Sesame Street episode 847

Episode 847 of *Sesame Street*—often called the "Wicked Witch episode"—is the 52nd installment of the show's seventh season. Directed by Robert Myhrum and written by Joseph A. Bailey, Judy Freudberg, and Emily Kingsley, it first aired on PBS on February 11, 1976. In the episode, the Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 film *The Wizard of Oz* loses her broomstick on Sesame Street and stirs up trouble trying to get it back. Margaret Hamilton, who played the witch in the movie, returned to the role. The episode was designed to help children learn to face their fears.

Not long after it aired, the show's creators and the Children's Television Workshop got many angry letters from parents who said the Wicked Witch scared their kids. Despite this, the episode was re-aired later in 1976 and included in later compilations, so it was never truly lost. Clips were shown at a "Lost and Found" event for *Sesame Street*'s 50th anniversary in 2019. The full episode was preserved by the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, and on June 17, 2022, it was leaked online by a Reddit user named 'sarsaparilla1701'.

**Plot**

David steps out of Hooper's Store, notices the windy weather, and catches a broom that falls from the sky. The wind stops. The Wicked Witch of the West appears from around a corner, realizes she's not in Oz, and demands her broom back. David refuses until she shows him respect. Unable to touch the broom while someone else holds it, the witch vanishes in a puff of smoke. David goes back inside and shows the broom to Maria. The witch reappears and makes it rain indoors. Everyone leaves the store and runs into Big Bird. The witch returns and tries to get the broom from Big Bird, who stands his ground and defends his friends. She threatens to turn David into a basketball and Big Bird into a feather duster, then disappears again. Oscar the Grouch develops a crush on the witch. She disguises herself as an old woman and comes back to Hooper's Store, but David sees through it and says he'll put the broom down only if she asks nicely. She forces herself to do so, then picks up the broom and transforms back into a witch. The group watches her fly away. On her way back to Oz, she shows off by flying with no hands, and the broom falls back down to Sesame Street. David catches it again and starts crying, saying he can't go through this again.