History Main / OffToSeeTheWizard

*** ''Weekend Update'' co-anchor Michael Che reports, "On Thursday, a gang of Black people, who were allegedly under the influence of narcotics, murdered two high-ranking community leaders on live television..." then reveals that he was reading the Creator/FoxNewsChannel recap of ''The Wiz''.

** Main characters Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, while being respectively based on Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Beauty from Beauty and the Beast and Goldilocks, also have elements of characters from the Wizard of Oz. Ruby is Dorothy, a NaiveNewcomer who loves her pet dog. Weiss is the Tin Man, outwardly cold and unemotional, yet grows more in touch with her feelings. Blake is the Cowardly Lion, as a CatGirl who laments her tendency to run away from problems. And Yang is the Scarecrow, as she acts like a shonen hero and rushes headlong into situations without thinking.

* The cast of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' do this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10160778/1/Gilligan-in-Oz Gilligan in Oz.]]'' Gilligan is Dorothy (and gets a pair of ruby shoes), Mrs. Howell is Glinda, Kinkaid the hunter is the Wicked Wizard of the West, the Professor is the Scarecrow, Mary Ann is Elleree (an OriginalCharacter who's the last of [[Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful the Porcelain People]]), Ginger is the Tin Woman, the Skipper is the Cowardly Lion and Mr. Howell is the Wizard.
** Ironically enough, Mary Ann of the original show is herself meant to be a parody of Dorothy Gale. Being Trapped in a Strange Land ain't helping her case with the show's premise, but she does often mention living with her aunt and uncle back in Kansas...as well as occasionally donning ubiquitous pigtails and a gingham dress.

* A similar story in printed form, Charlie Duval's ''Doctor Who in The Land of Oz'', has Sarah Jane as Dorothy and K9 as Toto but posits the fourth Doctor in the Scarecrow position, a cowardly Dalek ("Please do not exterminate me!") and an amnesiac Cyberman. When the TARDIS first lands in Munchkinland and the Doctor sees the Wicked Witch of the East underneath, he turns to Sarah Jane and asks "Are we a good witch or a bad witch?" Has a twist ending.

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/EmeraldCityConfidential'' is a "retelling" of sorts through a FilmNoir lens, as a detective is hired by Dorothy (who prefers 'Dee') to find her missing fiance. It plays with the canon from both the film and books: The Lion's now a sleazy lawyer, the Tin Man is an ineffectual ruler who allows crime to run rampant, the Scarecrow is a jaded advisor to Queen Ozma, and Toto can speak.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9763422/1/Wonderful-Wizard-Of-Nick Wonderful Wizard Of Nick]]'' is a MegaCrossover version of the story, with [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold Lila]] as Dorothy, WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron as the Scarecrow, [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Jenny Wakeman]] as the Tin Man and [[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} Chuckie Finster]] as the Cowardly Lion. Unlike most versions of the trope, the story is based more on the original book than the movie.

* The ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My Way Home", manages to be a subversion, containing many {{Shout Out}}s rather than being a Whole Plot Reference. It starts with J.D. listening to Music/{{Toto}}; When he arrives at the hospital, the Janitor has painted different routes on the hallways, with yellow leading to the exit, and spray paints J.D.'s sneakers ruby red; Dr. Cox calls J.D.'s only goal is to get back home and enjoy his day off' Eliot needs brains to give a lecture; Turk needs a heart for surgery; Carla needs courage to become a new parent; Drs. Cox and Kelso act as the Wizard at a time; Jordan has a one-off "I'm melting"; and at the end, [[http://youtu.be/KCeQuqMS9Ww?t=25s Ted's band does a beautiful cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow (ukulele included)"]].

[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/off_to_see_the_wizard_suggestion.png]]
[[caption-width-right:348:Clockwise from bottom left: ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'': "The Wizard of Dizz", ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': "The Wizard of Wazz" scene from "April Fool's Blank", ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbWizardOfOdd Wizard of Odd]]", and ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'']]

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': A tornado blows away a pair of trailer park girls B&B were maybe almost going to score with, and they end up in Oz, where the Munchkins react with "Uhh, huh huh!" laughter.

* ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' did this in "Wizard of Ooze", casting Jim and Peter Puppy in the roles of Dorothy and Toto. In the Scarecrow's place, Walter plays the Fat Lad (who wants dental floss to alleviate his horrible tooth hygiene); the Tin Man is the Grim Reaper (he wants frozen yogurt, as the humans he takes get to try it and he doesn't); and Hamstinator plays the Brave Hamster in lieu of the Cowardly Lion (he is so brave he cannot resist putting himself in danger, so he wants "a reasonable dose of fear"). The Wicked Witch of the West, predictably enough, is Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, while Princess What's-Her-Name is the Good Witch, Mrs. Bleveredge is the Wicked Witch of the West (from whom Jim swipes a pair of sapphire toe socks instead of ruby slippers) and Professor Monkey-for-a-Head plays one of the Flying Monkeys (in fact, he's the only one). The episode even sneaks in a parody of ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' when the Professor invokes ChessWithDeath. And the Wizard? [[spoiler:a suitless Jim!]]

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' often references ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' with its human protagonist unexpectedly thrown into the midst of a universe of strange alien lifeforms. The episode where John Crichton finally returns to Earth is called "Kansas" even though he's actually in Florida. This trope is also a FourthWall gag on how the episodes were filmed in Australia, the "Land of Oz".

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', especially the first season, references ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. Crichton sometimes notices.

{{Parody Episode}}s or{{Whole Plot Reference}}s of ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. The parodies are usually of the Creator/JudyGarland film, not [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the original books]], mainly because of SmallReferencePools, but also due to that film's conceit of Dorothy's companions being portrayed by recognisable human actors in costume (as opposed to an actual lion, scarecrow, and tinman), thus allowing for [[AndYouWereThere existing characters to be easily slotted into those roles]]. If it's a FormulaBreakingEpisode in a series, it will almost certainly be based on the film sufficiently to take advantage of the pre-existing ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou concept.

{{Parody Episode}}s[=/=]{{Whole Plot Reference}}s of ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. The parodies are usually of the Creator/JudyGarland film, not [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the original books]], mainly because of SmallReferencePools, but also due to that film's conceit of Dorothy's companions being portrayed by recognisable human actors in costume (as opposed to an actual lion, scarecrow, and tinman), thus allowing for [[AndYouWereThere existing characters to be easily slotted into those roles]]. If it's a FormulaBreakingEpisode in a series, it will almost certainly be based on the film sufficiently to take advantage of the pre-existing ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou concept.

{{Parody Episode}}s[=/=]{{Whole Plot Reference}}s of ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' -- because of SmallReferencePools, the parodies are usually of the Creator/JudyGarland film, not [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the original books]]. If it's a FormulaBreakingEpisode in a series, it will almost certainly be based on the film sufficiently to take advantage of the pre-existing ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou concept.

* The ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My Way Home", manages to be a subversion, containing many {{Shout Out}}s rather than being a Whole Plot Reference. It starts with J.D. listening to Toto; When he arrives at the hospital, the Janitor has painted different routes on the hallways, with yellow leading to the exit, and spray paints J.D.'s sneakers ruby red; Dr. Cox calls J.D.'s only goal is to get back home and enjoy his day off' Eliot needs brains to give a lecture; Turk needs a heart for surgery; Carla needs courage to become a new parent; Drs. Cox and Kelso act as the Wizard at a time; Jordan has a one-off "I'm melting"; and at the end, [[http://youtu.be/KCeQuqMS9Ww?t=25s Ted's band does a beautiful cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow (ukulele included)"]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'' has the "Wizard of Dizz" special, wherein Minnie plays the role of Dorothy, Pluto as Toto, Clarabelle as the Good Witch, Goofy as the Scarecow, Mickey as the Tin Man, Donald as the Cowardly Lion, Pete as the Wicked Witch of the West (though he isn't called a warlock, oddly enough) and Ludwig von Drake as the titular Wizard.

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'' has the "Wizard of Dizz" special, wherein Minnie plays the role of Dorothy, Pluto as Toto, Clarabelle as the Good Witch, Goofy as the Scarecow, Mickey as the Tin Man, Donald as the Cowardly Lion, Pete as the Wicked Witch of the East (though he isn't called a warlock, oddly enough) and Ludwig von Drake as the titular Wizard.

As an interesting footnote, while the original book is in the PublicDomain in the U.S., the ''movie'' is not, so you may run into a LawyerFriendlyCameo standing in for elements that come from the film, such as the ruby slippers[[note]]in the book they're silver shoes[[/note]], the Lollipop Guild, or the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

{{Parody Episode}}s[=/=]{{Whole Plot Reference}}s of ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' -- because of SmallReferencePools, the parodies are usually of the Creator/JudyGarland film, not [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz the original books]]. If it's a SomethingCompletelyDifferent episode in a series, it will almost certainly be based on the film sufficiently to take advantage of the pre-existing ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou concept.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow'' is partially a send up of the Wizard of Oz as the titular trio travel to the city to see a man that will solve their problems (The Wizard/[[spoiler:Eddy's Brother]]) and along the way they gain the things they needed; for Ed, a brain (he uses a door to beat [[spoiler:Eddy's Brother]] instead of his own strength), for Double D, a spine (he stands up to Eddy's cruel joke and [[spoiler:Eddy's Brother for beating on Eddy]]), and for Eddy, a heart (he finally admits his guilt and takes blame for his actions and attitude). By doing this, they earn a happy ending for themselves.

[[caption-width-right:348:Clockwise from bottom left: ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'': "The Wizard of Dizz", ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': "The Wizard of Wazz" scene from "April Fool's Blank", ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': "Wizard of Odd", and ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'']]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'' episode "The Wizzer of Odd", fafter being read the story of ''The Wizard of Oz'' on a stormy night, Dennis has a dream where a tornado sends him and Ruff to "Munchville". There, Dennis meets the Scaredy Cat ([=PeeBee=]), the Tin Kid (Gina), and the Cowardly Lion (Joey). Margaret takes on the role of the Wicked Witch, who imprisons Dennis and his friends for eating her gingerbread castle, [[NotHisSled which melts during a rainstorm rather than her]]. Mr. Wilson takes on the role of The Wizzer, who grants Dennis and his friends their wishes.