A “long-lost,” and “too scary” episode from the beloved educational children’s series Sesame Street was suddenly uploaded and unearthed on the Internet last weekend. The 15-minute-long episode was uploaded on Reddit’s “r/lostmedia” page by user sarsparilla170170.
The episode, dubbed as the “Wicked Witch of the West” episode, featured Margaret Hamilton in her most iconic role as the Wicked Witch of the West from the film The Wizard of Oz!. The said episode was originally banned after being aired once in 1976 after complaints from parents called it “too scary” for children. Since then, it had been archived in the U.S. Library of Congress.
The Sesame Street episode sees the Wicked Witch of the West trying to get her broom back from David, which at first turns into a quarrel and rain falling inside the Hooper’s store after the latter didn’t give the broom back. Later, the Witch threatens to turn David into a basketball and Big Bird into a feather duster, and in the end, the Witch disguises herself as an old woman but only gets her broom back after treating David with respect.
Though ultimately, the Witch loses her broom again, and then it turns out it fell on David once again.
The Sesame Street “Wicked Witch of the West” episode was first broadcasted on national television in 1976, but after the Children’s Television Workshop in the U.S. received negative comments from parents who shared that “their children were too scared” to finish the episode, it was scrapped from the series.
And now, thanks to the innovation that we all benefit from, a.k.a the Internet, we are now able to see this “absolute gem” without any restraints.
One of the biggest discoveries in lost media history just happened. An anonymous Reddit user has uploaded Sesame Street Ep 847 (the banned Wicked Witch of the West episode) to r/lostmedia. Documentary about the whole search is in the works 👍 pic.twitter.com/WzWdX2Y6Rh
— blameitonjorge (@blameitonjorge) June 18, 2022
This is huge for lost media enthusiasts, The Wicked Witch Of The West Sesame Street episode has been found after several years. Truly incredible how this got found, it honestly goes to show that lost media searches are unpredictable. https://t.co/AQismbCNRm
— Jerome! (@JeromeM94Movies) June 18, 2022
Margret Hamilton reprising her role of The Wicked Witch of The West in a 1976 episode of Sesame Street pic.twitter.com/WjliA48ssh
— The Timeless Pop Culture Fan (Abandoned) (@PopCultureGuy12) June 18, 2022
For now, it seems.
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