A lot of 40-somethings are having childhood flashbacks at news of the death at 70 of Paul Reubens, far better known as Pee-Wee Herman. He announced his six-year struggle with cancer only in a posthumous message.
Reubens developed the Pee-Wee character as one of the early members of the Groundlings, the Los Angeles improv troupe that’s spawned scores of comedians over the years. After failing a “Saturday Night Live” audition in 1980, he expanded the act from a skit to a stage show. It became an immediate underground hit, and the character took off.
His cult following grew through appearances on David Letterman’s late-night talk show. He was part of Letterman’s collection of real-life oddballs like Brother Theodore and Harvey Pekar, which made Pee-Wee seem real, especially because, like Tiny Tim, Reubens never appeared out of character.
The cult exploded into stardom with “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” the Tim Burton-directed surprise hit of 1985. Its success convinced CBS to not only give Reubens a children’s show but to give him creative control as well. The result was the happiest kind of mayhem.
The set was a clubhouse designed by a surrealist on LSD in ’50s suburbia – crazy angles, wild patterns, vibrant colors. It was crammed with pop ephemera, and everything talked – the chair, the floor, the food in the refrigerator, everything. Like Sesame Street, various segments featured puppets, claymation, and stop-action animation, but they rarely taught any overt message. Despite some sly double-entendres, a goofy little-kid sensibility permeated everything. I don’t think anybody who’s a conservative adult today liked “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” as a kid.
The project attracted prodigious young talent. Regular guests included Laurence Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis, S. Epatha Merkerson as Reba the Mail Lady and Phil Hartman as Captain Carl. Music was provided by pop musicians with a taste for the experimental, including Todd Rundgren, Van Dyke Parks and especially Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. He wrote the show’s theme song, which was sung by Cyndi Lauper (credited as “Ellen Shaw”) doing an imitation of Bettie Boop.
With any luck Reubens’ death will inspire a new generation to check out the show, which was pulled from TV in 1991 after his arrest in a porn theater. Pee-Wee movies are widely available, but “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” remains the wildest visual treat you can get without psychedelics.
Or course, there’s no other way this post could end.
