D'wizzida Oz.

That's phonetic Long Islandese, my attempt to approximate what we marble-mouthed Nassau/Suffolk kiddies called The Wizard of Oz when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's. The dazzling 1939 fantasy flick showed up on television just once a year back then, at the onset of springtime or just a bit earlier. It was kind of a big deal, before home video and cable airings made it viewable whenever. I always found the prospect of watching it again thrilling (if a little daunting, as the flying henchmonkeys and the Wizard's giant projected head scared the shit out of me).

Using the Wikipedia page devoted to television broadcasts of the movie, I searched my collection of TV schedule ephemera, largely confined to the years 1972 to 1984, for listings and ads. The first airing to be found in my collection is the Wizard's sixth TV appearance, on CBS as before, Sunday, January 26th, 1964. There was no 1963 airing; the December broadcasts were shifted back a month in the wake of JFK's demise (and the ever-increasing yuletide competition may have been a factor as well).
*enlarge pics with a click*

The next evidence of Oz in my collection comes from April 8th, 1973. The Newsday TV Book featured a close-up with a doodle by one "M. Frem."

The next Newsday TV Book example I have is from the following year, the airing of Sunday, February 24th, 1974. I read that this showing was postponed (due to breaking news) and re-scheduled for March 10th, but I have the NTVB's for both dates and no changes are reflected or mentioned.

Now on to some TV Guide ads.

Strangely, there is no ad for the Easter Sunday showing of 3/30/75, the last on NBC before it returned to CBS. Here, however, is a neat Dunkin' Donuts ad that ties in with the broadcast (although it appears among the listings for Saturday). I have seen these inflatable Munchkins for sale online, in the original wrapping even. They are no longer 99¢, but a motivated buyer could possibly score one at a, shall we say, not-unreasonable price for someone with an appropriately warped sense of values.

I looked at the dimly-lighted photo of this ad probably a dozen times before noticing that the Munchkin Lady doll is watching along with the kids.

Here's that next year's CBS ad, Sunday March 14th, 1976.
Also kinda strange, because it does not tout the return.

Sunday, March 20th, 1977.

Next, the ad and listing for Easter Sunday, March 26th, 1978. I was surprised to see that this and '75 were the only holiday showings of my youth. I thought the association of Oz with Easter was more of a "thing." (There were airings that occurred on both my and my mother's birthdays, so that gave it an extra-special feel, too.) This airing was definitely an event, though, as it kicked off a week of nightly, star-studded broadcasts celebrating CBS' 50th anniversary.

I have one more Newsday TV Book page with a WoO close-up, this time moving to a Friday: March 23rd, 1979. (I don't have the TV guide for that date.) Check out that ad at bottom right. How cool would it have been to watch the “Chef of the Future” on the “TV of Tomorrow”?

Resuming TV Guide ads: Friday, March 7th, 1980.

Friday, February 27th, 1981. Did you dare defect that year, to witness the return of Herman Munster? I can't imagine that I did.

The following year saw a move to Saturday--March 27th, 1982.

Finally, back to Friday for the showing of March 18th, 1983.

I'm going to dig around my collection to see if I can unearth some other Oz-related fossils. I'll add them as I discover, so check back if you're so inclined. Right off the bat, I have this TVG ad for the animated Journey Back to Oz, as aired on New York City's WNEW 5 on December 9th, 1978. I can’t say I remember this Filmation production, but the history behind it is kind of interesting.