'OITNB' gives us hope after a dark TV season

Rabid TV viewers had to go to prison to feel hopeful again.

The first half of 2015 gave us the grim back story of Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) and a shocking betrayal of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) on AMC's “Better Call Saul.” Real-life villain Robert Durst made us gasp in horror in “The Jinx.” For 10 weeks, “Game of Thrones” dragged us through the blood, snow and tears in Westeros. NBC gave us “Hannibal,” then quickly snatched it away. “Mad Men” went away, too, and not everyone agreed it ended on a high note.

So leave it to Netflix's “Orange is the New Black” — a show about a women's prison that deals with corruption, drugs, broken families and murder — to lift our spirits.

It's hard to think of a more lovable ensemble cast, from Kate Mulgrew's rugged Russian, Red Reznikov, to Uzo Aduba's aptly nicknamed “Crazy Eyes” Suzanne. When the women of Litchfield Penitentiary find themselves going for a surprise swim in the just-released third season, we feel as cleansed and as free as the prisoners we've grown to love.

I don't know if all of the criminals at Litchfield have earned a moment in the sun, but those of us who have suffered through this admittedly excellent year of television certainly do.

Sneaking its way to Blu-ray

After inexplicably spending a few months as a Best Buy exclusive, the 1992 gem “Sneakers” makes its wide-release Blu-ray debut on Tuesday, July 14. Cowritten and directed by “Field of Dreams” helmer Phil Alden Robinson, this delightful computer crime caper is the sort of escapist fare for grown-ups that rarely gets made these days.

Robert Redford stars as Martin Bishop, the savvy leader of a firm hired to find holes in other firms' security systems. Martin gets himself and his brainy buddies (Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn and the late River Phoenix) in trouble with the NSA and that Hollywood standby, the mysterious figure from his past.

Add Mary McDonnell as Bishop's game old flame, kooky character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (BING!) as a clueless mark, and a quirky score by the recently departed James Horner, and you have a minor classic that has sadly become little more than a footnote.

“Sneakers” is also available digitally from iTunes and PlayStation Network.

• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald copy editor. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.