A so-called “lost” episode of Sesame Street has been made available for viewing online, decades after it was barred from future broadcasts following complaints from parents.
The 1976 episode of the children’s puppet show stars actor Margaret Hamilton, who portrayed The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
She is seen reprising the villainous role in the edition of the programme, which originally aired on 10 February 1976.
The episode had reportedly been archived for years in the Library of Congress, which would have been one of the only ways to view it.
However, a fan of the show has recently uploaded the episode in full to Reddit, where it has been reproduced across the internet.
In the episode, the Witch continually menaces child character David to give her back her lost broom.
When she manages to reclaim it, she exclaims: “This is glorious!” Then, as she further enjoys her flying instrument, she says: “Look! No hands!”
The broom falls out from beneath her and David, Big Bird and friends catch it once again.
Though most episodes of the long-running programme have been syndicated and made available for home viewing, this episode is one of the rare occasions that the show has never been re-run.
According to The AV Club, Sesame Workshop was “deluged with complaints from parents” after it aired on TV for being too scary for their children.
