Monday, July 27, 2009

MYSTERY!



Growing up a general nerd, I was, as a child, obsessed with the PBS series MYSTERY! hosted by Vincent Price; I would watch the Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, and Poirot mysteries re-LIG-iously. But what really got me in the mood, really got me excited for a little murder, were the opening credits which were animated by Edward Gorey and had an awesome super-creepy song I loved.


Edward Gorey was a GENIUS. I want to BE all of the people in his drawings.

Um...I think I used to play the theme song on my violin.

So, anyway, lately David and I have been recording what is now called Masterpiece Mystery!. I've only watched a few of the episodes, which are hosted rather well and appropriately by Alan Cumming, and I've been thoroughly enjoying them. Somehow, the other times the DVR had started recording after the opening credits...until today. You can imagine my disappointment when I saw the new credits with only hints of the Gorey animation, inter-cut with lame images of the side of a hardcover book with it's pages flipping, and with totally new, totally boring music!!! WTF?!! Bring back the Gorey! I know he died a while ago, but couldn't they get a student of his to draw Alan Cumming's credit image? And what about a set for Alan? Why can't he have some sort of dungeon somewhere for the opening talk? Or maybe classier/sexier like a dilapidated billiard room or a dark overgrown greenhouse... anything!

So, in honor of the way things used to be on MYSTERY!, here are some Edward Gorey drawings and a bit of the other genius, Vincent Price.







In this video, skip over the credits you just saw and get ready for some classic VP introducing Sherlock Holmes.




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