Published Feb 5, 2026, 3:30 PM EST
Abigail is an editor for ScreenRant, currently writing and editing movie news. You may also have seen her thoughts on animated television, musical theater, and fantasy literature in Paste Magazine, Fantasy Hive, or The Oxford Blue. She has also written SR lists and op-eds covering movies, TV, and books as well. She is an English major through and through, having graduated with a B.A. from UC Santa Barbara and an MPhil from Oxford University.
We are off to see The Wizard once again — for the first time in decades, in fact.
Announced via The Hollywood Reporter today, MeTV has won the broadcast rights to 1939's The Wizard of Oz, and plans to air the beloved movie musical in October, the first time it will be on free broadcast television in 30 years, since appearing on CBS on May 9, 1998. It used to be aired annually, beginning in 1956, but a recent resurgence demands a broadcast event like this.
Directed by Victor Fleming and featuring the talents of Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr, The Wizard of Oz came out during what is often cited as the best year in the history of cinema, and is near-universally considered one of the best movies of all time. Moreover, the cast endured a famously tumultuous, dangerous production to make this classic, which has stood the test of time.
Despite critical acclaim when it was first released, it was with subsequent opportunities to watch it that The Wizard of Oz cemented its legacy. It was popular in theaters in 1939 but didn't turn a profit until its re-release in 1949, and, according to The LA Times, "the movie really gained iconic status when CBS aired it for the first time on Nov. 3, 1956."
Credit: Cover Images via InstarSince then, there have been many more adaptations of L. Frank Baum's original Oz book series, though many coveted the elements unique to the 1939 film that are therefore copyrighted, including Dorothy's famous ruby slippers. The Walt Disney Company produced an unofficial sequel, Return to Oz, coming out in 1985, which, at best, has so-bad-its-good status.
Other adaptations of the books, in the public domain, that came about include The Wiz! (1974), The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), Tin Man (2007), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Emerald City (2017), and more. But most notably, Gregory Maguire published Wicked in 1995, which became the Broadway musical, which became the smash hit two-part musical adaptation from 2024 and 2025.
The incredible popularity of Wicked over the past two years has doubtlessly prompted more people than usual to revisit The Wizard of Oz, which is possibly partially the reason that MeTV has decided to broadcast it again. At the same time, a documentary about the making of The Wizard of Oz is in the works from Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way.
The Wizard of Oz was also nominated for five Oscars in its time, winning two, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. By bringing The Wizard of Oz back to broadcast television, MeTV is reminding us not only of the movie but the format that made it so famous. However, it remains to be seen if we can have the same kind of telecast event in this day and age.
The Wizard of Oz is available to stream via HBO Max.
Release Date August 25, 1939
Runtime 102 minutes
Director Victor Fleming
Writers Edgar Allan Woolf, Florence Ryerson, Noel Langley, L. Frank Baum
Producers Mervyn LeRoy
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Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale
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Ray Bolger
"Hunk" / Scarecrow
English (US) ·