:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/ARF25DGYJ5HVRP76LKBHC2TGBA.jpg)
An episode of “Sesame Street”, allegedly removed from the promotion of being too scary for children, was posted on social media sites like Youtube Reddit.
The episode stars Margaret Hamilton, who reprises her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz.”
The plot is also taken from “The Wizard of Oz”, but instead of seeking to recover a pair of sapphire slippers, Hamilton seeks a “stolen broomstick”.
Hamilton terrorizes David, performed by Northern Calloway, throughout the episode in an attempt to get his broomstick back.
Finally, at the end of the episode after impersonating an old woman, the witch recovers her broom and flies away.
“That’s glorious!” announce. Then, showing off, she said, “Look! He doesn’t condemn!”
The broom falls from under her, and David, Big Bird and his friends grab the broomstick again.
The “Lost” episode aired on February 10, 1976 during the seventh season of “Sesame Street,” according to Muppet fan archives. Muppet Wiki. The intent of the episode appears to be to teach children how to overcome their fears and “the value of planning by creating and implementing methods for broom recovery,” the Muppet Wiki writes.
Sesame Workshop was reportedly inundated with complaints from parents about the episode, and it was not broadcast on TV again, according to AV . Club. Sesame Workshop did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the episode that appeared on social media.
The AV Club reported that illicit versions of the episode will be posted on social media from time to time but will either be removed or in very low quality.
Although it was never rebroadcast on television, The A.V. Club reported that the episode is preserved in the Library of Congress.
The latest episode upload was Spread Saturday by YouTuber Mike Minnick. NBC News was not immediately able to reach Minnick for comment.
In his post, Minnick claims that the episode never made it to television – a claim contested by The AV Club. Instead, Minnick wrote that the episode was shown to auditioning audiences in the 1970s, and declared it too scary. In Minnick’s account of why the episode was lost, it was alleged that puppet maker Jim Henson considered the episode “too scary” and was never allowed to air.
The Muppet Wiki mentions the actual history of the episode spanning between the two stories. The Muppet Wiki reported that after the episode aired, the show received “an unusually large amount of postal responses from parents, almost entirely negative, within a short time.
This led to additional rounds of pilot screening in March 1976, about a month after the episode aired, Muppet Wiki reported. Although the kids were attentive to the parts of the show featuring Hamilton, judging their fear of watching the episode was difficult, according to the Muppet Wiki. The Muppet Wiki reported that it was later notified that the episode would not be restarted.
in 1976 handwritten message A viewer named Rebecca, directed to “Sesame Street” and archived on the Muppet Wiki, said she had a dream about the green-faced witch at bedtime. She wrote, “I wish you wouldn’t put that witch on Sesame Street anymore because I was dreaming [of] That witch again and again.
The episode first reappeared online in 2019, according to the Muppet Wiki.
In the latest YouTube post, many say the episode’s removal is a shame, and others said they were happy to post it so it can be enjoyed.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the lost media community, here is a huge victory for all of us!” One person commented.
Many stated that they did not find the episode too frightening, but one commentator reminded others that young children in the ’70s were more exposed to media than young adults are now.
“People forget the kind of exposure kids had to ‘scary things’ compared to what’s happening today. It was a real evil, and [in] The commentator wrote one of the only movies kids can watch. This is a legend.”
Hamilton, who died in May 1985, reprized her role as a witch on TV shows like “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” In “Mr. Rogers,” Hamilton plays herself and discusses what it was like to play a witch.
“When I had the opportunity to do it, I was very happy about it,” Hamilton told Rogers. “Sometimes kids think she’s a pretty mean witch, and I expect she really does…She’s also what we refer to as frustration. She’s very unhappy because she never gets what she wants.”
Before becoming an actress, Hamilton was a kindergarten teacher, and The AV Club reported that her history as a teacher seemed to be part of the reason she wanted to educate young people on how to conquer their fears.
“Certified alcohol aficionado. Organizer. Explorer. Lifelong writer. Falls down a lot. Proud social mediaholic. Freelance student.”
More Stories
Bad Bunny’s ex-girlfriend sues for $40 million over an audio recording
Remember Lance Reddick at the Keanu Reeves ‘John Wick 4’ premiere – Variety
Catch up with Hillary Clinton on “Bob Fosse’s Dancin'”