About
Orange is the New Black is an American comedic TV drama which follows an upper class white woman as she serves her time in a minimum security women’s prison. The show was produced and released through the video streaming service Netflix. The series’ first quickly gained acclaim for its diverse cast and its well-rounded female characters.
History
The show was loosely based on the 2011 memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, which chronicles the year author Piper Kerman spent in a low security women’s prison in Connecticut. The series was renewed[1] for a second season on June 27th, 2013, two weeks before its first season was released through Netflix on July 11th. On May 5th, 2014, the show was renewed[2] for a third season. Its second season is scheduled to premiere on June 6th.
Premise
Orange is the New Black follows Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) as she enters a low security women’s prison for smuggling drugs into the country for her then-girlfriend Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) ten years prior to the opening of the series. Now engaged and living in New York City, Chapman vows to do her time (15 months) and keep her head down, but she’s quickly dragged into the drama and politics of the prison. Main characters included Tiffany ‘Pennsatucky’ Doggett (Taryn Manning), a Christian inmate, Red (Kate Mulgrew) the prison cook, and transgender inmate Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox).
Reception
Orange is the New Black received a score of 8.5 on IMDB[3] and a rating of 79 on Metacritic.[4] It has been nominated for one Golden Globe in 2014 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Television Series (Taylor Schilling). It has also been nominated for two Television Critics Association Awards in 2014 for Program of the Year and Outstanding New Program.
Online Presence
As of June 2014, Orange is the New Black’s official Twitter[5] account has over 230,000 followers, its Facebook[6] page has over 1.1 million likes and its Instagram account[8] has over 180,000 followers.. Fans can access episode guides and character sketches at the show’s Wikia.[7]
Fandom
In addition to the show’s branded web presence there are several fan-run sites for Orange is the New Black including oitnb-fan[18] and oitnb.[19] There are numerous fan-run Tumblr blogs dedicated to the Orange is the New Black fandom including fyeahorangeisthenewblack[9], Orangeis[15] and orange--black.[16] Popular Tumblr tags fans use to tag their content include OITNB[12] and orange-is-the-new-black.[13] Fans also gather is discuss the show on the Reddit[17] thread /r/OrangeistheNewBlack/, which has over 11,000 subscribers as of June 2014. As of June 2014, there are over 27,000 pieces of fan art tagged Orange is the New Black on DeviantArt.[11]
Chapman and Vause
A lot of Orange is the New Black fanart surrounds girlfriends Piper Chapman and Alex Vause, a favorite couple within the fandom. Fan-run Tumblr blogs dedicated to the couple include be-my-little-spoon[21] and fuckyeahchapmanvause[22]. On May 30th, 2014, Flavorwire published a round-up titled “‘Orange Is the New Black’: The Internet’s Best Piper/Alex Fan Art.”
Search Interest
External References
[1]Deadline – Netflix Renews ‘Orange Is The New Black’ For Second Season
[2]Deadline – ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Renewed For Season 3
[3]IMDB– Orange Is The New Black
[4]Metacritic – Orange Is The New Black
[5]Twitter – OITNB
[6]Facebook – OITNB
[7]Wikia – Orange is the New Black
[8]Instagram – oitnb
[9]Tumblr – fyeahorangeisthenewblack
[10]Tumblr – fyeahorangeisthenewblack
[11]DeviantArt – Orange is the New Black
[12]Tumblr – oitnb
[13]Tumblr – orange-is-the-new-black
[14]Tumblr – orangeis
[15]Tumblr – orange--black
[16]Fanfiction.net – Orange is the New Black
[17]Reddit – orangeisthenewblack
[18]OitnbFan – oitnb-fan
[19]Oitnb – oitnb
fn 20. Flavorwire – ‘Orange Is the New Black’: The Internet’s Best Piper/Alex Fan Art