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» » Off to See the Wizard Who's Afraid of Mother Goose? (1967–1968)

Short summary

Mother Goose, leads the gaggle in a musical gander at the pedagogical values of old nursery rhymes. When a school administrator tries to ban Mother Goose books from classrooms because he feels the characters set poor examples. Mother Goose herself appears and turns him into a child. She then takes him through her stories to meet the characters, proving they are not so bad. The musical score is by the composers of the Broadway play, 1776. This was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Steve Martins acting debut

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Nettale
    This was originally intended as a Thanksgiving Special to be shown annually. Instead it wound up being an episode of Off To See The Wizard.

    Notable in this special was that Rowan and Martin appeared JUST before Laugh In hit. Dick Shawn before The Producers. The person who wrote the music, Sherman Edwards, went on to create 1776. The production staff went on to The Kraft Music Hall and other variety shows.

    Included in the cast were: Maureen O'Hara/Mother Goose, Fred Clark/Big Billy Berry, Stuart Getz/Little Billy Berry, Frankie Avalon/Nancy Sinatra as Jack and Jill, Margaret Hamilton/Old Mother Hubbard

    As a kid who LOVED The Three Stooges, I was in dreamland! WAY cool watching those guys work and them teaching me their slapstick secrets.

    TCM has a more thorough credits list for this.
  • comment
    • Author: Bev
    I saw this when I was like 8 and 9. It was about a District Attoney played by Fred Clark, who died shortly after this film aired, who decides that Mother Goose is a bad influence on our nation's youth and is prosecuting into baning Mother Goose from our country. Mother Goose then appears and changes him back into a child and then sends him off to Mother Gooseland where he meets and interacts with all the characters and stories. All the mother Goose characters are played by stars, but the only ones I remember are the 3 Stooges, Moe, Larry, And Curly Joe who play the 3 men in a tub. We also see all the guest stars as real people at the beginning at the trial where they are mad at Fred Clark for what he is doing.

    This aired as a 2 part episode of the '60's ABC series Off To See The Wizard which featured classic MGM family films cut to two parts with wraparound animation of Dorothy, Toto, The Wizard, The Scarcrow, Tin man, and Cowardly Lion. This aired twice and then a year later as a movie in syndication. But I haven't seen it since.
  • comment
    • Author: Flas
    I have a hazy memory of watching this episode, but clearly remember The Three Stooges. This episode sounds like it needs some serious re-airing, because of its cast!

    Among the treats were Rowan and Martin, a month after their "Laugh- In" special aired, and three months before their ground-breaking series began. Dick Shawn also makes an appearance, right at the time he had his breakthrough in "The Producers."

    But this episode also marks the acting debut of comic Steve Martin, who has a role as Simon the Pieman. While his first major success was as a writer for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," it's interesting that he acted here! Same as well for Jim Nabors, whose hit series also aired on Friday nights, but on a different network!

    The series wasn't bad per se, but it still seemed like an imitation of Walt Disney's anthology series, and it also suffered from a bad time slot. I remember at the time it seemed like a letdown after the previous season, which had "The Green Hornet." Anyway, the episode here is a most interesting one, with a LOT of talent!
  • Episode credited cast:
    Daws Butler Daws Butler - Scarecrow / Tin Man / Wizard of Oz (voice)
    Mel Blanc Mel Blanc - Cowardly Lion / Toto (voice)
    June Foray June Foray - Dorothy Gale (voice)
    Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
    Frankie Avalon Frankie Avalon - Jack
    Fred Clark Fred Clark - William H. Berry
    Joe DeRita Joe DeRita - Three Men in a Tub
    Larry Fine Larry Fine - Three Men in a Tub
    Peter Gennaro Peter Gennaro - Jack B. Nimble
    Margaret Hamilton Margaret Hamilton - The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe
    Moe Howard Moe Howard - Three Men in a Tub
    Dick Martin Dick Martin - The Pieman
    Steve Martin Steve Martin - Simon the Pieman
    Jim Nabors Jim Nabors - Wee Willie Winkie
    Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara - Mother Goose
    Dan Rowan Dan Rowan - Simple Simon
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