Not in Kansas anymore

I don’t know how I managed to ignore this news for so long. I mean, it’s right up my yellow-brick road. The Sci-Fi Channel is creating a six-hour miniseries based on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s being described as a “sometimes psychedelic, often twisted and always bizarre take” on the classic story.

Called “Tin Man,” the project will star Zooey Deschanel as DG (hey, those initials look familiar) and Alan Cumming as Glitch (a.k.a. Mr. If I Only Had a Brain). Richard Dreyfuss will play the wonderful wizard Mystic Man who lives in The Outer Zone (get it, O.Z.), a fantastical realm that is oppressed by dark magic.

In the remake, DG is thrust into the O.Z., where she meets Glitch along with the wolverine-like, courage-impaired Raw and the emotionally-scarred, heart-seeking Cain, who was once part of the police force known as Tin Men. No word on Toto, yet. Production starts next month and the film is slated to air in December. OK, fine. But are there lions and tigers and bears? Oh my.