Wizard of Oz (character) - Cultural Reference

Cultural Reference

• In the episode Into The Mystic of the television series Sliders a powerful and wraithlike Sorcerer turns out to be just the projection of a normal person, hidden behind a curtain in the room, like the Wizard of Oz did in the 1939 movie.
• The Season 3 episode of serial drama Lost entitled "The Man Behind the Curtain" is a reference to the Wizard. His name is also mentioned in the dialogue of the show, with John Locke comparing Ben Linus to the Wizard and saying that he is the one orchestrating events and is "The Man Behind the Curtain".
• In the episode "It's Christmas in Canada" of the television series South Park, the main characters visit the new Prime Minister of Canada, who takes the shape of a floating head. This turns out to be a projection operated by Saddam Hussein, who was hiding in hole in the wall.
• An entire episode of Scrubs, "My Way Home", pays homage to the Wizard of Oz.
• In 1991, wrestler Kevin Nash was given the name and gimmick of "Oz" by Dusty Rhodes, loosely based on the Wizard, and was billed from "The Emerald City".
• The character of The Wizard of Oz was shown in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, the fourth book of Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series.
• In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Corbomite Maneuver," the alien Balok initially assumes a more intimidating appearance behind what was eventually revealed a dummy mask. The real Balok was a dwarfish cherubic man (played by Clint Howard). In discussing the deception, however, Balok refers to Jekyll and Hyde instead of the Wizard of Oz.
• In the Stephen King novel Pet Sematary, a framed picture of the Wizard is the first thing Rachel Goldman sees after her sister Zelda dies. It is explained that Zelda enjoyed the Oz books when she was alive, but when she contracted spinal meningitis, it gave her a speech impediment that prevented her from pronouncing the letter R, so she called him "Oz the Gweat and Tewwible". As a result, Oz the Gweat and Tewwible becomes a metaphor for death, and is used for the rest of the book.
• The film Zardoz draws its title from the character and the book.
• The television show Futurama aired Anthology of Interest II which parodied the 1939 movie version of the story where Professor Hubert Farnsworth played the wizard and appearing as a giant-headed version of himself standing behind a curtain.
• The Wizard of Oz appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Two Weeks Without Food" voiced by Breckin Meyer. After Dorothy returns home, the Wizard returns and goes back to business as usual. When the Cowardly Lion asks why, the Wizard recounts that he is a "very bad wizard." He states "case in point" as he forcefully takes back Scarecrow's brain, has Tin Man compacted into a square and eats his heart, and has the Cowardly Lion made into a lion-skinned rug. With the Cowardly Lion a rug, the Tin Man his stool, and Scarecrow's remains made into a wall decoration, the Wizard is seen with them in his room as he quotes "It's good to be the Wizard." When one of his royal guards tells the Wizard that Glinda the Good Witch is here, the Wizard quotes "Bring me my rape shoes."