia has a role; and Mary Steenburgen ("Elf") will play Pornstache's mother. And have no fear: Matt McGorry, now starring on "How To Get Away With Murder," will remain on the cast.
BreathCast reports that Netflix has said Touissant won't return for Season 3; in the final episode of Season 2, viewers saw her character get run over by a van driven by fellow prison escapee Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat).
Fans of the Christmas video say their favorite lines include, "Ten bitches cutting, six inmates laying, four stalking girls and a chicken in the yard."
The series, which is based on the book of the same name by Piper Kerman, tracks the imprisonment of Kerman (played by actress Taylor Schilling) for trafficking drugs 10 years prior at the behest of her girlfriend, an international heroin smuggler.
Although Kerman had made a new life for herself with her fianc� Larry, she is thrown into an oppressive prison environment ripe with poverty, violence, racial segregation, drug abuse and rampant lesbianism. And these are some of the top selling points of the series, as it tells with enlightening humor the true and sometime heartbreaking stories of a diverse group of incarcerated women.
The show, which just finished taping its third season in Long Island City, has "managed to captivate as many as 3 million Netflix users," as noted by The Atlantic. The popularity is only heightened by Netflix's decision to release an entire season's worth of installments at one time, perfect for America's passion du jour: bingewatching.
The series is the brainchild of "Weeds" director Jenji Kohan, and is getting such great traction because it's based in the reality of Kerman's 13 months spent in a federal women's prison in Danbury, Connecticut (with some artistic license, obviously).
Now we'll go back to counting down the days until season three of "OITNB" premieres, which rumor says will be summer 2015.
Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.