Mysterious Theater

The intro to Mysterious Theater, a direct parody of the Mystery! title card.

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 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.

Segments

Picture	Title	Earliest Known Appearance	Description
	Dial M for Mother	Episode 2727	Sherlock tries to figure out what he needs to call his mother to wish her a happy birthday before midnight approaches and her birthday ends...as he stands next to a London telephone booth.
	Circle Search	Episode 2874	Sherlock is commissioned to find the shape of a circle in an antique castle before time runs out at 5:00. Watson does his best to point out that the face of a clock is the shape of a circle.
	The Case of the Missing Toast	Episode 3009	Lady Agatha can't find her toast or roast, so Sherlock figures that it is a "rhyme crime", and suspects a ghost is the culprit. The thief turns out to be Vincent Twice.
	The Case of the Missing Cat		Sherlock is on the search for Lady Agatha's missing cat, knowing that is under something that rhymes with "at", while Watson discovers the cat is under a mat, which leads into a big cat-and-dog fight.