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Pee-wee's Playhouse#Humans

{{short description|1986 American television series}}

{{For|the stage show|The Pee-wee Herman Show}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Peeweesplayhouse.jpg

| camera = {{plainlist|

  • Film (principal photography)
  • Videotape (post-production)
  • Single-camera

}}

| runtime = 23–24 minutes

| creator = Paul Reubens

| genre = Children's television series
Nonsensical comedy

| executive_producer =

| company = {{plainlist|

  • Pee-wee Pictures (entire run)
  • Broadcast Arts (1986-1987)
  • Binder Entertainment (1987–1989)
  • BRB Productions (1987; season 2 reruns)
  • Grosso-Jacobson Productions (1989–1991)

}}

| presenter = Pee-wee Herman

| starring = {{plainlist|

}}

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer = {{plainlist|

}}

| opentheme = Mark Mothersbaugh

| endtheme = Mark Mothersbaugh

| composer = {{plainlist|

}}

| country = United States

| location = {{plainlist|

  • 480 Broadway,{{cite news|url= https://mashable.com/article/pee-wee-playhouse-anniversary |title= How 'Pee-wee’s Playhouse' became our home away from home 36 years on |last=Adams |first=Jason |date=September 15, 2022|work=Mashable}} New York City (1986-87)
  • Hollywood Center Studios, Los Angeles, California (1987–1989)
  • The Culver Studios, Los Angeles, California (1989–1991)

}}

| language = English

| director = Wayne Orr
John Paragon

| producer = Paul Reubens
Richard Abramson

| network = CBS

| first_aired = {{Start date|1986|9|13}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1990|11|17}}

| num_seasons = 5

| num_episodes = 45 (plus a Christmas special)

| list_episodes = List of Pee-wee's Playhouse episodes

| related = The Pee-wee Herman Show

}}

Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's popular stage show and the TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more adult humor.

In 2004 and 2007, Pee-wee's Playhouse was ranked No. 10 and No. 12 on TV Guide{{'}}s Top Cult Shows Ever, respectively.{{cite web|url=http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?t=4001 |title=TV Guide's 25 Top Cult Shows |website=TannerWorld Junction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104213337/http://forums.tannerworld.com/showthread.php?t=4001 |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |date=May 26, 2004}}{{cite news|url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/top-cult-shows-40239.aspx |title=TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever – Today's News: Our Take |work=TV Guide |date=June 29, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090123004002/https://www.tvguide.com/news/top-cult-shows-40239.aspx |archive-date=January 23, 2009}}{{cite book |chapter=Top 25 Cult Shows Ever|title=The TV Guide Book of Lists |publisher=Running Press |location=Philadelphia |year=2007 |isbn=978-0762430079 |page=170 |url=https://archive.org/details/tvguidebookoflis0000unse/page/170/mode/2up |access-date=4 August 2023}} It was also named to Time{{'}}s list of the 100 Best TV Shows in 2007.

Development

The Pee-wee Herman character was developed by Reubens into a live stage show titled The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1980. It features many characters that would go on to appear in Playhouse, including Captain Carl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne, Pterri the Pterodactyl, and Clocky. While enjoying continuous popularity with the show, Reubens teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985 to make the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. It became one of the year's surprise hits, costing a relatively modest $7 million to make but taking in $40 million at the box office.{{cite news |last1=Nayman |first1=Adam |title=The Man Who Never Grew Up |url=https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/8/6/21356909/pee-wees-big-adventure-paul-reubens |access-date=11 August 2023 |work=The Ringer |date=August 6, 2020}}{{cite web |title=Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Pee-Wees-Big-Adventure |website=The Numbers |access-date=11 August 2023}}

After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal.{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Lloyd |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Pee Wee is back in the limelight|date=July 10, 2006 |access-date=October 11, 2008|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-10-et-peewee-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017070918/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-10-et-peewee-story.html |archive-date=2020-10-17 |url-status=live}} In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Reubens to act, produce, and direct his own live-action Saturday morning children's program, Pee-wee's Playhouse, with a budget of {{US$|325,000}} per episode (comparable to that of a half-hour prime-time sitcom),{{cite news |last=Boyer |first=Peter J. |title=Pee-wee Herman Readies Playhouse|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1986/09/04/323986.html?pageNumber=73 |work=The New York Times |date=September 4, 1986 |page=C22}} and full creative control, although CBS did request a few minor changes over the years.{{cite news |first=Tasha |last=Robinson |url = https://www.avclub.com/paul-reubens-1798209839 |title =Paul Reubens |work=The A.V. Club|date =July 26, 2006 |access-date = October 12, 2008}}

Reubens assembled a supporting troupe that included ex-Groundlings and cast members from The Pee-wee Herman Show, including Phil Hartman, John Paragon, Lynne Marie Stewart, Laurence Fishburne, and S. Epatha Merkerson. Production began in New York City in the summer of 1986 in a converted loft on Broadway, which one of the show's writers, George McGrath, described as a "sweatshop". Reubens moved the production to Los Angeles for season two in 1987, resulting in a new set and a more relaxed work atmosphere.{{cite news |first=Brian M. |last= Raftery |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |title=Pee-Wee's Playhouse turns 20 |page=1 |date= September 1, 2006|access-date=October 6, 2008|url= https://ew.com/article/2006/09/01/pee-wees-playhouse-turns-20/ }}

The creative design of the show was concocted by a troupe of artists including Wayne White, Gary Panter, Craig Bartlett, Nick Park, Richard Goleszowski, Gregory Harrison, Ric Heitzman, and Phil Trumbo. The first day of production, right as Panter began reading the scripts to find out where everything would be situated, set workers hurriedly asked him, "Where's the plans? All the carpenters are standing here ready to build everything." Panter responded, "You just have to give us 15 minutes to design this thing!"{{sfn|Vice|2013|loc=05:22–05:36}} When asked about the styles that went into the set design, Panter said, "This was like the hippie dream .... It was a show made by artists .... We put art history all over the show. It's really like .... I think Mike Kelley said, and it's right, that it's kind of like the Googie style – it's like those LA types of coffee shops and stuff but kind of psychedelic, over-the-top."{{sfn|Vice|2013|loc=06:32-07:04}} Several artistic filmmaking techniques are featured on the program including chroma key, stop-motion animation, and clay animation.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children. Its conception was greatly influenced by shows Reubens had watched as a child, like The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, The Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, and Howdy Doody. The show quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and adults.{{cite news |first=Ruth |last=La Ferla|work=The New York Times|title= The Once and Future Pee-wee|date=May 20, 2007 |access-date=October 6, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/fashion/20peewee.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all }}{{cite magazine |first=David |last=Fear |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=Pee-wee Herman Returns: Paul Reubens on Rescuing 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' |date=October 20, 2014 |access-date=May 14, 2015|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/paul-reubens-on-pee-wees-playhouse-20141020}}{{cite news |magazine=Time |title=Pee-wee's Small Adventure |date=July 13, 2006 |access-date=October 6, 2008|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1213754,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718132944/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1213754,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 18, 2006}} This proved especially important to CBS in the late 1980s when people meters were introduced; the vice president of rival network ABC, which had targeted its cartoons toward preschoolers, observed that ABC "got killed" in the ratings by Pee-Wee's Playhouse because ABC's younger audience could not operate the people meters. In 1988, ABC would shift its programming to shows that would draw both children and adults, helping to begin that network's recovery.{{cite news |date=June 21, 1988 |title=Here's what's coming for the kids this fall |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zuhVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6954%2C4914499 |newspaper=The Register-Guard (Oregon) |page=7A |via=Google News Archive |series=HIGHLIGHTS}}{{cite news |last=Winfrey |first=Lee |date=September 16, 1988 |title=ABC hoping Pooh can pull more than honey out a jar |url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19880916&id=CqgeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6729,251354 |work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |publisher=Knight Ridder |page=A9 |via=Google News Archive}}

Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, sought to make a significantly moral show that would teach children the ethics of reciprocity. Reubens believed that children liked the Playhouse because it was fast-paced, colorful, and "never talked down to them", while parents liked the Playhouse because it reminded them of the past.

Production

At the start of season two, the show moved from its New York City warehouse studio to facilities at the Hollywood Center Studios, creating changes in personnel and a change to the set that allowed the show to take advantage of the additional space.{{sfn|Gaines|2011|loc=[https://archive.org/details/insidepeeweespla0000gain/page/76/mode/1up p. 76]}} The show changed production facilities again in 1989 during its fourth season, this time at the Culver Studios, also in Los Angeles.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Format

The premise of the show is that host Pee-wee Herman plays in the fantastic Playhouse in Puppetland. The house is filled with toys, gadgets, talking furniture, and appliances (such as Magic Screen and Chairry), puppet characters (such as Conky the Robot and Pterri the baby Pteranodon), and Jambi (John Paragon), a disembodied genie's head who lives in a jeweled box. The Playhouse is visited by a regular cast of human characters, including Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), Captain Carl (Phil Hartman), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne), and a group of children called The Playhouse Gang.

Although primarily a live-action comedy, each episode includes segments featuring puppetry, video animation, and prepared sequences using Chroma key and stock footage (for example when Pee-wee jumps into the Magic Screen), as well as inserted clay animation sequences (some made by Aardman Animations, who would later make Wallace & Gromit) and excerpts from cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation and in the public domain, usually presented by the character "The King of Cartoons". Each episode features specially written soundtrack music by rock and pop musicians such as Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Todd Rundgren, Mitchell Froom, and The Residents. The show's theme song performance is credited to "Ellen Shaw", though in her autobiography, Cyndi Lauper admits to being the actual singer.{{cite book |last=Lauper |first=Cyndi |author-link=Cyndi Lauper |title=Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkU8DhNi86YC&pg=PP129 |access-date=July 22, 2012 |year=2012 |publisher=Atria Books |isbn=978-1-4391-4785-6 |page=129}}

The show has many recurring gags, themes, and devices. Each episode usually contained a running gag particular to that episode, or a specific event or dilemma that sends Pee-wee into an emotional frenzy. At the beginning of each episode, viewers are told the day's "secret word" (often issued by Conky the Robot) and are instructed to "scream real loud" every time a character says the word.

CBS and Reubens mutually agreed to end the show at the end of the 1990–91 season after five seasons and 45 episodes.{{cite news|title="Pee-wee's Playhouse" comeback aimed at adults|first=Christopher |last=Short|newspaper=The Gazette|date=July 20, 2006}} The last original episode aired on November 17, 1990. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida, adult movie theater,{{cite news |first= Stone|last=Phillips |work= NBC News|title= Pee-wee Herman creator speaks out|date= April 5, 2004|access-date=October 10, 2008|url= https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4653913}} prompting CBS to immediately stop airing its Playhouse re-runs, which were originally intended to air until September 1991.{{cite news|title=Pee-wee back with bizarre appeal intact|first=Jill |last=Vejnoska|newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=July 10, 2006|page=1D}}{{cite web|url= http://www.rugratonline.com/1991tv.htm |title=What was on TV when Rugrats started |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041213192022/http://www.rugratonline.com/1991tv.htm |archive-date=December 13, 2004}}(Citation incorrectly states that this took place at a local Sarasota, FL bookstore; other points in citation are accurate, though.){{cite news |last1=Sinker |first1=Dan |title=The Magic of Pee-wee Herman in a Dark Year |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/remembering-paul-reubens-pee-wees-playhouse-was-the-best-kids-show |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The Atlantic |date=2021-12-18}} The show was replaced by reruns of The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy.

Soundtracks

The music for the show was provided by a diverse set of musicians, including Mark Mothersbaugh, The Residents, Todd Rundgren, Danny Elfman (who provided the score for both of the Pee-wee movies), Mitchell Froom, Van Dyke Parks, George S. Clinton, and Dweezil Zappa with Scott Thunes (spelled 'Tunis' in the credits).

Mothersbaugh, who later went on to become a fixture in composing music for children's shows like Rugrats, joined the show while on hiatus from recording with Devo.{{cite web|url= https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/devo-mark-mothersbaugh-pee-wees-playhouse-022517979.html |title= Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh on how 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' was his big TV break: 'It totally changed the trajectory of my career' |website=Yahoo! |date=August 3, 2023 |access-date=August 4, 2023}} Said Mothersbaugh in 2006:

{{blockquote|Paul Reubens asked me to do Pee-wee's Playhouse, and I had some time, so I was like, yeah, let's do it. Pee-wee's Playhouse was really chaotic. They'd send me the tape from New York on Tuesday. I'd watch it Tuesday night; Wednesday I'd write the music. Thursday I'd record the music, it'd go out Thursday night to them, they'd have Friday to cut it into the picture, and then Saturday we'd watch it on TV. And it was like really fast, and instead of writing an album once a year I was writing an album's worth of music once a week, and it was really exciting. It was a new experience and it was a different creative process.{{cite web |last1=Voynar |first1=Kim |title=Interview: Mark Mothersbaugh |url=http://blog.moviefone.com/2006/07/07/interview-mark-mothersbaugh/ |website=Moviefone |access-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730231024/http://blog.moviefone.com/2006/07/07/interview-mark-mothersbaugh/ |archive-date=July 30, 2012 |date=July 7, 2006}}}}

The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Les Baxter's "Quiet Village". The theme song, which originally followed the prelude, was performed by Cyndi Lauper (credited as "Ellen Shaw"), imitating Betty Boop. For the final season in 1990, a new version of the prelude theme was recorded, and the opening theme was slightly edited.

Cast and crew

Many now-well-known TV and film actors appeared on the show, including Sandra Bernhard, Laurence Fishburne, Phil Hartman, Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jimmy Smits, and Lynne Stewart.{{cite news |title=Through Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens reminded Gen X to stay true to our immature inner children |url=https://www.salon.com/2023/08/01/pee-wee-herman-paul-reubens/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=Salon.com |date=August 1, 2023}} Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie was a production assistant,{{cite news |last1=Hadusek |first1=John |title=Rob Zombie Reflects on Time He Worked on Pee-wee’s Playhouse |url=https://consequence.net/2023/08/rob-zombie-pee-wees-playhouse/ |access-date=11 August 2023 |work=Consequence |date=August 1, 2023}} and future filmmaker John Singleton was a security guard and production assistant.{{cite news |last1=Sun |first1=Rebecca |title=The Surprising Connection Between 'Pee-wee’s Playhouse' and 'Boyz n the Hood' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/paul-reubens-pee-wees-playhouse-boyz-n-the-hood-connection-1235550889/ |access-date=11 August 2023 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=August 4, 2023}}

The Christmas special episode, "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special", aired between seasons 2 and 3 and included the regular cast, along with appearances by Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Magic Johnson, Dinah Shore, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Little Richard, Cher, Charo, k.d. lang, the Del Rubio triplets, and Grace Jones.{{cite news |last1=VanArendonk |first1=Kathryn |title=Watching Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse Is Like Being in on a Remarkable Prank |url=https://www.vulture.com/2023/08/christmas-at-pee-wees-playhouse-was-a-remarkable-prank.html |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=Vulture |date=August 1, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=McFarland |first1=Melanie |title="Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special": The last great holiday variety show? |url=https://www.salon.com/2016/12/24/pee-wees-playhouse-christmas-special-the-last-great-holiday-variety-show/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=Salon.com |date=December 24, 2016}}

=Humans=

class="wikitable sortable"
width="150px"|Character

!width="225px"|Played by

!Description

align="center"| Pee-wee Herman

| Paul Reubens

| The childlike "host". Pee-wee is portrayed as an impatient and fun-loving man with dainty mannerisms and quirky facial expressions. He is typically cheerful and flamboyant, with occasional childish temper tantrums.

align="center"| Cowboy Curtis

| Laurence Fishburne

| A "cowboy" in the 1950s pop culture sense with a Jheri curl mullet.

align="center"| Captain Carl

| Phil Hartman

| A gritty, unshaven sea captain with a gruff voice, but a somewhat shy demeanor, he shows Pee-wee interesting things from the ocean. His tolerance for Pee-wee's antics is often tested whenever he stopped by. Captain Carl is more adult-oriented in the HBO special and Miss Yvonne appears to have deep feelings for him. The character was dropped after season one.

align="center"| Miss Yvonne

| Lynne Marie Stewart

| A woman obsessed with beauty and cosmetics, who often flirts with Pee-wee and many of the other male characters on the show. Miss Yvonne is given the title "the most beautiful woman in Puppetland" by the puppet characters (especially Mr. Window who would usually introduce her). She wears a large brown bouffant-style wig that she doesn't like getting wet, gaudy dresses, and heels.

align="center"| Reba the Mail Lady

| S. Epatha Merkerson

| A mail carrier who is often confused by the nature of the playhouse.

align="center"| The King of Cartoons

| Gilbert Lewis (first season)
William H. Marshall (subsequent seasons)

| A king who rules Cartoonland who shows a brief cartoon clip during his segment with his catch phrase "Let the cartoon begin!" In the first season, the King of Cartoons would show the cartoon on his projector. In the second season, he would show the cartoon on Pee-wee's television which he got Pee-wee as a housewarming gift following the remodeling of the Playhouse.

align="center"| Tito

| Roland Rodriguez

| The playhouse lifeguard, he usually enters the house during a group activity. The character was dropped after season one.

align="center"| Ricardo

| Vic Trevino

| A soccer star with an apparent medical background.

align="center"| Mrs. Steve

| Shirley Stoler

| A frequent visitor to the playhouse during the first season, she enjoyed eating and "snooping around" when Pee-wee was not seen. The character was dropped after season one.

align="center"| Mrs. Rene

| Suzanne Kent

| A Jewish neighbor of Pee-wee's who served as a replacement for Mrs. Steve after the first season. She is the polar opposite of Mrs. Steve, being much more tolerant and fun-loving.

align="center"| Dixie

| Johann Carlo

| A no-nonsense taxi driver, she introduces the King of Cartoons in the first season by playing her trumpet. The character was dropped after season one and the King's introduction is done by the three flowers.

align="center"| The Playhouse Gang (first version)

| Opal: Natasha Lyonne
Elvis: Shaun Weiss
Cher: Diane Yang

| Three children who interact with Pee-wee during the first season and resembled hippies.

align="center"| The Playhouse Gang (second version)

| Fabian: Vaughn Tyree Jelks
Li'l Punkin: Alisan Porter
Rapunzel: Stephanie Walski

| A second group of three children who interact with Pee-wee in two episodes of the second season.

align="center"| Roosevelt

| An unnamed dog actor

| Pee-wee's dog. Pee-wee can understand what he says. One of its trainers was Paul's real-life younger brother Luke Rubenfeld.

=Puppet and object characters=

class="wikitable sortable"
width="150px"|Character

!width="225px"|Voiced and puppeteered by where applicable

!Description

align="center"| Jambi

| John Paragon

| A blue-faced (later green) genie who lives as a disembodied head in a jeweled box, he usually appears once per show to grant Pee-wee a wish, often with unexpected results. To power his magic, he makes the group and audience chant "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho."

align="center"| Chairry

| Alison Mork

| A bluish-green armchair with eyes on the chair back, a mouth between the seat cushions, and armrests that flap around, she occasionally hugs Pee-wee when he sits on her.

align="center"| Magic Screen

| Alison Mork

| A screen on wheels that slightly resembles an Etch-A-Sketch, she shows films and Pee-wee would frequently jump into the screen to interact with a fantasy land inside that would also include Pee-wee connecting the dots there.

align="center"| Pterri

| John Paragon (seasons 1, 3–5)
George McGrath (season 2)

| A green pteranodon and one of Pee-wee's closest friends, he usually acts like a sensitive young child.

align="center"| Mr. Window

| Ric Heitzman

| The window to the left of the playhouse door when inside the playhouse, he has googly eyes and talks by moving his yellow window pane up and down. His role on the show is to introduce other characters.

align="center"| Clockey

| Kevin Carlson

| A yellow and red clock shaped like a map of the United States, he often introduces cartoons.

align="center"| Conky 2000

| Gregory Harrison (season 1);{{cite web | url=http://gregharrison.net/pee-wees-playhouse/ | title=Pee Wee's Playhouse |website=gregharrison.net}}
Kevin Carlson (subsequent seasons)

| The playhouse robot who gives Pee-wee the "secret word" each week and serves as a computer element. He spoke with a stutter, and is made from various parts of old electronics, including old camera attachments for eyes, a boombox for a chest, a phonograph for a torso, and a cash register for the head.

align="center"| Globey

| George McGrath

| A spinning globe with a pair of arms at the base and a large face in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Globey speaks with a French accent and often helps Pee-wee out with geography, language, astronomy, or history questions.

align="center"| Puppet Band

| Dirty Dog: Wayne White
Cool Cat: Ric Heitzman
Chicky Baby: Alison Mork

| Three animal puppets who comprise a 1950s-style jazz combo and live in a corridor of the Playhouse resembling a street alley. It consists of Dirty Dog on guitar, Cool Cat on bongos, and Chicky Baby on vocals. They normally speak in rhyme, parodying Beat generation poetry.

align="center"| Mr. Kite

| Wayne White

| A pink kite, he occasionally appears in one of the playhouse windows for weather advisories and occasional visitor announcements.

align="center"| Randy

| Wayne White

| The main antagonist. A red-headed marionette who serves as the playhouse bully, usually making life miserable for everyone. Sometimes, Pee-wee would have to set him straight as seen when Randy tried cigarettes and once tried to take over the show while Pee-wee was out getting groceries.

align="center"| Billy Baloney

| Paul Reubens

| A ventriloquist dummy, he slightly resembles Randy in appearance (but blonde) which Pee-wee himself operates on occasion.

align="center"| Dog Chair

|George McGrath

| A white chaise longue, which is similar to Chairry but resembling the face of a dog.

align="center"| The Ants

| Miscellaneous

| Occasionally, Pee-wee would check on his formicarium; a short close-up animated sequence shows the ants engaged in some human activity.

align="center"| The Dinosaur Family

| Red Dinosaur: George McGrath
Light Blue Dinosaur: Alison Mork
Blue Dinosaur: Ric Heitzman
Pink Dinosaur: Kevin Carlson

| A den of miniature clay-animation anthropomorphic dinosaurs, they live in a mouse hole in the playhouse. The Red Dinosaur resembles an anthropomorphic Triceratops, the Light Blue Dinosaur resembles a Styracosaurus, and the Blue and Pink Dinosaurs have Pteranodon-like heads.

align="center"| Food

| Miscellaneous

| The contents of Pee-wee's refrigerator, these clay-animation food items dance and juggle. One episode had them assisting Ricardo in telling Pee-wee and the viewers about the different food groups. In two episodes, they have been shown watching something in their movie theater when Pee-wee looks for something inside the refrigerator which often causes a mustached egg roll to turn around and quote "Hey, what are you doing"?! The other foods then starts to clamor at him as Pee-wee obtains the item and shuts the door.

align="center"| Three Flowers

| Ric Heitzman
George McGrath
Wayne White
Alison Mork

| These three flowers live in a flowerbed in a window on the right side of the playhouse door. After Dixie was retired from the show after season 1, they took over the King of Cartoons’s introduction for the rest of the series.

align="center"| Fish

| George McGrath did the voices for both fish, when they laughed in unison, Alison Mork provided the additional fish laugh.

| Two fish who live in the playhouse aquarium.

align="center"| Penny

| Anna Seidman, others

| A clay animation short featuring a blonde girl with pennies for eyes, who described some situations in her life and daily activities.

Note: Penny was created by Nick Park, the creator of Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit.

align="center"| Knucklehead

| Gregory Harrison (season 1)
Kevin Carlson (season 2)

| A large image of a side view of a hand fist, with "googly eyes" and lipstick who tells bad knock-knock jokes.

align="center"| Cowntess

| George McGrath

| A life-sized, talking Holstein cattle that speaks in an elegant accent.

align="center"| Salesman

| Ric Heitzman

| A full-bodied cartoonish salesman, dressed in the same tacky suit as Pee-wee’s, he rings the doorbell and exclaims "I'm going door-to-door to make you this incredible offer!" A horror music would play during this time as Pee-wee would frantically shut the door quoting "salesman" in a mortifying voice. In the salesman's final appearance in the episode "Party", Pee-wee actually asked him what the incredible offer was and got free foil from him which Pee-wee used to add to his foil ball.

align="center"| Floory

| Kevin Carlson

| A section of the playhouse floor that stands up and talks. He was discovered by Pee-wee and his friends following the playhouse remodeling in season two. To continue interacting with Floory, Pee-wee moved the teepee that originally covered him to another spot in the playhouse.

align="center"| Chandelier

| Alison Mork

| A talking chandelier who has a French accent.

align="center"| Magic Glasses

| Wayne White

| A pair of glasses attached to a hat that has a monkey's head and arms on them. Pee-wee puts them on him and sees various things through them. While the Magic Glasses often says "Put me on Pee-wee", it has occasionally said other things as seen in "Party" when it suggested that Pee-wee invites Reba to his party.

align="center"| Exercise Belt

| Ric Hetizman

| A vintage vibrating belt machine.

align="center"| Toys

| Miscellaneous

| These are Pee-wee's strange toys he keeps in a smiley face-shaped window, with movable shelves inside. By season 2, the toys were moved to another part of the Playhouse during the remodeling and Clocky was put in their original place. They remained to be unseen until the Christmas special.

align="center"| El Hombre

| Tito Larriva

| A Spanish-language cartoon about a superhero who stops crime, thwarts strangers, saves people's lives and rights any other wrongs. Six different clay animation shorts are featured on this show.

Reception

= Critical reception =

As soon as it first aired, Pee-wee's Playhouse fascinated media theorists and commentators, many of whom championed the show as a postmodernist hodgepodge of characters and situations that appeared to thumb its nose at the racist and sexist presumptions of dominant culture.{{Cite news|title=Pee-wee's Bad Trip|work=The Nation|date=August 26, 1991|page=213}}{{cite news|title=Who killed Pee-wee?|work=Rolling Stone|first=Peter|last=Wilkinson|date=October 3, 1991|page=36|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/who-killed-pee-wee-241094/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230804133445/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/who-killed-pee-wee-241094/ |archive-date=August 4, 2023}} For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and not, were of diverse cultural and racial origins.{{cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Jonah |title=Pee-wee’s Big Comeback |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/14/magazine/pee-wees-big-comeback.html |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The New York Times Magazine |date=2016-02-10}} In a review of the first season for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor called it "undoubtedly this season's most imaginative and disarming new series".{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J. |title=TV VIEW; Gentle Lunacy Rules 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/05/arts/tv-view-gentle-lunacy-rules-pee-wee-s-playhouse.html |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=1986-10-05}} O'Connor lauded the show's mixed-media format and commented that the Saturday morning kids' programming of "low-cost, dreary and occasionally questionable cartoons will never be the same" after Pee-wee. Of Pee-wee, O'Connor said, "He whips up a tightly contained world in which anything is possible as long as it doesn't hurt anyone", and "He's sweetly looney and unpredictable, gentle yet always tip-toeing on the edge of devastating absurdity. He is a one-man force battling the plague of boredom that has settled on Saturday-morning programming for children." The show's subversiveness and its "apparent outbreak of playful queerness during the politically reactionary Reagan-Bush/Moral Majority years was a key factor of many adults' enjoyment of the show".{{cite web |last1=Benshoff |first1=Harry M. |title=Pee-wee's Playhouse |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/pee-wees-playhouse |website=Television Academy |access-date=4 August 2023}} Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan hailed the show's "awesome production values", adding, "with the possible exception of the Muppets, you can't find such creativity anywhere on TV."{{cite magazine | first=Bob | last=Keeshan | title=This Old 'Playhouse' | date=November 22, 1996 | url= https://ew.com/article/1996/11/22/video-review-pee-wees-playhouse/ | magazine =Entertainment Weekly |access-date = January 29, 2010 | url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070601021259/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,295123,00.html |archive-date=June 1, 2007}}

"I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different — not that it's good, not that it's bad, but that it's all right. I'm trying to tell kids to have a good time and to encourage them to be creative and to question things," Reubens told an interviewer in Rolling Stone.{{cite news |last=Gertler |first=T. |date=February 12, 1987 |title=The Pee-Wee Perplex: Welcome to Paul Reubens’ 'Playhouse' |page=36 |work=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/the-pee-wee-perplex-welcome-to-paul-reubens-playhouse-110867/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810142355/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/the-pee-wee-perplex-welcome-to-paul-reubens-playhouse-110867/ |archive-date=August 10, 2022}}

In 2007, Pee-wee's Playhouse was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 Best TV Shows.{{cite news |title=Pee Wee’s Playhouse |url=https://time.com/collection-post/3103698/pee-wees-playhouse/ |work=Time |access-date=4 August 2023 |date=September 6, 2007}}

On November 1, 2011, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the show, a book by Caseen Gaines called Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon, was released by ECW Press.{{sfn|Gaines|2011}}

In the wake of Reubens' death from cancer in 2023, John Jurgensen of The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Pee-wee Herman wasn't originally meant for kids. So when Paul Reubens did make a Saturday-morning TV show for them, his signature character came in a package shaped by underground art, punk rock and improv comedy.⁠ As MTV was to cable and The Simpsons would soon be to prime-time, Pee-wee's Playhouse was a disrupter of the TV domain for kids. The show's psychedelic absurdism also attracted an audience of teens, college students and savvy parents of the show's target viewers. With his wild remix of the kids' shows that he grew up with as a baby boomer, Reubens put a stamp on Generation X.⁠"{{cite news |last1=Jurgensen |first1=John |title=‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse’ Was Always More Than a Kids’ Show |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pee-wees-playhouse-paul-reubens-db31b350 |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=August 2, 2023}}

= Awards and nominations =

  • 14th Daytime Emmy Awards – 1987{{cite news |title=Pee-wee and CBS Prevail with Emmys |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-30-ca-1349-story.html |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 30, 1987}}
  • Outstanding Makeup – Sharon Ilson (won)
  • Outstanding Hairstyling – Sally Hershberger and Eric Gregg (won)
  • Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design – Gary Panter, Sydney J. Bartholomew Jr., Nancy Deren, Wayne White, and Ric Heitzman (won)
  • Outstanding Film Sound Mixing – Rolf Pardula and Ken Hahn
  • Outstanding Videotape Editing – Paul Dougherty, Doug Jines, Joe Castellano, Les Kaye, and Howard Silver
  • Outstanding Graphics and Title Design – Prudence Fenton and Phil Trumbo (won)
  • 15th Daytime Emmy Awards – 1988{{cite news |last1=Kishi |first1=Russell |date=May 12, 1988 |title=CBS dominates daytime Emmy nominations |work=UPI |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/05/12/CBS-dominates-daytime-Emmy-nominations/2275579412800/ |access-date=4 August 2023}}
  • Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design – Gary Panter, Wayne White, Ric Heitzman, Jeremy Railton, James Higginson, and Paul Reubens (won)
  • Outstanding Makeup – Ve Neill (won)
  • Outstanding Videotape Editing – John Ward Nielson for "Playhouse in Outer Space"
  • 16th Daytime Emmy Awards – 1989{{cite news |title=1989 Daytime Emmy winners in non-televised categories |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/25/1989-Daytime-Emmy-winners-in-non-televised-categories/8417614750400/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=UPI |date=June 25, 1989}}
  • Outstanding Hairstyling – Yolanda Toussieng Jerry Masone for "To Tell The Tooth" (won, tied with The Oprah Winfrey Show)
  • Outstanding Videotape Editing – Charles Randazzo, Peter W. Moyer, David Pincus, and Steve Purcell for "To Tell The Tooth" (won)
  • Outstanding Film Sound Editing – Steve Kirklys, Steve Michael, Peter Cole, Ken Dahlinger, Greg Teall, and John Walker for "To Tell The Tooth" (won, tied with Muppet Babies)
  • 18th Daytime Emmy Awards – 1991{{cite news |title=CBS big winner in technical Daytime Emmys |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/23/CBS-big-winner-in-technical-Daytime-Emmys/9895677649600/ |access-date=4 August 2023 |work=UPI |date=June 23, 1991}}
  • Outstanding Graphics and Title Design – Paul Reubens, Prudence Fenton, and Dorne Huebler (won)
  • Outstanding Film Sound Editing – Peter Cole, Chris Trent, Glenn A. Jordan, Steve Kirklys, Ken Dahlinger, and John Walker (won)
  • Outstanding Film Sound Mixing – Bo Harwood, Peter Cole, Chris Trent, and Troy Smith (won)

Episodes

{{Main|List of Pee-wee's Playhouse episodes}}

{{:List of Pee-wee's Playhouse episodes}}

= Home media =

== Hi-Tops Video releases ==

  • Vol. 1: "Ice Cream Soup"
  • Vol. 2: "Luau for Two"
  • Vol. 3: "Rainy Day" / "Now You See Me, Now You Don't" / "Cowboy Fun (Just Another Day)"
  • Vol. 4: "Beauty Makeover"
  • Vol. 5: "Restaurant"
  • Vol. 6: "Ants in Your Pants"
  • Vol. 7: "Monster in the Playhouse"
  • Festival of Fun: "The Gang's All Here" / "Stolen Apples" / "Party" / "The Cowboy and the Cowntess" / "Monster in the Playhouse"
  • Vol. 8: "Open House"
  • Vol. 9: "Puppy in the Playhouse"
  • Vol. 10: "Pajama Party"
  • Vol. 11: "Pee-wee's Store"
  • Vol. 12: "Pee-wee Catches a Cold"
  • Vol. 13: "Tons of Fun"
  • "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special"
  • Vol. 14: "School"
  • Vol. 15: "Why Wasn't I Invited?"

== Hi-Tops Video LaserDisc releases ==

  • Fun-o-Rama: "Ice Cream Soup" / "Luau for Two" / "Rainy Day" / "Now You See Me, Now You Don't"
  • Potpourri: "Just Another Day" / "Beauty Makeover" / "The Restaurant" / "Ants in Your Pants"
  • "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special" (also released by MGM/UA Home Video in 1996)

== MGM/UA Home Video releases ==

  • Vol. 1: "Open House" / "Pee-wee Catches a Cold"
  • Vol. 2: "I Remember Curtis" / "Conky's Breakdown"
  • Vol. 3: "Store" / "Playhouse in Outer Space"
  • Vol. 4: "Pajama Party" / "To Tell the Tooth"
  • Vol. 5: "The Gang's All Here" / "Party"
  • Vol. 6: "Luau for Two" / "Now You See Me, Now You Don't"
  • Vol. 7: "Fire in the Playhouse" / "Love That Story"
  • Vol. 8: "Sick? Did Somebody Say Sick?" / "Miss Yvonne's Visit"
  • "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special"
  • Vol. 9: "Dr. Pee-wee and the Del Rubios" / "Rebarella"
  • Vol. 10: "Let's Play Office" / "Mystery"
  • Vol. 11: "Front Page Pee-wee" / "Tango Time"
  • Vol. 12: "Playhouse Day" / "Accidental Playhouse"
  • Vol. 13: "Ice Cream Soup" / "Puppy in the Playhouse"
  • Vol. 14: "The Cowboy and the Cowntess" / "Reba Eats and Pterri Runs"
  • Vol. 15: "Tons of Fun" / "School"
  • Vol. 16: "Why Wasn't I Invited?" / "Ants in Your Pants"

=DVD and Blu-Ray=

Image Entertainment first released all 45 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse on DVD in 2004. The DVDs were marketed as containing "8 Lost shows" (meaning episodes that hadn't been released on video before). However, "Stolen Apples" had been first released on VHS from Hi-Tops Video in 1988 on the "Festival of Fun" tape.

On July 3, 2013, Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired the rights to the entire series from Paul Reubens, which was released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 21, 2014, the release went out of print several years later. Shout! Factory reissued the complete series Blu-ray on August 27th 2024. In addition, the entire series was digitally reconstructed from the original 16 mm film elements and original audio tracks, with some special effects recreated digitally.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7E0m86WnMU |title=Pee-Wee's Playhouse: Standard vs. High Def Comparisons (Season One) |date=2023-08-09 |last=Santiago Hunson |access-date=2024-06-06 |via=YouTube}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-Christmas-Special/18655|title=Pee-wee's Playhouse DVD news: Re-Release for Pee-wee's Playhouse – Christmas Special |website=TVShowsOnDVD.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112181950/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-Christmas-Special/18655|archive-date=November 12, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-DVDs-BDs-Planned/18735|title=Pee-wee's Playhouse DVD news: DVD and Blu-ray Plans for Pee-wee's Playhouse |website=TVShowsOnDVD.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022045803/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-DVDs-BDs-Planned/18735|archive-date=October 22, 2013}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shout-factory-pee-wee-playhouse-588490|title=Shout! Factory Nabs 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' Distribution Rights|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=July 18, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-Blu-rays-Planned/18763|title=Pee-wee's Playhouse DVD news: Press Release about Pee-wee's Playhouse on Blu-ray Disc |website=TVShowsOnDVD.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104145212/http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pee-wees-Playhouse-Blu-rays-Planned/18763|archive-date=November 4, 2013}} The restored episodes have also been made available on streaming platforms in May 2024.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti5tutAnXeM |title=Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series {{!}} NOW STREAMING |date=2024-05-09 |last=Shout! Studios |access-date=2024-06-06 |via=YouTube}}

class="wikitable"
DVD name

! Ep #

! Release Date

! Notes

Pee-wee's Playhouse #1

| align="center"|23

| November 16, 2004

| Includes all episodes from Seasons 1 and 2

Pee-wee's Playhouse #2

| align="center"|22

| November 16, 2004

| Includes all episodes from Seasons 3 to 5

Pee Wee's Playhouse: Christmas Special

| align="center"|1

| October 19, 2004

Pee Wee's Playhouse: The Complete Collection

| align="center"|45 + 1

| October 19, 2010

| Includes all episodes from Seasons 1 to 5 plus the Christmas Special

Pee-wee's Playhouse: Seasons 1 and 2 (Special Edition)

| align="center"|23

| October 21, 2014

| Includes all episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 (Remastered)

Pee-wee's Playhouse: Seasons 3 to 5 (Special Edition)

| align="center"|23

| March 10, 2015

| Includes all episodes from Seasons 3 to 5 plus the Christmas Special (Remastered)

class="wikitable"
Blu-ray name

! Ep #

! Release Date

! Notes

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series

| align="center"|45 + Special

| October 21, 2014

August 27th 2024 (reissue)

| Includes all 45 episodes plus the Christmas Special (Remastered)

References

{{Reflist}}

=Bibliography=

  • {{cite book|title=Inside Pee-Wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon|first=Caseen|last=Gaines|date=November 1, 2011|location=Toronto|publisher=ECW Press|isbn = 978-1-55022-998-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/insidepeeweespla0000gain/mode/2up |access-date=August 11, 2023}}
  • {{cite AV media|title=Meet World-Renowned Illustrator Gary Panter |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ir8t7PjuGw |date=April 16, 2013 |publisher=Vice Media |access-date=August 11, 2023 |ref={{harvid|Vice|2013}}}}

External links

{{wikiquote|Pee-wee's Playhouse}}

  • [http://www.peewee.com/ Official site for Pee-wee Herman]
  • {{IMDb title|id=0090500|title=Pee-wee's Playhouse}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20051106040734/http://www.progressiveboink.com/archive/peewee25.htm "The 25 Best Pee-wee's Playhouse Moments"] at ProgressiveBoink.com

{{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming}}

{{Pee-wee Herman}}

{{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s}}

{{Children's programming on CBS in the 1990s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pee-wee's Playhouse}}

Category:Pee-wee's Playhouse

Category:1986 American television series debuts

Category:1990 American television series endings

Category:1980s American children's comedy television series

Category:1990s American children's comedy television series

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:American television series with live action and animation

Category:American television shows featuring puppetry

Category:CBS original programming

Category:Television shows about genies

Category:Television shows about talking objects

Category:Television shows scored by Danny Elfman

Category:Television shows scored by Mark Mothersbaugh

Category:Pee-wee Herman