Sherlock Hemlock
 | |
| PERFORMER | Jerry Nelson |
| DEBUT | 1970 |
| PATTERN | Green |
| DESIGN | Jim Henson designer |
| Caroly Wilcox builder | |
Sherlock and Watson in "Mysterious Theater"
Sherlock Hemlock making a cameo in Season 40.
Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
Sherlock Hemlock is a Muppet spoof of Sherlock Holmes, as seen on Sesame Street.
Sherlock is the self-appointed "World's Greatest Detective," dressed in the iconic Holmes deerstalker cap and Inverness cape, and usually brandishing a large magnifying glass. He prides himself on his powers of observation and does succeed in deciphering small clues, but he seldom arrives at a correct, final solution without assistance. When he does find a clue, he often shouts, "Egad!" He speaks with a British accent and his earliest appearances were often signaled by "detective music" (as Ernie called it), a series of dramatic stings on a piano.
Sherlock first appeared in Episode 0131, the Season 2 premiere, looking for the missing half of Ernie's chicken salad sandwich. Clues revealed that Sherlock himself ate half of the sandwich (he likes chicken salad, doesn't like bread crusts, and one of his buttons was found in Ernie's lunchbox).
Hemlock also appeared in the recurring Caveman Days sketches with Ernie as "The Royal Smart Person."
Though generally one of the less musical Muppets, Hemlock sang "X Marks the Spot!," a dire warning of what the letter/symbol X may signify, first heard on The Muppet Alphabet Album and then on the series itself.
Beginning in Season 20, Sherlock Hemlock starred in all of the "Mysterious Theater" segments, and by this time he was given a sidekick: a faithful dog named Watson, who joined his master in the segments and occasional street appearances. Most notably, in a season 22 episode, Sherlock and Watson try to find Maria's sock on a laundry day in her basement, accompanied by the "Mysterious Theater" theme and host Vincent Twice.
In 1996, Sherlock Hemlock and Watson starred as playable characters in the computer game Search and Learn Adventures. Sherlock also appeared in the 1998 computer game Elmo's Reading Basics and the 2001 game Elmo's World: Shoes, Bugs & Farms!.
Sherlock's last major appearance occurred in Episode 3424, in which the letter X wanted to quit the alphabet. After this, he was only seen in old sketches until the early 2000s. Then, in 2010 for the show's 40th season, Sherlock reappeared on Sesame Street in a brief speaking cameo at Hooper's Store in Episode 4206. He also made a background cameo in The Furchester Hotel episode "Mystery Weekend."
In 2018, Sherlock appeared during Caroll Spinney's retirement party in the skit where Caroll Spinney meets his wife, puppeteered by Martin P. Robinson. In 2019, Sherlock Hemlock made his first speaking appearance since Nelson's passing in Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration, performed here by Matt Vogel. He appears in The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo as an audience member.
According to Sesame Street Unpaved, Nelson's performance is based on Basil Rathbone's famous portrayal of Holmes in the 1939 movie The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and its early 1940s sequels. However, the voice, particularly in the early sketches, is modeled after the clipped diction of another British movie star, Ronald Colman. In the 1979 coloring book, My Favorite Things, Sherlock is shown to reside at 456 Sesame Street.
Street Scenes[]
In addition to primarily appearing in sketches, Sherlock has appeared in street scenes from time to time.
- Episode 0470, 0595, 0598, 0903, 0955, 1199, 1332, 1367, 1369, 1664, 1685, 1737, 2280, 2326, 2554, 2751, 2816, 2873, 2963, 3424, 4206
Sketches[]
- for more sketches, see Mysterious Theater
Filmography[]
- Sesame Street
- The Muppet Movie - "Rainbow Connection" finale
- 1982 Daytime Emmy Awards Ceremony
- The Muppets Take Manhattan - Wedding finale
- Follow That Bird
- The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
- A Muppet Family Christmas
- Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
- The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
Album appearances[]
Book appearances[]
- The Sesame Street Storybook, frontispiece only (1971)
- The Together Book (1971)
- More Sesame Street Finger Puppets (1972)
- Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery (1972)
- The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook (1973)
- The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
- The Invention of Paper (1975)
- Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
- The Sesame Street Postcard Book (1976)
- Una Sorpresa (1976)
- Epi / Blas ...y los demás (1976-79)
- The Day the Count Stopped Counting (1977)
- The Sesame Street Mystery Coloring Book (1977)
- The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook (1978)
- The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
- A Day on Sesame Street (1979)
- My Favorite Things (1979)
- Early Bird on Sesame Street (1980)
- Going Up! (1980)
- The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
- The Sesame Street Pet Show (1980)
- The Case of the Missing Duckie (1980)
- Prairie Dawn's Upside-Down Poem (1981)
- Put & Play Magic Show (1981)
- Sesame Seasons (1981)
- The Sesame Street Sun (1981)
- Sherlock Hemlock and the Creatures from Outer Space (1981)
- Which One Doesn't Belong? (1981)
- Seasons of the Year (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 2: The B Book (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 3: The C Book (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 7: The IJKL Book (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 8: The M Book (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 11: The R Book (1982)
- Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 15: The WXYZ Book (1982)
- The Sesame Street Players Present Mother Goose (1982)
- The Sesame Street Question and Answer Book About Animals (1983)
- Big Bird's Alphabet Book (1984)
- Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (1984)
- I Think That It Is Wonderful (1984)
- Trace & Color: Alphabet (1984)
- Ernie's Finish the Picture (1985)
- I Can Count to Ten and Back Again (1985)
- Sign Language ABC (1985)
- A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
- I Want a Hat Like That (1987)
- The Sesame Street ABC Book of Words (1988)
- Earth and Sky (1989)
- Which Ones Are the Same? (1989)
- Ernie and Bert's Summer Project (1991)
- My Name Is Big Bird (1992)
- A New Way to Get to Sesame Street (1992)
- Elmo Asks Why (2023)
- Sesame Street 2024 comic book