What Sesame Street sketch is hosted by Cookie Monster as Alistair Cookie?

The Sesame Street sketch hosted by Cookie Monster as Alistair Cookie is Monsterpiece Theater.

The title parodies Masterpiece Theatre, the PBS anthology program. Cookie Monster appears in a smoking jacket and ascot as the cultured but still food-obsessed Alistair Cookie, a playful reference to British broadcaster Alistair Cooke, who hosted Masterpiece Theatre for many years.

Monsterpiece Theater adapted famous books, plays, films, television programs and other cultural works into short Muppet comedies. The segment debuted in 1978 and ran in various forms for decades. Its theme also reworked the familiar Masterpiece Theatre music into a livelier Sesame Street arrangement.

A common mix-up is confusing the segment with Alistair Cookie himself. Alistair Cookie is the host and Cookie Monster’s alter ego; Monsterpiece Theater is the program or sketch he introduces. The similarly named Mysterious Theater was a separate parody hosted by Vincent Twice Vincent Twice.