The Wizard of Oz on TV: 70 Years Since the 1956 Premiere

Remember when "The Wizard of Oz" was a once-a-year event? The whole family gathered around the television, and the story began in black and white before Dorothy opened the door onto Technicolor. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, marks exactly 70 years since the movie first aired on television, and the story behind that night is just as charming as the film.

Back in 1956, few could have guessed that a 17-year-old movie would become the biggest night of the TV year. Let's click our heels and look back.

How did "The Wizard of Oz" first reach television?

MGM released the film in theaters on Aug. 25, 1939. It was a critical success, but according to Forbes, as cited by Fox News, it did not make a profit at first. It only started earning real money after theatrical re-releases in 1949 and 1955.

Then came a television boom. In 1955, NBC's live color broadcast of the Broadway musical "Peter Pan" with Mary Martin was a smash, and networks went looking for family fantasies. CBS bought the rights to "The Wizard of Oz" from MGM and, according to a 1956 New York Times report, agreed to pay $225,000 per showing, with options for more.

The slot was the last episode of "Ford Star Jubilee," a lavish anthology series sponsored by the Ford Motor Company that had struggled in the ratings. The show normally ran 90 minutes, so CBS stretched it to two hours to fit the whole movie. Even with commercials, the 101-minute film was too short to fill that time, so CBS added a host to pad out the broadcast.

Here's a fun detail for trivia night: CBS showed the film in color even though very few Americans owned a color television set in 1956.

Who hosted the very first broadcast?

The 1956 telecast is the only time anyone who actually appeared in the movie hosted it. That honor went to Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion and the farmhand Zeke. He was joined by Liza Minnelli, then 10 years old and the daughter of Judy Garland, and by a young Oz expert named Justin G. Schiller.

Those hosting segments were performed live, which makes the night even more special.

How many people watched?

A lot. The broadcast earned a 33.9 Nielsen rating and an audience share of 53%, according to Variety. Time magazine, in a 1967 report quoted by Fox News, said about 35 million viewers tuned in for the debut and called the movie "the most popular single film property in the history of U.S. television."

Critics were charmed, too. Variety's review suggested the film could be shown every year, and could even air earlier in the evening, a prediction that turned out to be remarkably accurate.

Why did it become a family tradition?

Not right away. The movie was not shown again in 1957 or 1958. Then, in December 1959, CBS tried it at 6 p.m. Eastern time, an earlier hour when more children could watch. Red Skelton hosted, and the audience grew even bigger, with a 36.5 rating and a 58% share. From then on, it became an annual event.

CBS gave the movie the red-carpet treatment. For years the network chose a host from its own prime-time lineup. Red Skelton introduced it in 1959, Richard Boone of "Have Gun – Will Travel" in 1960, Dick Van Dyke in 1961 and 1962, and Danny Kaye from 1964 through 1967. Skelton, Boone and Van Dyke even brought their young children along.

The hosts added plenty of charm. Danny Kaye reassured viewers not to panic when the movie began in black and white, and he encouraged little ones not to be afraid of the roaring MGM lion. Van Dyke was shown in a cozy living room with his kids, while Kaye sat on a giant toadstool in front of a painted Yellow Brick Road.

One more detail for color-TV pioneers: in 1961, the movie aired in black and white, because color broadcasts were paid for by sponsors, and they declined that year.

Other touches are remembered, too. Procter & Gamble sponsored some of the broadcasts and gave away hand puppets with packages of its products. And between 1960 and 1968, the film beat Disney's weekly series, which aired opposite it, in the ratings.

What happened when the movie changed networks?

After nine showings on CBS, the film moved to NBC in 1968. CBS was unwilling to meet MGM's higher price, according to the book "The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History." The hosts disappeared on NBC, though the 1970 telecast opened with actor Gregory Peck paying tribute to Judy Garland.

The film stayed on NBC until 1976, when CBS bought the rights back. In 1990, Angela Lansbury, the star of CBS's "Murder, She Wrote," hosted the 50th-anniversary telecast and narrated a making-of documentary.

A technical note for movie buffs: the sepia tone of the Kansas scenes was restored in 1989, for the film's 50th anniversary.

How did the movie leave network television?

Ted Turner bought the MGM film library in 1986, and over the years the film moved to cable. Its last appearance on CBS was on May 9, 1998. From 1999 on, it aired only on Time Warner-owned channels such as TNT and TBS. Once it moved to cable, the tradition of one big yearly showing ended.

Still, its fans never left. In 1989, "The Wizard of Oz" was among the very first films chosen for the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. The Library of Congress says that, because of its many television showings, the movie "has been seen by more viewers than any other movie."

Why is it back on broadcast TV in 2026?

In February 2026, MeTV announced it had secured the exclusive broadcast rights to the film. On Oct. 2, actress Lisa Whelchel hosted the broadcast premiere on MeTV, which MeTV said was the first appearance on free broadcast television since the final CBS telecast on May 9, 1998.

Neal Sabin, vice-chairman of Weigel Broadcasting, the company behind MeTV, put it this way: "The Wizard of Oz is more than a movie, it is a shared American experience that was defined by the annual tradition of gathering around the television set."

The CW has now joined in. According to the network's Oct. 27 announcement, the film will premiere on The CW on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving, from 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. A second showing is set for Sunday, Dec. 20, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Air dates can change, so check your local listings.

What about the ruby slippers?

No Oz anniversary is complete without Dorothy's famous shoes. In L. Frank Baum's book, they were silver. The movie changed them to ruby red so they would sparkle against the Yellow Brick Road in Technicolor.

The Smithsonian's pair was donated anonymously in 1979. A 2016 Kickstarter campaign with more than 6,000 backers paid for conservation work, and the slippers went back on display in 2018.

Another pair has a real-life mystery behind it: a pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota in 2005, and the FBI announced in September 2018 that it had been recovered. Smithsonian conservators who examined the recovered shoes found that they and the museum's own pair are "mismatched twins." You can read more about the slippers in the Smithsonian's own fact sheet.

What's next

• Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026: "The Wizard of Oz" on The CW, 8 to 10 p.m. ET/PT.
• Sunday, Dec. 20, 2026: The CW's encore showing, 7:30 to 10 p.m. ET/PT.
• Looking for more classic-TV nostalgia? Read our Henry Winkler Then and Now, our first chapter on Henry Winkler's journey from Yale to the Fonz and our look at David Schwimmer at 60, plus our guide to the 2026 Kennedy Center Honors.

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*ARCHIVE PHOTO: Dorothy's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz" on display at the Smithsonian Institution, 2006. Photo: dbking / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0.*

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