Pee-wee's Playhouse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse title card.
Format	Children's television series
Created by	Paul Reubens
Starring	Paul Reubens Laurence Fishburne Lynne Marie Stewart Phil Hartman S. Epatha Merkerson John Paragon
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English and Spanish
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	45 (List of episodes)
Production
Location(s)	New York City (later relocated to Los Angeles)
Running time	ca. 23 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	NTSC (480i)
Audio format	Mono
Original run	September 13, 1986 – November 10, 1990
Chronology
Related shows	The Pee-wee Herman Show Pee-wee's Big Adventure Big Top Pee-wee Christmas Special
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Pee-wee's Playhouse was a children's television program starring Pee-wee Herman. The playhouse is styled as a wacky, off-beat interior, wherein many objects are anthropomorphic.

Contents 1 Character creation and show creation 2 The art of the playhouse 3 Cast and crew 3.1 Human characters 3.2 Puppet and object characters 4 Cameos 5 Recurring gags, themes, and devices 6 One-time gags 7 Critical praise 8 Episode guide 9 Changes to the show 10 References and homages on other shows 11 Golden Age cartoons 12 Later airings and home video releases 13 DVD Releases 14 References 15 External links

[edit] Character creation and show creation

The Pee-wee Herman character was created by Paul Reubens and was an almost exact copy in clothing and persona of 1950s children's TV show host Pinky Lee. David Letterman said of the character, "What makes me laugh...is that it has the external structure of a bratty little precocious kid, but you know it's being controlled by the incubus -- the manifestation of evil itself."^[1] Pee-wee first appeared as a cameo character in a revue that was staged while Reubens was a member of the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe The Groundlings. The character first appeared on film in Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. Reubens then developed a live stage show starring Pee-wee entitled The Pee-wee Herman Show, which featured many characters that would go on to appear in Playhouse, including Captain Carl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne, Pterri the Pterodactyl and Clocky. When it became successful, he sold it to HBO in 1981, where it was filmed as an adult comedy special.

He teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985, and they made the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. It became one of the year's surprise hits. It was hugely profitable—costing a relatively modest $6 million to make, but taking in $45 million at the box office.

Thanks to the movie's runaway success, in 1986 CBS offered Reubens a Saturday morning TV timeslot, total creative control and a huge budget of $325,000 per-episode (a figure usually reserved for prime-time sitcoms). The result was a children's show, combining live action, video effects, animation, puppetry, and vintage cartoons.

The first season was filmed in a New York City warehouse, which led to some bitterness from the actors, due to its severe hot temperatures. Its unpleasant atmosphere eventually took its toll on the once good relationship of Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, resulting in a huge fight between the two of them. After that, they never spoke to each other again.

CBS and Reubens mutually agreed to end the show in 1991 after 5 seasons and 45 episodes.^[2] In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for allegedly exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida, adult movie theater, causing CBS to immediately stop airing Playhouse re-runs.^[3]

[edit] The art of the playhouse

The creative design of the show was concocted by a slew of artists including Gary Panter (the art director), Craig Bartlett, Richard Goleszowski, Greg Harrison, Ric Heitzman, Phil Trumbo, and Wayne White. Several filmmaking styles and techniques were featured on the program including chroma key, stop-motion animation, and claymation (designed by Aardman Animations).

[edit] Cast and crew

Many now-well-known TV and film actors appeared on the show, including Sandra Bernhard, Laurence Fishburne, Phil Hartman, Steve James, Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jimmy Smits, and Lynne Stewart. Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie was also a production assistant.

The music for the show was provided by artists including Mark Mothersbaugh, The Residents, Todd Rundgren, Danny Elfman, Mitchell Froom, Van Dyke Parks, George Clinton, and Dweezil Zappa.

The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Martin Denny's "Quiet Village." The theme song, which originally followed the prelude, was performed by Cyndi Lauper (credited as Ellen Shaw).

[edit] Human characters

Character	Played by	Description
Cowboy Curtis	Laurence Fishburne	A "cowboy" in the 1950's pop culture sense. He also has his hair in a jheri curl mullet.
Captain Carl (first season)	Phil Hartman	A gritty, unshaven sea captain with a gruff voice, but a somewhat shy demeanor. He came by the playhouse to show him interesting things from the ocean. His tolerance for Pee-wee's antics was often tested whenever he stopped by. Was more adult-oriented in the HBO special and Miss Yvonne appeared to have deep feelings for him.
Miss Yvonne	Lynne Marie Stewart	A woman obsessed with beauty and cosmetics, who often flirted with Pee-wee and many of the other male characters on the show. She was given the title "the most beautiful woman in Puppetland" by the puppet characters (especially Mr. Window, who would usually introduce her). Yvonne wore a large brown wig, gaudy dresses and heels, and her appearance was always accompanied by some sort of theme music. She, like Ricardo, also has a medical background, as evidenced by her nurse get-up and actions in "Pee-wee Catches a Cold". Unlike many regulars, Yvonne appeared in almost every Playhouse episode, and in a few episodes, she even danced with Pee-wee herself.
Reba the Mail Lady	S. Epatha Merkerson	A mail carrier who was often confused with the playhouse rules. At one point in the series, she had a boyfriend named Derek (who was played by martial arts movie actor, Steve James). She also had a pet dog which Pee-wee recovered when she lost him.
The King of Cartoons	Gilbert Lewis (first season); William H. Marshall (subsequent seasons)	He showed a brief cartoon during his segment. His catch phrase was "Let the cartoon begin!" The original King of Cartoons used a film projector to show the cartoons (which he would aim at the lens of the camera shooting the actual show). On later seasons, the King would turn on a television set with a remote control.
Tito (first season only)	Roland Rodriguez	The Latino playhouse lifeguard. He usually came into the house during snack time or during a gathering.
Ricardo	Vic Trevino	A Latino soccer player with an apparent medical background. He replaced Tito after the first season.
Mrs. Steve (first season only; mentioned in an episode of a later season)	Shirley Stoler	A frequent visitor to the playhouse during the first season. Enjoyed eating and "snooping around" when Pee-wee wasn't seen.
Mrs. Renee	Suzanne Kent	A neighbor of Pee-wee's, who replaced Mrs. Steve after the first season.
Dixie (first season)	Johann Carlo	A taxi driver who introduced the King of Cartoons in the first season by playing her trumpet (frequently referring to him as "King Cartoon").
The Playhouse Gang (first season)	Natasha Lyonne (Opal); Shaun Weiss (Elvis); Diane Yang (Cher)	Three children who interacted with Pee-wee during the first season. They were replaced by three other children for the subsequent second season.
The Playhouse Gang (second season)	Vaughn Tyree Jelks (Fabian); Alisan Porter (Li'l Punkin); Stephanie Walski (Rapunzel)	Three children who interacted with Pee-wee, but only in two episodes of the second season. Their only notable personality trait is that Li'l Punkin never spoke, instead whispering in Pee-wee's or other characters' ears. She spoke occasionally, but only in unison with the other two, and once she sang a song.

[edit] Puppet and object characters

Character	Voiced by	Description
Jambi	John Paragon	A blue-faced (later green) genie who lived in a jeweled box. Usually appeared once per show to grant Pee-wee a wish, often with unexpected results. Sometimes he appeared more than once per show or not at all. His catchphrases included "Wish? Did somebody say 'Wish'?", and the magic words "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho" (which grew more complicated as the show progressed).
Chairry	Alison Mork	A bluish-green armchair with eyes on the chair back, a mouth between the seat cushions, and armrests that flapped around and occasionally hugged Pee-wee when he sat on her.
Magic Screen	Alison Mork	A screen on rolls that slightly resembled an Etch-A-Sketch, it flashed in an array of colors when not in use; it also showed films, and Pee-wee would frequently jump into the screen itself to interact with a fantasy land inside, usually to "connect the dots" (see below). Magic Screen once mentioned having a relative, Movie Screen. In the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, Magic Johnson stated that he and Magic Screen were cousins. Magic Screen is addressed as "she" and "her" in the puppeteers' commentary indicating that Magic Screen is actually female.
Pterri	John Paragon (Seasons 1, 3 — 5); George McGrath (Season 2)	A green pterodactyl and one of Pee-wee's closest friends; he usually acted like a young child. Pterri was afraid of thunderstorms and was very sensitive. He was often picked on by Randy, and sometimes hung out with Globey. In the HBO special, The Pee-wee Herman Show, he worked for Captain Carl as a sort of "talking parrot" element.
Mr. Window	Ric Heitzman	The window to the left of the playhouse door when inside the playhouse; he had googly eyes and talked by moving his yellow window pane up and down. His role on the show was to introduce other characters (usually Miss Yvonne), and occasionally serve as a means for Pterri to enter and exit the playhouse (though Mr Window would only open up his "mouth" about half to two-thirds of the time).
Clockey	Kevin Carlson	A yellow and red clock shaped like a map of the United States; he often introduced "Penny" cartoons and the like by asking Pee-wee "Do you know what time it is?... Time for a Penny cartoon (etc.)!." He originated in the HBO special acting in a similar manner.
Conky	Gregory Harrison (Season 1); Kevin Carlson (subsequent seasons)	The playhouse robot, who gave Pee-wee the "secret word" each week and served as a "brain" element in the show. He spoke with a stutter, and was made from various parts of old electronics, including an old camera attachments (eyes), a boombox (chest), phonograph (torso), and a typewriter with no keys (head). The robot referred to himself as "Conky 2000" (after the first season, though he used this in episode #3 in the first season) when Pee-wee turned him on. According to evidence suggested in the episode "Conky's Breakdown", there may be more than one Conky robot.
Globey	George McGrath	A spinning globe with a pair of arms at the base and a large face in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Globey spoke with a French-sounding accent and would often help Pee-wee out with geography, language, astronomy, or history questions. He sometimes hung out with Pterri, and, like Pterri, acted in the manner typical of a young child.
Puppet Band	Wayne White (Dirty Dog); Ric Heitzman (Cool Cat); Alison Mork (Chicky Baby)	Three puppets forming a jazz combo in a stage set to resemble an alley. They normally spoke in rhyme.
Mr. Kite	Wayne White	A pink kite that occasionally appeared in one of the playhouse windows.
Randy	Wayne White	A red-headed string puppet who served as the playhouse bully, usually making life miserable for Pee-wee and the playhouse characters. Once talked Pee-wee into prank-calling police officer "Daryl" (George McGrath) on the Picturephone, suggesting that he might be a juvenile delinquent.
Billy Baloney	Paul Reubens	A hand puppet, slightly resembling Randy in appearance (but blonde), who Pee-wee himself operated on occasion.
Dog Chair	George McGrath	A white chaise longue, which was similar to Chairry but resembling the face of a dog. He sat next to Chairry, but was used and referred to much less often.
Ant Farm	None.	Occasionally, Pee-wee would check to see what the ants were up to; a short close-up sequence would follow which featured the ants engaging in some "human" activity. On one occasion, they actually managed to get out of the farm.
The Dinosaur Family	George McGrath (Green); Ric Heitzman (Blue); Kevin Carlson (Red)	A den of miniature, claymation dinosaurs who lived in a mouse hole in the playhouse. The dinosaurs would frequently be zoomed in on to see what they were doing.
Food	None.	The contents of Pee-wee's refrigerator. Various claymation food items including pizzas, vegetables, french fries and others that would dance and juggle to Pee-wee and friends' amusement.
Flowers	Ric Heitzman; George McGrath; Wayne White	Three flowers living in a flowerbed in the window to the right of the playouse door. After Dixie left the show, they introduced the King of Cartoons.
Fish	Ric Heitzman (Purple); George McGrath (Yellow)	The fish lived in the playhouse aquarium. Their trademark was that often when something happened, the purple fish would make a snide remark regarding the situation, which the yellow fish would follow up with a witty comment. Both fish would then cackle, an act reminiscent of Muppets Statler & Waldorf.
Penny	Anna Seidman	A claymation short featuring a blonde girl with pennies for eyes, who described some situation in her life. She would reappear later outside the show on public service commercials.
Knucklehead	Gregory Harrison (Season 1); Kevin Carlson (Season 2)	A large image of a side view of a fist, with "googly eyes" and lipstick, who told bad knock-knock jokes. He had a bit part in the HBO special, The Pee-wee Herman Show, but as a sock puppet who acted and sounded differently.
Cowntess	George McGrath	A life-sized, talking cow that spoke in an elegant accent.
Door-to-Door Salesman	Ric Heitzman	A caricatured salesman, dressed in a tacky suit and a humongous head, who rang the doorbell and shouted "I'm going door to door to make you this incredible offer!" (occasionally he could be heard starting another sentence, "I'm sure by now you have realized-") while a horror movie-style effect played in the background. This caused Pee-wee to slam the door and scream, occasionally frustratedly saying, "Salesman!" This character was retired after the first season. Pee-wee once let him in during a party, saying, "What's your incredible offer?", to which the salesman replied "Free foil!", which Pee-wee gladly accepted for his foil ball.
Floory	Kevin Carlson	A section of the playhouse floor that stood up and talked. For the first season he was covered by Pee-wee's tepee, but after Pee-wee and his friends remodeled the playhouse, he emerged.
Chandelier	Alison Mork	A talking chandelier with a French accent who appeared in later seasons.
Exercise Belt	Ric Heitzman	A vintage vibrating belt exercise machine. Pee-wee would sometimes get on it, turn it on, then get stuck on it. Conky would usually have to get him out.
Toys	None	Pee-wee's strange toys, that he keeps in a smiley face shaped window, with movable shelves inside. Their space on the wall was taken over by Clocky.
El Hombre	None	A Spanish language cartoon shown toward the later run of the series.

[edit] Cameos

Character	Played by	Description
Yvona	Lynne Marie Stewart	A female alien, who was captured by Zyzzybalubah and locked in a cage. Bears a striking resemblance to Miss Yvonne and has similar theme music. It is implied by her in "Playhouse in Outer Space" that Zyzzy has kept Yvona as his slave for years (when she says "It's always been like this.").
Zyzzybalubah	George McGrath	A malevolent male alien, who hypnotized Conky into making his own name the secret word and launched the Playhouse into space. He calls anyone he captures his "friends" but Pee-wee sets him straight.
Conky Repairman Johnny Wilson	Jimmy Smits	Fixed problems with Conky, the playhouse robot.
Rhonda	Sandra Bernhard	Picturephone operator.
Roger	Voiced by Wayne White	A large, green monster that invaded the playhouse. He resembled a giant eyeball, had several mouths and one leg, and spoke in a language incomprehensible to Pee-wee until he wished he could understand the monster (at which point he learned his name in English). During this episode, Roger talked to his mother on the Picturephone; during the conversation, Roger's mother said the Secret Word in their language, at which point they both screamed while a bunch of symbols appeared on the screen. At the end of the episode, Roger left the Playhouse with Pee-wee on the back of Pee-wee's scooter. Roger made another appearance in the "Pajama Party" episode.
Rusty	Calvert DeForest	A strange old man who hung out with the Playhouse Gang - and acted exactly like them, if not more childish. Oddly enough, he wears a "Playboy" pin on his hat, among others.
Derek	Steve James	Reba's boyfriend, a fireman. He was going to take Reba to the firemen's ball, but after it got canceled because of a fire at the ballroom itself, they don't know where else to go. So Pee-wee allows Derek and Reba to have their date right there at the playhouse; they would play drive-in, with Magic Screen as the screen and Pee-wee and Miss Yvonne as Derek and Reba's chaperones.

[edit] Recurring gags, themes, and devices

Characteristic of the show were its gags and other humor bits that occurred regularly. Some of them included:

• Secret Word: At the beginning of each show, viewers were told the day's "Secret Word" and were instructed to "scream real loud" every time a character on the show said the word, which was given to Pee-wee by Conky. Immediately after receiving the Secret Word, Pee-wee would try to demonstrate the usage of the word by usually trying to trick someone in the playhouse into saying it, usually followed by Pee-wee accidentally saying the word himself. The word was always used continuously throughout the episode, and Pee-wee always said it right before he got onto his scooter at the end of the show.

• Connect the Dots: Most episodes would involve Pee-wee leaping into Magic Screen, tossing a number of dots from his pocket, and playing a connect-the-dots game with them, accompanied by his singing "Connect the dots - laa la laa la laa" several times. (This is similar to the principal element of the 1950s TV show Winky Dink and You, where the viewer followed a moving dot with a crayon, drawing a shape on a vinyl sheet covering the screen.) He would then interact with the object the dots had formed in a cartoon environment, until some kind of disaster occurred, and then leaping out of the screen and landing safely on Chairry, who would usually proclaim, "Gotcha!". However, on at least one occasion, Pee-wee landed on the floor, and Chairry exclaimed "Safe!" and held her arms out like a baseball umpire.

• Role Playing: Pee-wee often claimed the Playhouse and everything in it to be his, and he often played the role of an authority figure to prove his point—exaggerating the role to an extreme scale (as a judge, a boss, and a librarian, to name a few). During these games, he gave everyone else "inferior" positions in each game. The tables were eventually turned once and for all in the final episode, when Miss Yvonne said "How could you even think of selling the Playhouse without first consulting us?! It belongs to all of us! You just remember that, Pee-wee, it's all our Playhouse!"

• "Marry It" Joke: Pee-wee or another character would say that he or she loved something, to which someone else would reply, "Then why don't you marry me/him/her/it?". In the "Pajama Party" episode, Pee-wee finally did marry a bowl of fruit salad in a formal ceremony.

• Gifts: Every time Pee-wee was given a gift, he never gave someone time to explain what the gift was upon showing him the box or bag; he usually simply told the giver(s) to "fork it over".

• Snack Time: Most episodes had a recipe segment called "Snack Time," in which Pee-wee taught kids how to make a simple dish for themselves; although, in early episodes, Snack Time was a short segment involving one character teasing another character with food. The segment often began with Pee-wee opening the refrigerator and catching the food off-guard, dancing and having a good time in a claymation kind of animation, exposing the secret life of the fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. The food items quickly settled down once they realized they had been caught. Snacks ranged from French toast to ice pops to something as simple as a banana or even a glass of water.

• Eating gag: When Pee-wee ate or tasted something, typically during Snack Time, he often exclaimed enjoyment by saying, "Mmm, (object)-y!". For example, he would say "Mmm, lemony!" when tasting something with a lemon flavor. This gag was later used on The Simpsons by Homer and by Johnny Bravo in the Cartoon Network cartoon of the same name. An example of the joke being used during other situations was an innuendo, where Pee-wee was describing the bust that Dirty Dog made for Miss Yvonne in the episode Playhouse in Outer Space; he said "Mmmm, busty!" and laughed.

• Foil and Rubber Band Balls: Occasionally during the first season, someone would give Pee-wee a piece of aluminum foil, at which point he would exclaim, "Let's see how big my foil ball is today!" The ball was rolled out, and Pee-wee attached the new piece in sheer delight. Pee-wee stopped using the foil ball in the second season, citing the fact that it became too big to keep in the playhouse. He donated it to the foil museum. It was replaced by a ball comprised almost entirely of rubber bands in the second season; the gag was continued by someone occasionally giving Pee-wee a rubber band (at which point he would exclaim "Wow! A rubber band for my rubber band ball!" before putting it on).

• Can I? Gag: When ever someone in the playhouse asked Pee-wee a question that started with "Can I...", he would respond with, "I don't know, can you?" Usually following this, the person would ask the question again with "May I..." in front.

• Beg Me, On occasion, when someone asked Pee-wee if they could do something, he normally said no, followed by him saying Beg me.

• Picturephone and Picturephone calls: A videophone called "Picturephone" was a prominent feature on the show, remaining virtually unchanged throughout the series, except for the phone's ringing and interior. A large photo booth-like area in the shape of a woman's head was the exterior. The lips served as saloon doors that could be opened and closed at will. Inside was a TV monitor, a tin can handset, several controls for the user to pull, press and twist, and lights to brighten the inside. Also, a pull-down drape was often seen; it parodied a lot of modern-day artwork, such as American Gothic. On some occasions, Pee-wee wore a silly hat that matched the drape's theme. The phone's "ringing" was accompanied by a flash of shapes and patterns on the monitor. The interior only had one seat, but three people could get inside it. The "conversations", which implied the existence of other "Picturephones", were actually pre-recorded video films of any character that Pee-wee "called". He would usually call "I'll get it! I'll get it!" and answer "Pee-wee's Playhouse. Pee-wee speaking." before the caller's image would appear on the monitor. The phone itself was always an empty tin can of Del Monte fruit cocktail and/or vegetables.

• Pen Pal Letters: When Reba arrived with mail for Pee-wee, it would usually be letters from his international pen pals. Pee-wee would then sit down on Chairry and read them. He started with the country or state (China, New York, Australia, etc.), followed by Globey pointing them out on his head. On one particular occasion, however, Pee-wee received no pen pal letters at all (because he didn't write any letters himself), which caused him to go into an infantile tantrum. One of the few complaints of the show was that the people portrayed in the pen pal letters were often very stereotypical of their native country or state.

• Magic Glasses: On numerous occasions, Pee-wee would put on a pair of magic glasses, which had attached to it a weird hat with a monkey's head and arms on it. The monkey would usually say, "Put me on!" before Pee-wee did so. The lenses of the glasses revealed numerous things in different points in time, including a distorted version of the Playhouse (seen in two episodes).

• Lip Synching: Many episodes involve Pee-wee or some other character singing a song. But they usually don't use their own voice; instead, they pantomime (or lip synch) to the song, thus making them sound like they had more than one type of voice.

[edit] One-time gags

Each episode usually contained a running gag particular to that episode, and/or a specific occasion that would send Pee-wee into an emotional frenzy. Some of these gags and moments included:

• In the episode "Luau For Two", Pee-wee put Scotch Tape on his face, similar to a scene in Pee-wee's Big Adventure and hid behind Chairry to scare an unsupecting Captain Carl.
• In the episode "Party!", the food in Pee-wee's freezer is found dancing to the song "Tequila" in a manner almost identical to a dance Pee-wee did to the song in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, even going so far as wearing the exact same platform shoes Pee-wee did in that scene.
• In the episode "Fire in the Playhouse", Pterri incorrectly said Jambi's name as "Zombie". Later, in "Front Page Pee-wee," Pterri said Jambi's name correctly. Interestingly, both Pterri and Jambi are played by the same actor (namely, John Paragon).
• In the episode "Stolen Apples", the flashing word on the screen and the bell sounds fizzled out when Pee-wee "screamed" in exasperation over not getting any pen pal letters, a clear indication of his infantile behavior.
• In the episode "The Gang's All Here", Pee-wee slowly got really annoyed at having the Playhouse Gang around, and ultimately asked the kids to leave for unacceptable behavior:

"I'd like to have an informal chat with you, okay?" (everyone screams at the sound of the secret word; Pee-wee glares and everyone goes silent) "That's better. Now look, you guys know that I like you, right? (kids nod silently) Good, and I'm sure you'll understand what I'm about to say. The Playhouse is a place where we can all play. You guys are playing too loud, and too rough! You can't run around in the Playhouse, and scream, and jump on the furniture! Now you know that you're welcome to come and play any time that you want... but, for now, I think that the best thing for each of you to do is to go home, and reflect... on what I just told you." Once they left, however, Pee-wee proceeded to do everything he claimed they were wrong for doing (running around, jumping on furniture, etc.), and the gang then returned, as they had hidden behind Mr. Window and saw Pee-wee go against his own words.

• In "Sick? Did Someone Say Sick?", Randy the Bully changed the Secret Word rules, to where everyone had to bark like a dog instead of screaming when the word was said. He ruined the whole episode by doing this! This outraged Pee-wee. However, later in the episode, everyone (including Pee-Wee) still barked like a dog when the secret word was said.
• In the episode "Why Wasn't I Invited?", Pee-wee missed the secret word "ALL". After becoming frustrated that he hadn't been invited to Cowntess' birthday party, he threw a tantrum in which he exclaimed at the end, "It doesn't make any sense at all!". Neither Pee-wee nor the remaining friends at the Playhouse took notice.
• In "Love That Story", Pee-wee plays connect-the-dots with Magic Screen (but this time with magic beans instead of dots), and ends up at the top of a beanstalk. After jumping off to evade the giant on top, he lands on Chairry and claims he has whiplash. He threatens to sue Magic Screen, and they both laugh.
• In the episode "Pajama Party!", in which Pee-wee hosts a slumber party for all of the main cast, the secret word of the day is "watch". Miss Yvonne, who arrived at the playhouse not yet in her pajamas, claimed that she brought her sleeping clothes with her, and that she was going to change into them later on. Pee-wee then replies by saying "Mmmm. Can I watch?", causing everyone to scream. After this, Yvonne blushes and Pee-wee ends the conversation by saying "Just kidding!".
• In that same episode, Pee-wee exclaims "I love fruit salad!" Everyone replies with "Why don't you marry it?" Pee-wee then says "Maybe I will!" There is a huge wedding for Pee-wee & Fruit Salad.
• There have been at least two episodes in which Pee-wee objects to screaming at the secret word. First, in "Pee-wee Catches a Cold", he shouts at everyone to stop screaming and show him some "consideration" while he is in bed sick. Second, in "Love That Story", while they play "library", Pee-wee orders everyone to be silent when they scream at the word. They immediately close their mouths as the music cringes at his outburst.

[edit] Critical praise

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 which appeared to soar in the face of domineering racist, sexist, and heterosexist presumptions.^[4][5] For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and non, were of diverse cultural and racial origin. In its entire run, Pee-wee's Playhouse won 22 Emmys as well as other awards.^[6]

"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.^[7]

[edit] Episode guide

Main article: List of Pee-wee's Playhouse episodes

[edit] Changes to the show

Several notable changes to the show's characters, cast, or set occurred over the years. 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. In addition to the personnel changes mentioned in the character tables above, the following also happened:

• In the first season, Chairry was next to Mr. Window, with Dog Chair to the viewer's left of her; in subsequent seasons, Dog Chair was placed by the window.
• Before Clocky was put into the Playhouse, his space (in the wall behind Chairry) was occupied by a large smiley face with movable shelves where Pee-wee's toys resided.
• Globey's facial features completely changed, and his body changed from gold to black.
• Dixie, Tito, Mrs. Steve, the Salesman, Captain Carl, the original Playhouse Gang, and the original King of Cartoons were replaced or removed from the show entirely. Also, the Tito replacement was a Hispanic soccer star, Ricardo.
• The two fish changed in appearance.
• The flowers' voices changed from distorted and robotic to more normal-sounding female voices (falsetto, since 2 are played by males).
• During the first season, Conky's secret words were printed on regular strips of paper; in later seasons, they were printed on small white pieces of card stock.
• The fireplace had changed its appearance as well.
• The scooter eject ending scene was changed. During the 1986-1987 season, Pee-wee opened the door hiding his scooter by raising an iron on an ironing board. In subsequent seasons, Pee-wee pulled the arm on a small statue to reveal the scooter (which apparently was behind a different door as well.) Pee-wee also began wearing a helmet that looked like Roger, a one-eyed monster who visited the Playhouse. Additionally, whereas in the first season Pee-wee landed on the road upon departing the Playhouse, later seasons showed him flying past Mount Rushmore after leaving the house and before hitting the road.
• A Spanish-language cartoon that starred a Hispanic Rambo-esque hero named El Hombre ("the man") was added in later seasons, usually as a substitute for the Penny cartoons, though some episodes either had both cartoons or neither. The segment had no subtitles.
• There was also a real-life male dog (whose name is Roosevelt) in the playhouse after the episode, "Puppy In the Playhouse". He was added in later seasons.
• Magic Screen's border changed from white to pink.
• The frame around the ant farm is recolored from blue to orange.
• The scratch board on Conky's lower body changed in appearance a little.
• In the second season, a wooden log-type figure with bulgy eyes ("Floory") sat on the floor of the Playhouse. After that season, the yellow wall covered with multi-colored shiny flashing shards was recolored blue.
• Rather than his typical plaid suit, Pee-wee would wear different kinds of apparel more often by the second season, including pajamas and a baseball uniform.
• When Pee-Wee put the secret word away in the first season, he put it in his pants pocket; in subsequent seasons, he put it in his jacket pocket.
• By the second season, Pee-wee began wearing little to no lipstick or rouge. His hair also appeared slightly thicker (and may have been augmented with a hairpiece).
• In the first season, there was a plain blue backdrop outside the Playhouse windows. In all subsequent seasons, the backdrop was a slightly different shade of blue, and had a landscape and clouds painted on it.
• In the first season, Jambi wore blue-green make-up with red lipstick, and had painted-on eyebrows. In subsequent seasons, his make-up was greener, he wore blue eye shadow as well as blue lipstick, and his eyebrows were made of sequins. Also, the green glow around him wasn't as bright in subsequent seasons.

[edit] References and homages on other shows

• In the Family Guy episode Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother? Peter Griffin spends his reparation money to convert his den into a replica of Pee-wee's Playhouse, calling it "Peter's Playhouse." Brian plays the role of Jambi, saying "Meka leka hai, Meka hai ni — God, I hate you so much", and the secret word is "RIDICULOUS."^[8]
• On the first episode of season four of In Living Color, Jim Carrey played Pee-wee Herman in a commercial parody for a new Pee-wee Herman doll, which was made in light of Paul Reubens' arrest at an adult film theater in 1991.^[9]
• A photo comic on X-Entertainment revolves around Skeletor from He-Man hiding out in the Playhouse in order to avoid having his arms cut off by Leonardo and Raphael of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• In "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi," Al sings "Meka leka hai, meka hai ni hai ni ho" within the first 30 seconds of the song, famous magic words from Jambi the Genie. He also sings "Meka leka hai, meka leka cha ni ho" about halfway through the song.
• On Richard Simmons's video "Sweatin' to the Oldies 4", he does an exercise dance called the "Pee-wee" and laughs like him.
• In the Robot Chicken episode "Donkey Punch", Pee-wee, Chairry, and Pterri make an appearance in a Playhouse parody where Pee-wee eats chili on Mexican Food Day and farts on Chairry. And, in the episode "More Blood, More Chocolate", Cowboy Curtis says he's got cancer, revealing the secret word of the day.
• On the online cartoon website, Homestar Runner, a handful of show references are made, such as in:
  • One early toon shows Strong Sad saying various Polynesian proses, including, "Meka-leka-hai", but it cuts away before he finishes saying this.
  • A Halloween toon in which Strong Bad's Halloween costume is Jambi the Genie. He says variations on Jambi's lines, as well.
  • When Strong Bad is about to answer one of his famous emails, he says what Pee-wee says when demonstrating the saying of the secret word: "Ready? Let's try it!"

[edit] Golden Age cartoons

During the show's run, many cartoons were shown from the "Golden Age" of animation, usually courtesy of the King of Cartoons. However, they were not featured with their respective titles, nor credited, and generally only brief clips were shown.

First Season: 1986	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1	Fresh Vegetable Mystery	1939	Dave Fleischer
2	Ants in the Plants	1940	Dave Fleischer
3	Summertime	1934	Ub Iwerks
4	Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!	1931	Rudolf Ising
5	Old Mother Hubberns	1935	Ub Iwerks
6	Goldilocks and the Three Bears	1939	Hugh Harman
7	Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies	1935	Burt Gillett, Tom Palmer
8	Flip the Frog: Paddle Puddle	1931	Ub Iwerks
9	Jack Frost	1934	Ub Iwerks
10	Mary's Little Lamb	1935	Ub Iwerks
11	Somewhere in Dreamland	1936	Dave Fleischer
12	Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!	1931	Rudolf Ising
13	Bunny Mooning	1937	Dave Fleischer
Second Season: 1987	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 14	The Little Broadcast	1943	George Pal
2 / 15	To Spring	1936
3 / 16	Makin' Em Move	1931	Harry Bailey, John Foster
4 / 17	The Sunshine Makers	1935	Ted Eshbaugh
5 / 18	Piano Tooners	1932	John Foster, George Rufle
6 / 19	The Little Broadcast	1943	George Pal
7 / 20	Neptune Nonsense	1936	Burt Gillett
8 / 21	Much Ado About Mutton	1947	Isadore Sparber
9 / 22	Ship of the Ether	1934	George Pal
10 / 23	Musical Memories	1935	Dave Fleischer
Third Season: 1988	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 24	Farm Foolery	1949	Seymour Kneitel
2 / 25	Christmas Comes but Once a Year	1936	Dave Fleischer
3 / 26	An Elephant Never Forgets	1935	Dave Fleischer
Fourth Season: 1989	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 27	Hunky & Spunky	1938	Dave Fleischer
2 / 28	The Stork Market	1949	Seymour Kneitel
3 / 29	Spring Song	1949	Isadore Sparber
4 / 30	To Spring	1936
5 / 31	None
6 / 32	The Kids In the Shoe	1935	Dave Fleischer
7 / 33	The Song of the Birds	1935	Dave Fleischer
8 / 34	None
9 / 35	Little Lambkins	1940	Dave Fleischer
10 / 36	None
Fifth Season: 1990	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 37	One More Time (cartoon)	1931	Rudolf Ising
2 / 38	Farm Frolics	1941	Bob Clampett
3 / 39	The Little Red Hen	1934	Ub Iwekrs
4 / 40a*	Freddy the Freshman	1932	Rudolf Ising
4 / 40b*	Humpty Dumpty	1935	Ub Iwerks
5 / 41	Fin and Catty	1943	Chuck Jones
6 / 42	Sinkin' in the Bathtub	1930	Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
7 / 43	Freddy the Freshman	1932	Rudolf Ising
8 / 44a*	Allegretto	1936	Oskar Fischinger
8 / 44b*	Balloony Land	1935	Ub Iwerks
9 / 45	None
10 / 46	None

* These episodes had more than one classic cartoon each

[edit] Later airings and home video releases

• On August 15, 1998, the show returned to television in reruns on Fox Family Channel, only to go off the air once again the following year.
• Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block began airing the show Monday through Thursday on July 10, 2006. After the first week only the "Quiet Village" part of the opening was shown, leaving out the Cyndi Lauper vocal. "Quiet Village" was not part of the first week of broadcasts. The newer opening theme and prelude created for the 1990-91 season was left off. Adult Swim originally slated to end airings on the weekdays on October 19, 2006 and move the show to Sundays at 10 PM.^[10] In late December 2006, Adult Swim moved the show to Sunday nights, returning it to the schedule at 1:30 AM.
• Several episodes were initially released by Hi-Tops Video, the "children's imprint" of Media/Heron Communications, in 1988. They were then reissued on video by MGM/UA Home Entertainment in 1996, along with several episodes that were not released on video the first time. Finally, all 45 episodes were released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2004. It should also be noted that the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special was released during each of these three times.

[edit] DVD Releases

DVD Title	Country of Release	Region	Date of Release	DVD company	Catalog Number	# of discs	Notes
Pee-wee's Big Adventure	United States	1	May 2, 2000	Warner Home Video		1	The 1985 movie
Pee-wee's Playhouse #1	United States	0 (NTSC)	November 16, 2004	Image Entertainment		5	Seasons 1 and 2
Pee-wee's Playhouse #2	United States	0 (NTSC)	November 16, 2004	Image Entertainment		5	Seasons 3-5
Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special	United States	0 (NTSC)	October 19, 2004	Image Entertainment		1
Big Top Pee-wee	United States	1	July 6, 2004	Paramount Home Entertainment		1	The 1988 movie
The Pee-wee Herman Show	United States	0 (NTSC)	July 18, 2006	Image Entertainment		1	The HBO TV special of the stage show

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site for Pee-wee's Playhouse
• Pee-wee's Playhouse at the Internet Movie Database
• ProgressiveBoink.com: "The 25 Best Pee-wee's Playhouse Moments"
• Today's Secret Word of the Day
• Paul-Reubens.net
• Pee-wee Herman Audio Clips