<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in - universe style . Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective . (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in - universe style . Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective . (December 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Orange Is the New Black is an American comedy - drama series created by Jenji Kohan that airs on Netflix . It is based on Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, about her experiences in a women's prison . The series' protagonist is Piper Chapman, a woman sentenced to 15 months in a woman's federal prison for her part in a drug smuggling operation ten years before the start of the first season . It follows Piper's experiences in and out of prison along with the experiences of a diverse ensemble . </P> <P> Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) is a woman who was sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary for helping her former girlfriend Alex Vause smuggle drug money in Europe several years before the first episode . The first season shows Piper's journey through the prison system, beginning with her rough first week, during which she accidentally makes several enemies and struggles to adapt to life on the inside, as well as reuniting with Alex . In prison, she acquires several other nicknames throughout the series . "Crazy Eyes" calls her "Dandelion" because she is tall and blonde, "Pennsatucky" refers to her as "College," and Tricia refers to her as "Brain," because she is more educated than most of the inmates . Piper is assigned a bunk with Claudette, who treats her rudely at first, but eventually warms up to her . Piper is assigned to the Women's Advisory Council (WAC), despite not running and asking Healy not to put her on it . She works in the electrical shop at the prison and inadvertently takes a screwdriver from the tool crib and loses it . Her ambiguous sexuality is a source of amusement to her best friend Polly and of frustration to her fiancé Larry . She is initially considered non-threatening by most of the other inmates . Although she does her best to have empathy and be helpful to others, she is often accused of being profoundly self - obsessed, and she only comes to realize that this might be true after being sent to prison . She becomes enemies with Tiffany after she ridiculed her religious beliefs, and ended up beating her severely after a failed attempt on her life at the end of the first season, knocking out all of her teeth . </P>

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