Strip searches, sexual abuse by prison guards and the most unlikely of friendships all came from one suitcase full of money from a resurfaced drug deal.

“Orange is the New Black,” which premieres Thursday, is an original Netflix series about a woman’s criminal past coming back to haunt her. The series is based on a memoir by Piper Kerman and will be produced by Jenji Kohan (“Weeds”) and Liz Friedman.

Kerman, a movie producer at the time of her arrest, found herself involved in a heroin-trafficking ring after a date with dealer Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon. Although the deal and lesbian affair was a one-time thing for Kerman, she came face to face with two officers when they came looking for her in 1998.

She was sentenced to 15 months in an all-women prison in 2004. The blonde, blue-eyed inmate nicknamed the “All-American Girl” found herself befriending all walks of life, from teenaged drug addicts to a 69-year-old pacifist nun. Between the fourth season of “Arrested Development” and “House of Cards” Netflix has done a fine job producing original series.

Various online expectations of the show agree “Orange is the New Black” seems like a promising new show.