History YMMV / TheWiz

* OlderThanTheyThink: The thought of Oz using then-modern technology in addition to magic dates back to at least Creator/LFrankBaum's seventh ''Oz'' book, ''Literature/ThePatchworkGirlOfOz'', which begins with Baum explaining that since the events of [[Literature/TheEmeraldCityOfOz the previous book]] resulted in Glinda cutting off Oz from the rest of the world, Dorothy now delivers Oz news to him via telegraph.

* {{Padding}}: As per the significant changes made to accommodate both Ross and the shift to a modern setting, a whole subplot of Dorothy being pressured to move out of her house and to make a living for herself on her own terms is set up purely to showcase her emotional insecurity before being whisked away to Oz, with little to no resolution after she finds her way home.
** One could argue that the Dorothy does gain a character arc. In this version, the finale could be interpreted as Dorothy finally gaining confidence. Images of people she's met and lessons she's learned in Oz flash past her during "Home", indicating she'll retain what she's learned in Oz and be more brave at home.

* JerkassWoobie: Evillene tries to paint herself as one when she admits her frustration with Dorothy killing her sister, taking said sister's shoes, then rallying her new friends to help her also kill Evillene. However, Evillene's threats to stew Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion, and her plans to enslave everyone in Oz, make it harder to pity her when Dorothy ''does'' kill her.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The Tin Man can be brought to tears by the memory of his fourth wife Teeny, or as he tends to put it, "TEEEEEEENY, TEEEEEEEENY, TEEEEEEEEENY, TEEEEEEEENY, TEEEEEEEEENY..."

* EarWorm: Many of the songs, but "Ease on Down the Road", "Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)", "You Can't Win", "Slide Some Oil to Me" and "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" are the standouts. In some of the songs cut from the film, there is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sto2wpwbM-k the Tornado Ballet]]

* ChewingTheScenery: Diana Ross portrays Dorothy as an overwrought wreck who will go into hysterics at the drop of a hat.

* {{Narm}}: Glinda attempting to perform "Believe in Yourself" as a gospel number can fall under this or NarmCharm, depending on how strongly you think Lena Horne's hamminess and un-convincing lip-syncing overshadow the song's message.

* {{Wangst}}: Don't do a DrinkingGame of how many times Dorothy sobs piteously. You'll be passed out after 30 minutes.

* PainfulRhyme: "Soon As I Get Home" has a failed attempt to rhyme "air" and "fear". Neither Stephanie Mills nor Shanice Williams even tried to force the words to sound similar, and Diana Ross just skipped this part of the song.[[labelnote:*]]She did sing it in the version included on ''Diana Ross Sings Songs From The Wiz'', also without trying to force the words to rhyme.[[/labelnote]]

** Oz having [[spoiler: a crossdressing Wizard]] also dates back to the original book, in which the Wizard [[spoiler:dons several disguises, including one of a lovely maiden]].

** Oz having a genderfluid Wizard also dates back to the original book, in which the Wizard has both male and female "forms".

* OlderThanTheyThink: For one (fairly conservative) online reviewer, ''The Wiz Live!'' was apparently tainted with the violence of black culture, thus making it less family friendly from the "original 1939 version", due to Dorothy being prompted to murder the witch (as opposed to stealing her broomstick). Ironically, that only occurred in the 1939 film, which isn't the original ''Wizard Of Oz''. In the original book, the Wizard really does tell Dorothy to straight up murder the Wicked Witch, who at that point wasn't even actively a threat to her. This act of violence wasn't added to the story of ''The Wiz Live!'' due to it being a black casted show. It was always there from when the story was originally written.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Fans tend to enjoy the Scarecrow and the Lion the most in this film; the former is helped by the fact that he is played by a then up-and-coming Michael Jackson.
** [[EvilIsCool Evilene]] may certainly count as this for many as well.

** The aforementioned "TEEEEEEENY..." could count as well

** Viewers who felt uncomfortable with past productions fat-shaming Evillene could find it refreshing for this one to depict some of the heroines as having plump figures, that none of the characters comment on.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Oz features hookers, an opium den, and a (mostly) clothing-optional musical number. Nonetheless, the MPAA still rated the movie G for General Audiences.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion stand out in particular, due to the standout performances by Michael Jackson and Ted Ross respectively.

* EndingFatigue: After Evillene is killed, there's not much story left to tell, but it still takes several songs to get to the end. The screen adaptations each cut three numbers from this stretch (though Schumacher and Firestein made different choices on the second song worth removing). Made more bearable for viewers who consider at least one of the two songs that survive all versions of this stretch, "Believe in Yourself" and "Home", the musical's SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.

* WTHCastingAgency: Diana Ross, who in her thirties seems out of place in the shoes of the much younger Dorothy despite her singing chops. Ross was initially refused the part but eventually won it after persisting in her negotiations with the producer, with her age singled out as having rendered her unconvincing in the role of an emotionally distraught young woman.
** For some Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man may also count, as his singing was not quite up to par with that of his co-stars.

** Arguably The Scarecrow who starts out being tortured by the crows and is similarly abused throughout the movie. Being played by a 19-year-old Michael Jackson helped.

* [[HePannedItNowHeSucks She Panned It So She Sucks]]: Creator/RavenSymone fell victim to this when she admitted that she didn't think Shanice Williams and Elijah Kelley could compare to [[ToughActToFollow the "original" Dorothy and Scarecrow]], Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. She proceeded to receive a ton of reminders that Ross and Jackson weren't really the first people to play Dorothy and Scarecrow in ''The Wiz''.

* Padding: As per the significant changes made to accommodate both Ross and the shift to a modern setting, a whole subplot of Dorothy being pressured to move out of her house and to make a living for herself on her own terms is set up purely to showcase her emotional insecurity before being whisked away to Oz, with little to no resolution after she finds her way home.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: It's terribly obvious how far out of his comfort zone Sidney Lumet was, showing no idea of how to stage musical numbers despite the songs themselves still being pretty good. The worst offender is filming "Ease on Down the Road" from ''behind'' the actors.
* VindicatedByHistory: The film is viewed a bit more positively nowadays (especially among the black community), to the point where it has become something of a {{cult classic}}. Though there's still plenty of people that view it as a bad film, you're just as likely to find people that like it and defend it.

* MisaimedFandom: According to the comments section of Masterworks Broadway's [=YouTube=] upload of "A Brand New Day", some of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's supporters listened to the song again after he won the 2016 Presidential Election...even though several of the ''Wiz'' cast and crew members hate Trump, to the extent that after producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron moved on to NBC's ''Theatre/{{Hairspray}}'', they expressed hope in an interview that UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton would win the Election instead.

* UnfortunateImplications: It's has pointed out by more than a few people that the decision to turn the bright and colorful land of Oz into a filthy, demilitarized ghetto for the African American adaptation of the classic story is very questionable to say the least.

* MisaimedFandom: According to the comments section of Masterworks Broadway's [=YouTube=] upload of "A Brand New Day", some of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's supporters listened to the song again after he won the 2016 Presidential Election...even though several of the ''Wiz'' cast and crew members hate Trump, to the extent that Craig Zadan and Neil Meron expressed hope while working on NBC's ''Theatre/{{Hairspray}}'' that UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton would win instead.

* GrowingTheBeard: For NBC's attempts to bring back the live TV musical. After its previous productions of ''The Sound of Music'' and ''Peter Pan'' were largely seen as hot messes buoyed by the occasional good performance, ''The Wiz'' got strong reviews just in time for other networks to try the concept out. After Creator/{{Fox}}'s January 2016 telecast of a new ''Film/{{Grease}}'' also earned a positive reception, ''The Wiz'' might very well mark a GenreTurningPoint for live TV musicals.

* MisaimedFandom: According to the comments section of the official [=YouTube=] upload of "A Brand New Day", some of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's supporters listened to the song again after he won the 2016 Presidential Election...even though several of the ''Wiz'' cast and crew members hate Trump, to the extent that Craig Zadan and Neil Meron expressed hope while working on NBC's ''Theatre/{{Hairspray}}'' that UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton would win instead.