From Netflix:

From the creator of “Weeds” comes a heartbreaking and hilarious new series set in a women’s prison. Piper trades her comfortable life for an orange jumpsuit and finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates.

Prison life for a group of women characters, lesbian affairs, transsexuals, and more: sounds disturbing! Now I quote from the Boston Globe Critic’s Corner:

If you get Netflix, then you really ought to try this series. It’s thoroughly engrossing, as it follows a yuppi into a low-security prison for an old drug-related crime. Made by Jenji Kohan of “Weeds,” the show is funny but also dramatic, and all of the female characters are fully fleshed out, Taylor Schilling’s Martha Stewart-type heroine most of all. All 13 episodes are available right now, but I recommend spacing them out and savoring them across the summer.

As Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling as the lead character) first enters prison the warden tells her “This is not Oz”. In case you don’t know, “Oz” was a TV series that ran from 1997 to 2003. Oz took place in a hard-core men’s prison and was quite brutal at times. “Orange” is, as the warden said, NOT Oz. But “brutal” is relative. Bully guards taking advantage of fairly helpless women prisoners makes for tense viewing. Framing a prisoner for some offense so that their sentence is lengthened is all too easy.

Nevertheless, if you don’t mind suspense and some really explicit scenes and discussion, and if you came even close to enjoying “Oz” you will really appreciate this TV series.