The story
Piper Chapman has settled into a comfortable, law-abiding life in New York when an offence from ten years earlier catches up with her: carrying a suitcase of drug money for her then-girlfriend. Sentenced to fifteen months at Litchfield, a minimum-security women's prison, she has to learn its unwritten rules fast. Flashbacks gradually widen the focus to the inmates and guards around her, revealing how each of them ended up there.
Why it matters
Jenji Kohan used a privileged newcomer as a way in to stories television rarely told, and the result became one of Netflix's most enduring early originals: as of 2016 it was the service's most-watched and longest-running original. It was also the first series nominated for Emmys in both the comedy and drama categories.
Notable facts
- Kohan called Piper a "trojan horse" that let the show focus on characters whose demographics would not normally be represented on TV. (source)
- A 2015 Emmy rule change moved it from comedy to drama, making it the first series nominated in both categories. (source)
- In 2017 a cybercriminal stole and leaked ten unreleased season-five episodes after Netflix did not respond to ransom demands. (source)
- As of 2016 it was Netflix's most-watched original series as well as its longest-running. (source)