Sesame Street is a very clever show.
You don’t need me to tell you that, of course.
Ask any small child and they will tell you all about the counting, and the spelling and all manner of fun, educational moments; and if you’re sensible you’ll check with the parents watching with them, who are every bit as entertained as their offspring thanks to Sesame Street‘s gleeful, ongoing delight in spoofing and parodying and having fun with celebrity guest stars.
They’ve featured send-ups of Downton Abbey and Lord of the Rings, and any number of willing actors from Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) to Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) to Joel McHale and Ken Jeong (Community) with all the elements fulfilling the show’s mandate to educate young children while at the same time keeping those watching over them hilariously entertained with incisive, cutting edge parodies.
And they’re happily at it again with Sherlock Holmes himself, Benedict Cumberbatch making an appearance.
The only snag?
Both Murray, who introduces himself as Sherlock Holmes arch-nemesis Murray-arty (a delightful play on Holmes’ villainous adversary Moriarty) and the Count von Count, who is drafted in to help when Cumberbatch is cutely unable to determine whether there are more apples than oranges on the table (“I’m just an actor”), are convinced he really is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation in the flesh.
And nothing he says will persuade them otherwise.
It all adds up to yet another in a long line of humourous but educational segments on Sesame Street, proof positive that the show has well and truly cracked the mystery of how to inform and delight all at once.
* You may want to check out this buzzfeed article on Cumberbatch’s Sesame Street appearance which beautifully dissects the clip with a series of fun gifs.