'The Wizard of Oz' Returns to TV and One Fan Has a Century of Treasures

The useful part

Takeaways 'The Wizard of Oz' returns to free broadcast TV on MeTV after many years. Collector Tori Calamito's Oz treasures span more than a century of history. Lisa Whelchel reveals why 'The Wizard of Oz' has remained close to her heart.

How it works

• For generations of viewers, The Wizard of Oz was much more than a movie people watched, turning into an annual event.
• Once a year, families gathered around their television sets to follow Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road, meeting the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion along the way.
• Before Dorothy returns to Oz on October 2, the network is taking viewers inside the home of someone who never really left.
• People watched it with their parents or their grandparents or remember seeing it on television when it was only on once a year, and so have this deep nostalgic connection to Oz.
• Additional presentations follow during October, including Svengoolie Presents The Wizard of Oz on October 3.

What to take from it

We've become a little spoiled that we can pop it on whenever we want and because of that, we have kind of lost the community aspect of it. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. I hear a lot of people echo what I felt about it, which was when they were having a hard day or when things were bad, they would put The Wizard of Oz on and it would bring them joy and comfort." That makes MeTV's decision to restore The Wizard of Oz to broadcast television particularly appropriate.

Example or evidence

• I think we're always mindful." Calamito's collection may be built around physical objects, but for her, their importance ultimately comes back to the story those objects represent.
• On Sunday, September 27, Collector's Call host Lisa Whelchel visits Victoria "Tori" Calamito, an Oz historian, social media creator and collector whose memorabilia spans more than a century of Oz history.
• Loading answers Lisa Whelchel's own trip to Oz Long before Collector's Call, The Facts of Life or even her professional acting career, Whelchel had her own role in The Wizard of Oz.
• At 11, she appeared in a stage production at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth, Texas.

Details worth keeping

Among the treasures are a first edition of L. LISA WHELCHEL: "I was in the play The Wizard of Oz, but I was Toto. It was all adults, but they needed a child to be in this full-body dog suit.

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