Captain Carl

''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. 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.

After seeing the success of ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal. 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 per episode (comparable to that of a half-hour prime-time sitcom), and full creative control, although CBS did request a few minor changes over the years.

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 2 in 1987, resulting in a new set and a more relaxed work atmosphere.

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!" 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." 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. 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.

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 2, 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. The show changed production facilities again in 1989 during its fourth season, this time at the Culver Studios, also in Los Angeles.

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. "I told him I would (sing it), but I couldn't have it under my name because I was going to put out True Colors, which had a serious tone. In our superficial world, people couldn't accept both at the same time. So I sang the theme song using the pseudonym Ellen Shaw. And then Paul sent me back a tape that was so hilariously funny of me singing the theme with him in between saying, 'Oh no! My career is ruined, oh no!' Hes a nut, I love him." Despite being aimed at children, the show also included some adult humor, like the flirty Miss Yvonne.

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. 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, prompting CBS to immediately stop airing its ''Playhouse'' re-runs, which were originally intended to air until September 1991. 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. Said Mothersbaugh in 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. Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie was a production assistant, and future filmmaker John Singleton was a security guard and production assistant.

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.

Humans

Puppet/animated and object characters

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 postmodernism, postmodernist hodgepodge of characters and situations that appeared to thumb its nose at the racist and sexist presumptions of dominant culture. For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and not, were of diverse cultural and racial origins. In a review of the first season for ''The New York Times'', John J. O'Connor (journalist), John J. O'Connor called it "undoubtedly this season's most imaginative and disarming new series". 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, Moral Majority years was a key factor of many adults' enjoyment of the show". ''Captain Kangaroos 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."

"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''.

In 2007, ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' was named to ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 Best TV Shows.

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.

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 boomers, baby boomer, Reubens put a stamp on Generation X.⁠"

Awards and nominations

* 14th Daytime Emmy Awards – 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
** Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design – Gary Panter, Wayne White, Ric Heitzman, Jeremy Railton, James Higginson (artist and filmmaker), 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
** 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 (1984 TV series), Muppet Babies'')
* 18th Daytime Emmy Awards – 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

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. The restored episodes have also been made available on streaming platforms in May 2024.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Official site for Pee-wee Herman
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse
1986 American television series debuts
1990 American television series endings
1980s American children's comedy television series
1990s American children's comedy television series
American English-language television shows
American television series with live action and animation
American television shows featuring puppetry
CBS original programming
Television shows about genies
Television shows about talking objects
Television shows scored by Danny Elfman
Television shows scored by Mark Mothersbaugh
Pee-wee Herman