Ford Star Jubilee

The Wizard of Oz

The final Ford Star Jubilee was the first television broadcast of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. The show was expanded to two hours and Bert Lahr was engaged to host with assistance from 10 year old Liza Minnelli and Justin G. Schiller, a 13 year old Oz expert. CBS paid MGM for the right to show the film twice at $225,000 each airing. The broadcast was a ratings smash. CBS showed it again December 13, 1959 (Red Skelton and his daughter Valentina hosting) in an earlier time slot and it was an even bigger hit. CBS exercised its options ($200,000 each for four more broadcasts) for further airings in what became a TV tradition. Later hosts included Richard Boone and his son Peter (1960), Dick Van Dyke and his children (1961-62), and Danny Kaye (1964-67).