Mysterious Theater



Mysterious Theater was a series of segments shown on Sesame Street, starting in Season 21 (1989). The segment was a parody of the PBS series Mystery! and was hosted by Vincent Twice (a spoof of former Mystery! host Vincent Price). In contrast to the anthology format of Mystery!, "Mysterious Theater" exclusively featured Sherlock Hemlock and his faithful dog, Watson. The skits were rerun until the late-1990s, when CTW retired Sherlock Hemlock.

In a parody of Edward Gorey's animated opening titles for Mystery!, the "Mysterious Theater" opening featured a stylized illustration of a woman wearing both a black dress and a head scarf while holding a handkerchief and a rose at a graveside. The title is written on the tombstone. The scene is accompanied by tense-sounding music and such atmospheric sounds as a wolf howling, a cat meowing and thunder crashing.

Mysterious Theater was also used as part of a street scene in Episode 3033, in which Maria loses a sock on laundry day, and Vincent Twice introduces himself to Maria to host the segment "The Case of the Missing Sock." Sherlock Hemlock attempts to find the sock, but Watson finds it first and runs off with it, leading to Maria chasing the dog, though Sherlock does not notice and continues to seek the sock. Vincent Twice re-enters to close out the "episode," Maria continues chasing Watson and the sock, and Sherlock attempts to try and find the sock as Vincent Twice announces the sponsors.