Everybody Beats the Wiz

Back in the 1970s there was a critically and popularly acclaimed Broadway show entitled “The Wiz.” It was an updated version of The Wizard of Oz, featuring an all African-American cast including Stephanie Mills starring as Dorothy. They made a movie out of it, and 34-year-old Diana Ross persuaded the financial backer that she should replace Mills in the lead role despite the age disparity. The film tanked, though some consider it a cult classic.

Some years later, four brothers started a chain of electronics stores and called it The Wiz. Their slogan was “Nobody Beats The Wiz”; that slogan was repeated ad nauseam on TV and radio ads in the Tri-State Area of my youth, leading to ingenious…