CBS Does Some Wonderful Things With ‘Oz’

TV or not TV. . . .

THE WIZ: Why would anyone make a special point of catching tonight’s 32nd network airing of “The Wizard of Oz”?

Well, there’s good reason, indeed.

CBS has concocted a nifty package that runs from 8 to 11 p.m.--the movie itself followed by a Jack Haley Jr. documentary on the making of the film, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic.”

It’s all a swell respite from “Roseanne,” “Matlock” and the other Tuesday regulars.

Actually, “The Wizard of Oz” was a 1939 film, which makes it a tad over 50.

If you want to talk real anniversaries, it was a half-century ago next week that “Gone With the Wind” beat “The Wizard of Oz” for the best-picture Oscar at a banquet at the Ambassador Hotel’s Cocoanut Grove.

But about tonight. . . .

Haley Jr., whose dad, Jack Haley, played the Tin Woodman in “Oz,” says the movie won’t be “sliced and diced” by little snips taken out over the years to accommodate commercials.

TV technicians also subtly “speeded up the movie” in the past to fit the time slot, says Haley. “The Munchkins were off-pitch.”

In short, get out your VCR tonight.

Haley, the wizard of the “That’s Entertainment” movies, gives a rundown on stars who didn’t get the “Oz” roles.

Shirley Temple, for instance, was a contender for Dorothy before Judy Garland won out.

“The story,” says Haley, is that Temple, “brilliant as she was, couldn’t cut the songs. But also, it’s very doubtful Darryl Zanuck (head of 20th Century Fox) would have loaned her out (to MGM). She was holding his studio up--four years in a row as the No. 1 star in movies.”

Then there was the wizard, played by Frank Morgan.

“Ed Wynn was the first choice,” says Haley, “but he considered the part too small. Wallace Beery wanted to do it. W. C. Fields came closest after his ‘David Copperfield’ performance.”

Bert Lahr “was everybody’s first choice” as the Cowardly Lion, says Haley. Buddy Ebsen was the Tin Woodman until a makeup mishap hospitalized him. Haley Sr. replaced him.

When “The Wizard Of Oz” opened at the Capitol theater in New York, 15,000 people were lined around the block.

Tonight’s “Oz” package is hosted by Angela Lansbury.

CLOSE SHAVE: TV academy officials were far from unanimous in tentatively giving the Emmy Awards to Fox for another three years. Sources say last week’s vote was 20-16 to accept the reported offer of more than $9 million. Dissidents want the Emmy show returned to the three major networks to assure bigger audiences.

NEW BEAT: Nobody likes NBC’s cop show, “Hunter,” except the public--but now co-star Stepfanie Kramer’s turning in her badge at season’s end to pursue a pop-rock singing career. Kramer, who’s teamed with ex-Ram Fred Dryer in the show for six years, says that’s enough--and that she’ll be popping “back and forth to London.” Still a winner, “Hunter” averages 28% of the TV audience on Saturdays.

TEAM AMERICA: Surely you’re not going to miss Little Richard and Larry (Bud) Melman of the Letterman show as co-hosts of NBC’s “Friday Night Videos” this weekend.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: What, ask several people we know, is the credibility of KNBC Channel 4’s David Sheehan when he reviews Motley Crue? Hmmm.

SPLIT DECISION: If only Jim Lampley showed the same forceful authority as an anchor for KCBS Channel 2 as he did discussing the Tyson-Douglas fight with Roy Firestone on ESPN, his local newscast would have much more impact. It’s like watching two different Lampleys--the sock-it-to-’em sportscaster and the boy-next-door anchor.

OUT OF THE PAST: If you haven’t noticed, Patrick McGoohan’s splendid Orwellian series, “The Prisoner”--a 1968 entry that has become a cult favorite and is available on video--is being rerun on CBS late Thursday nights following the “Pat Sajak Show.”

CRITICS’ CHOICE: With Sajak’s Friday outings now turned over to guest hosts, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert will get the call March 23--a nice bit of planning since the Oscar show is just three days later.

SWITCH: If you think Valerie Harper’s new CBS comedy, “City,” has a dark, quirky side, no wonder. Drama writers Shelley List and Jonathan Estrin, who did “Cagney & Lacey,” were brought in as co-executive producers. And the creator of “City,” Paul Haggis, once was hired out of comedy to work on “thirtysomething.” Says Estrin: “We’re trying to break the stories as drama and make them absurd. Haggis says you can never have enough death in a comedy.”

LEGACY: The year--1990. ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” takes TV by storm. . . . The year--1963. An ABC show called “Your Funny, Funny Films,” using--of all things--home movies has its debut, but lasts only two months. Onward and upward.

Say good night, Gracie. . . .