I mean, really, who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz, the music, the vivid colors,

Toto for God's sakes, it's an American classic.

So why was it a box office flop?

Why did the studio try to get the director to cut the song somewhere over the rainbow out of the movie?

And why was that beautiful film hell on earth for the cast and crew?

I'm Patty Steele, behind the scenes with the Wizard of Oz, next on the backstory.

This is In Retrospect, a podcast about pop culture from the 80s and 90s that shaped us.

I'm very much a product of the pop culture I consumed, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

I'm Jessica Bennett, a New York Times writer and best-selling author.

I'm Susie Benacarum, an award-winning TV producer and filmmaker.

Every week, we'll revisit a moment in cultural history that we just can't stop thinking about.

From tabloid headlines to illicit student-teacher relationships,

and one, very memorable red swimsuits.

I found myself in Pamela Anderson's attic, as you do.

I put that red swimsuit in a safe because it seemed everybody wanted it.

We're digging deep to better understand with these moments taught us about the world and our place in it.

I want you to really smell the axe-body spray that emanated during this time.

It was presented more as kind of like a crime topic.

Okay, and that's not a love story.

Not a love story.

It had been branded on the uteruses of every single woman from sea to shining sea.

Listen to In Retrospect on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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