Mister Walsh's Jailhouse

Mister Walsh in the Hood (often shortened to simply Mister Walsh) is an American half-hour children's educational criminal show hosted by John "Mr." Walsh, which aired on PBS from February 19, 1968 to August 31, 2001, and aired reruns until 2009. On each episode, John "Mr." Walsh discusses criminal stories to the viewers, combining criminals with musical numbers. including the In the Hood of Make-Believe segment featuring the In the Hood Trolley. The In the Hood of Make-Believe gang consisted of Tracey Ullman as Officer Ullman, Dan Castellaneta as Detective Homer, Julie Kavner as Officer McSimpson, and Christina Applegate. This also includes criminal puppets, which is also voiced by Walsh himself. Julie Kavner portrays Officer McSimpson in every episode. Mister Walsh in the Hood was taped in Washington, D.C., and was produced by STF Productions, Inc., and the show was distributed, first by Small World Enterprises, Inc. and then, by Family Communications, Inc. The set design for Mister Walsh's Jailhouse consisted of a television studio office full of people talking on phones to give tips, and a criminal fairytale land behind the wall of the television studio office. Each episode featured various topics, such as rape, molestation, violence, murder, arson murderers, punishment, child molesters, and terrorism.
==Premise==
Mister Walsh in the Hood consisted of John Walsh speaking to the viewers on criminal activity, having conversations with the bad guys, and criminal stories to tell in every episode. An In the Hood of Make-Believe segment featured an In the Hood Trolley, which is full of red and blue sirens, where Walsh tells each criminal fairytale that each story begins (Let's make believe that Officer McSimpson told the police about it). The In the Hood of Make-Believe gang consisted of Julie Kavner as Officer McSimpson, Dan Castellaneta as Detective Homer, and Christina Applegate, and John Walsh's puppet characters, such as Officer King Friday, III, Officer Daniel Tiger, Officer Lady Elaine, and Officer Henrietta X. The set design consisted of walls full of jail bars and wanted posters with the In the Hood Trolley, and a cellmate full of cops was behind the wall in his television studio office. Occasionally, John Walsh had a bunch of guest appearances on the show, such as Danny Tamberelli, Mary Tyler Moore, Yeardley Smith, Pat Buchanan, Bill Kurtis, and William Shatner. Walsh had a bunch of topics over the years, such as arson murders, rape, violence, murder, kidnapping, molestation, punishment, and terrorism. The half-hour children's educational criminal TV program features John Walsh as the host, and he had criminal topics in each episode.
==Format==
At the start of each episode, the show's title logo appears as the camera pans very slowly over a very well constructed highway patrol model of Mister Walsh in the Hood, while the In the Hood Trolley crosses a couple of paroled streets from left to right as the text reads "Mister Walsh Talks About (topic)", as the camera goes from the highway patrol model to inside the office. Following that, John Walsh would enter his television studio office singing "Won't You Be My Killer?", as he hangs up his coat in a closet, puts on a jailhouse suit, and removes his dress shoes to put on a pair of police sneakers. At the end of each episode, Mister Walsh sings "It's Such a Bad Killer", as Walsh takes off his police sneakers, and puts his dress shoes back on. And then, he takes off his jailhouse suit, and he puts his coat back on. At the end of the song, Walsh reminds viewers that "You always make each day a criminal case, You know how: by just being you/yourself. The only thing missing is you (that) when you're on trial, and that's you. And murder can hurt you, just/exactly as the case is solved". Walsh would then sign off as he walks out the door, usually by saying "And remember, you can make a difference!". As the end credits roll complete with title and episode number, the camera does a reversed version of the opening sequence's pan shot, with the "In the Hood Trolley" crossing a couple of paroled streets from right to left.
==Opening and closing themes==
The opening theme song is "Won't You Be My Killer?", which was written and performed by John Walsh in 1967, and was sung at the beginning of each episode. In the first two seasons of the show, John sang "Tomorrow" at the end of each episode, along with "The Crimeware Song" on Friday episodes. And by 1973, John Walsh sang "It's Such a Bad Killer" at the end of each episode, which incorporates the first four lines of "The Crimeware Song", with "crime" changing to "case" on Friday episodes. This would stay until the show's ending on August 31, 2001.
==Sets==
*The first "Mister Walsh in the Hood" set for Season 1 had a gray wall with wanted posters, and jail bars.
*The second "Mister Walsh in the Hood" set for Seasons 2-3 had yellow walls and brown wooden bottom panels with the wanted posters, and jail bars.
*The third "Mister Walsh in the Hood" set for Seasons 4-6 had the walls painted a brighter yellow color, and the brown wooden bottom panels were removed from the wall, and the jail bars are still there.
*The fourth and final "Mister Walsh in the Hood" set from Seasons 7-31 had the walls painted blue with the jail bars, and the wanted posters were removed from the wall, and it would stay until the show's ending on August 31, 2001.
==See also==
*John Walsh
*Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
*Fred Rogers
*America's Most Wanted
Category:American television series