This doesn’t have anything to do with boomers, unless you were an established adult who remembers Pee-wee being on TV and babysitting your kids. Or gay. But it does make an interesting read none the less.
“The Pee-wee Herman Show,” opening next month in downtown Los Angeles at Club Nokia theater, cost millions to produce. It has 11 actors, 20 puppets and marks the show’s first production since 1982.
Says Paul Reubens:
“Well, you know, I really want to make a movie version of ‘The Playhouse,’ my Saturday morning kid show! This seemed like a great way to do it: reintroduce it, get back out there, introduce Pee-wee to the new generation that didn’t know about it.”
Read: Big money in the pocket after grandiose reviews of play and then movie to follow.
An impulsive, sometimes naughty child living in a fantasy world, the Pee-wee character first made a big splash with the live “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” which debuted at Groundlings theater in Los Angeles in 1981. An HBO broadcast of the show spread the Pee-wee gospel across the country later that year, and a 1985 Tim Burton-directed feature film, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” was an acclaimed and popular success. I’m frankly supprised this never became a cult classic like ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. I remember going with friends to participate in that one for years.
Then came the television series, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” (1986-91), which ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults too.
Pee-wee was cut short [so to speak] in July 1991 after an arrest for masturbation in an adult-movie house in Sarasota, Florida. Not your kid friendly image, like video game gems such as:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Player is a young man working with gangs to gain respect. His mission includes murder, theft, and destruction on every imaginable level. Player recovers his health by visiting prostitutes then recovers funds by beating them to death and taking their money. Player can wreak as much havoc as he likes for no reason without progressing through the game’s storyline.
u>God of War
Player becomes a ruthless warrior, seeking revenge against the gods who tricked him into murdering his own family. Prisoners are burned alive and player can use “finishing moves” to kill opponents like tearing a victim in half.
or
50 Cent: Bulletproof
Game is loosely based on the gangster lifestyle of rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Player engages in gangster shootouts and loots the bodies of victims to buy new 50 Cent recordings and music videos.
Or the slug fest over swine flu vaccine by Hollywood moms Amanda Peet and Jenny McCarthy. But that’s another story. I could go on.
Remind me why this was such a big deal back then except someone got wind of it and reported it to the press when they found out who Paul Reubens was. If you’ll remember, he didn’t look anything like Pee-wee at the time. In fact I’m surprised he didn’t hide his face in a paper bag, He was so humiliated. BTW, Pee-wee was a fictional character, in case you’re too young to remember:)
Reubens, now 57, (a boomer!) continued to act after his arrest, playing characters other than Pee-wee, scoring successes as the Penguin’s father in “Batman Returns” (1992) and a 1995 Emmy nomination for a recurring guest role on “Murphy Brown.” But Pee-wee would ultimately rise again.
“Well, I went back and forth between wanting to do it and not wanting to do (the new stage show),” Pee-wee said. “I had a producer that was calling me every two months for two years. And every two months, I would change my mind. And then, finally, one day I woke up and decided, ‘This is it, I’m coming back.”
As with the original stage show, the new production spins around Pee-wee’s desire to fly.
“I think I am grateful for my friends,” Pee-wee said. “I am grateful for my fans. I am grateful that people still support me. I am grateful that people are going to buy tickets to come see my fabulous, fantastic, unbelievably incredible show at Club Nokia opening January 12th, playing until February 7th. I hope people have tickets and that is pretty much what I am thankful for.”
(I’m just fucking gratetful).
“The Pee-wee Herman Show” is scheduled to run for a limited four-week engagement, Jan. 12- Feb. 7. Of course, if it’s made even more popular by bloggers like me, then I supposed it will be the unlimited engagement version.
*No hairy palms were harmed in the writing of this review*.
Here he is in his “Tequila” video. Too Funny!