Ernie talking to Bert who is lying in his bed in Sesame Street
By
Adrienne Tyler
Published 48 minutes ago
Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.
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Sesame Street is one of the most popular TV shows ever, and though it’s known for its educational, fun, and wholesome content, one of its episodes had to be banned for being too scary. Created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, Sesame Street is an educational children’s TV show that brings together puppets, animation, comedy, and live-action characters.
Sesame Street premiered in 1969 and has since aired on PBS. Sesame Street is regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time and has been praised for years for its educational value, tone, and characters, such as Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster. As wholesome as Sesame Street is, there’s one episode that ended up being banned for being too scary and gloomy.
Sesame Street's “Episode 847” Starred The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West
In 1976, Sesame Street’s “Episode 847” aired, and it ended up making history for the wrong reasons. On a windy day, David catches a broom that falls from the sky, and the wind stops. Shortly after, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz (played by Margaret Hamilton, reprising her role from the movie) appears in Sesame Street.
As it turns out, the broom is hers, and she wants it back. The witch demands that David give her her broom back, but David won't give it to her until she treats him with respect.
What follows are the witch's attempts to get her broom, which include making it rain inside Hooper's Store and threatening to turn David into a basketball and Big Bird into a feather duster. In the end, the witch, with extreme difficulty, asks for it nicely and can finally leave with her broom.
Unfortunately, while flying back to Oz, the broom falls back down to Sesame Street, with David catching it again. David begins to cry, saying he can't go through it again. The point of the episode was to teach kids to overcome their fears, but, instead, it received immediate backlash.
Why Sesame Street's “Episode 847” Was Banned (& Where You Can Watch It)
Elmo looks to the side in sesame street
After the original airing of “Episode 847”, angry parents sent letters to complain about the tone of the episode and described their children's reaction to it, with many kids scared of the witch and even refusing to watch more of Sesame Street. After test screenings, it was decided that the episode wouldn't air again, and it remained unseen until 2019.
That year, the episode resurfaced as part of the Museum of the Moving Image's celebration of Sesame Street's 50th anniversary. The episode was later archived in the Library of Congress, where it was available for private viewing – unfortunately, this didn’t last long.
The episode was leaked on Reddit in 2022, and it's unknown how the user got it. As a result, the American Archive of Public Broadcasting temporarily banned private screenings and tried to remove the episode from other platforms. At the time of writing, there's no way to watch Sesame Street's banned episode starring the Wicked Witch of the West.
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