YIPEE! Pee Wee's Playhouse starts on Adult Swim Tonight!

[IsIt1984Yet]

A VERY interesting piece of trivia: The concept for the show actually came from Andy Kaufman with his co-writer Bob Zmuda, who dubbed it "Andy's Funhouse". It was based of Kaufman's experiences doing children's birthday parties and performing for children (the "scream the secret word" game came from Kaufman himself; he had done a similar thing as a birthday party game). But he developed lung cancer and was unable to do the show. Before Kaufman's death, Reubens got permission from Kaufman to do it himself.

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

Dirty Dog:


Captain Carl:


Jambi:


Cowboy Curtis:


Miss Yvonne:


Chairy:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. GIANT UNDERWEAR!

HAHA!

[IsIt1984Yet]

2. I know you are, but what am I?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Now did Captain Carl (aka Phil Hartman)...

appear in the syndicated show, or was that just stage work?

[IsIt1984Yet]

4. He was a character and a writer

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090500/

[SmileyBoy]

5. I loved the giant ball of tinfoil the size of a small asteroid.

Then the kids would visit and give pieces to add to the ball.

I started one of my very own, because I watched that.

I'm probably at the youngest age (23-24) of people who remembers that show vividly.

[IsIt1984Yet]

6. That's awesome. I have a decade (give or take) on you and it was

a big part of my teenage years.

My best friend had one of the string-pull talking Pee Wee dolls. And.. he was especially fun while under the influence of seriously mind-altering substances... or so I heard.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. I'm the same age as you and I loved that show.

I'm psyched that it's back on TV.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

64. I started a rubber band one

like on the show, I used the rubber bands off the morning paper and any rubber bands I could find. I started it off by using one of those 25 cent super balls out of a bubble gum machine and it got to be about 8 inches wide when I gave up on it.

[Fox Mulder]

8. Why???

This is worse than the time they aired Saved by the Bell.

[IsIt1984Yet]

9. Pssh. This from an X-Files fan.

:eyes:




























:P

[Fox Mulder]

11. The X-Files is infinitely better than Peewee's Playhouse.

:)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Yeah, Peewee's Playhouse went downhill...

when they got rid of Peewee and moved to California.

[IsIt1984Yet]

13. See, that's your opinion. To each his own, I say.

Diversity makes the world go 'round...

even if you're into :tinfoilhat:.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. You do not disrespect the X-Files!

Or my Dana Scully.

[IsIt1984Yet]

15. Yes, she's hot.

She was the sane one of the 2. And, you dissed Pee Wee first. ;)

[Fox Mulder]

16. She might've been the sane one...

but Mulder was the one who was always right.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. I didn't diss PeeWee. I just don't allow people to diss the X-Files.

Mulder was sane. People didn't realize that Mulder was sane, because the truth was so unbelievable. Plus the additional black ops that went into discrediting him.

[IsIt1984Yet]

18. You're right, I confused your post for Fox Mulder's.

Sorry...

Yes, I liked and watched the X-Files for a few years, but it, like many shows degenerated into something in which I lost interest.

I was playing, comparing Pee Wee to X-Files is quite a stretch in any context. :)

[Archae]

21. Why not compare the two?

Both are TV shows for either the kiddies or total assholes! :P

(Bracing for the inevitable flaming...)

[AlienGirl]

33. Oddly, I've been told I resemble both...

Paul Reubens and Gillian Anderson.

Tucker

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. It's not that bad.

It's actually good.

Not that I think it fits with Adult Swim, mind, but it's still a good show.

[JVS]

68. I think that Sbtb was a smokescreen for this

They used it to break the taboo of airing a live action show on adult swim, and now that they've put on Pee Wee, people view it as a relief that the show is at least done in the same mentality as a lot of the adult swim stuff. I watched last night but switched channels because a cheech and chong movie was on

[Archae]

19. "Cowboy Curtis" looks familiar...

Can't place him though.

(Looks it up at www.imdb.com)

HOLY SHIT! :wow:

LAURENCE FISHBURNE???!!!???

But I doubt the Cartoon Network will show the episode "Pee Wee Visits An Adult Movie Theater!" :P

(BTW, I hate the character.)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. Yeeesss, Neo.

Boy, he's come a long way.

[Crankie Avalon]

71. And before that, Laurence Fishburne was in the music video for...

...one of the greatest songs ever (directed by Spike Lee, btw): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb33uWeRplo

[Generic Brad]

22. Time for the "Big Shoe" dance!

TEQUILA!!

[IsIt1984Yet]

23. Only 1 hour 'til Pee Wee

[MuseRider]

25. I'm glad to know

I am not the only one waiting for this! My TIVO is set and I am excited. I watched these with my little boys and laughed as hard as they did but at different times.

[IsIt1984Yet]

26. It'll be so fun to see it again. And, I just love everything Phil Hartman

did. What a great loss :(.

[MuseRider]

35. That was a heartbreaker

for sure. Man, I saw something about him not too long ago and it made me feel so sad.

[IsIt1984Yet]

27. Weird

[IsIt1984Yet]

28. Whoa

[MuseRider]

30. Why? n/t

[IsIt1984Yet]

32. Whacky Wireless

:shrug:

[MuseRider]

34. Cowboy Curtis

sleeps in the nude! Or did he say Birthday suit? Can't remember, I was still trying to explain to my little ones why they were so concerned about what Yvonne was going to wear to the slumber party.

[texanwitch]

37. Yvonne had the big hair and party dresses.

It has been a long time since I have seen the show, just loved it.

[MuseRider]

39. *smile*

Yes and she had other rather large attributes IIRC, her eyes I think ;).

I did too and I am excited to see it again. I was always very fond of PeeWee and Paul Reubens.

[IsIt1984Yet]

48. Was it everything you remembered? It was for me!

[MuseRider]

49. Ha Ha

Yes it was. All my favorite characters! At least the one's I remember. I loved the puppets Daddy O. :) It will be fun to have them all recorded.

Someone put this on the Entertainment forum, was it you? Anyway, I put it into my PDA so I would not forget it but thanks for the reminder and the fun pre Pee Wee!

[IsIt1984Yet]

51. I'd forgotten Penny and Randy! Do you know that in its first season

the show won six Emmys! Reubens had total creative control and a huge budget of US $325,000 per episode (a figure usually reserved for prime-time sitcoms).

Great stuff!

No, I was not even aware of the Entertainment Forum, I'll have to check it out!

[MuseRider]

55. PENNY!

Yes, I had forgotten her too. I did remember Randy and the Ice Cream Soup, mainly because after we had our lunch this dedicated Mommy made Ice Cream Soup for her two little boys who thought Pee Wee was the greatest.

Really good memories with Pee Wee.

[catzies]

58. It was good for me too. Watched it w/my daughter then and now.

She came over last night to wash her car & I said, "Cartoon Network got Pee Wee's Playhouse & the first episode is on in half an hour!" She said, "OMG, no way! Shut UP!" And I said, "No, YOU shut up!"

:P

She was 6 then and is 26 now and WE STILL LOVE PEE WEE.

[IsIt1984Yet]

59. All day long, I have been going "Connect the dots. La-la-la-la..."

:D

[catzies]

70. It all came back to me in a rush, watching the 1st 2 episodes...

It's amazing what you think you forgot but didn't.

"The wish is granted, long live Jambi!"

[Cush]

24. Scream real loud!

[IsIt1984Yet]

29. If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?

[AlienGirl]

31. Talking furniture with eyes gives me the creeps

It's too bad, because the Pee-Wee style (and age!) of humor appeals to me...but I can't get past the talking chair. :scared:

Tucker

[IsIt1984Yet]

44. Chairy tickles you, too!

:D

[cmkramer]

36. Really?

Paul Reubens did the Pee Wee Herman Show on the stage in L.A. way back in 1980. It was basically the same as the Saturday morning show although a tad more "adult". Nothing obscene but just slightly more risque. Andy Kaufman died in 1984 which was a few years after the Pee Wee Herman cult had started,

More Pee Wee trivia: movie director John Singleton got his show business start as an intern on the show.

[IsIt1984Yet]

38. Pee Wee the character was Reuben's,

but the Playhouse show concept was Kaufman's.

Interesting about John Singleton!

[cmkramer]

50. I still don't think it's true

I would never ever take anything in Wikipedia as the truth because anyone can put anything they want in there whether it's true or not. The same thing goes with IMDB and its trivia section. And like I said, the show was based on the stage show in Los Angeles which was done years before Kaufman died. Andy Kaufman wasn't sick in 1980 -- he was a regular on TAXI -- so it was unlikely that the reason why he didn't do the show himself was because of illness.

Another "famous" person who got their start on the show: Natasha Lyonne (she played "Opal")

I will say I think it is possible that as young up-and-coming comedians/actors Kaufman and Reubens may have talked about ideas for shows and that Reubens may have elaborated on a concept that started with Kaufman. But the whole "if Andy Kaufman hadn't gotten sick, he would have done the show" line, nope, doesn't work.

Getting back to the show, I always loved those snippets of vintage cartoons they showed.

[IsIt1984Yet]

52. You're absolutely right, grain of salt on that, I suppose.

I doubt that Kaufman would have done it, I'd believe that Kaufman saw Pee Wee the character and put the idea together conceptually. I can't find anything definitive on Google; I suppose it could be an urban myth altogether.

The show still rocks :).

[cmkramer]

57. It sure does!

FWIW, I don't believe the show would've lasted much longer even without the scandal. I know there were a lot of creative fights with the network a la "Moonlighting" where often the shows weren't finished until literally right before they were to go on air.

[Cush]

40. on now

[IsIt1984Yet]

43. Lovin' every minute!

:D

[UTUSN]

41. Sorry but: Phil HARTMAN----good!!1 ------Pervism, BAAADD!!1 n/t

[IsIt1984Yet]

42. Pervism?

:eyes:

[UTUSN]

45. Yeah? n/t

[Lex]

46. LOL!

"To every problem, just add more ice cream."

[IsIt1984Yet]

47. Awesome show! So glad it's back!

:D

[Cush]

53. Connect the dots! la-la-la-la

[IsIt1984Yet]

54. I swear, very few things in life make me smile and laugh as sincerely

as hearing Pee Wee in full swing on that show. "Connect the dots! la-la-la-la" is a perfect example.

It's sooo funny.

[JackDragna]

56. Reubens is considering doing new eps, too..

..or even a full-length movie. Odd.

[IsIt1984Yet]

60. I don't know how I'd feel about new Playhouse episodes.

Some things are just better as they were and attempting to re-create can sometimes taint...

hmm... we'll see.

[Monk06]

66. He just anounced it on Letterman tonite. Feature length Pee Wee Playhouse.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

61. Look for a very young Natasha Lyonne

as Opal, from the playhouse gang

[IsIt1984Yet]

62. Holy shit, she was on the one they aired last night.

No kidding...

Wow, I Googled her and she's had some issues:

‘American Pie’ star’s fight for life
Lyonne is suffering from hepatitis C, a heart infection and a collapsed lung
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9013110/

Jimmy Smits was in it, too. And, I wonder what Tito the handsome lifegaurd is up to these days?

[du4life]

63. This Show Still Entertains and Cracks Me Up!

In TV Guide, Paul Reubens is doing two new Pee-wee films. One is for adults, a "Pee-wee Valley of the Dolls" he calls it.

[Zookeeper]

65. I used to watch it as an adult and loved it.....

So, when I had kids I found VHS tapes of the show at the library. They loved it and I think it encouraged them to view the world more creatively than 99.9% of anything on TV for kids at that time.

[MsAnthropy]

67. "Cowboy Curtis you have such big gloves and big boots

and you know what THAT means............big hands and big feet!!!!"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[cedahlia]

69. My Personal Observations

(After watching it for the first time as an adult--I still love it!!) :D

Cowboy Curtis was and still is cool.

Chairy has a conservative side to her (not conservative in a Repug-fascist-Limbaugh way, just in a stereotypical grandparent-y kinda way...like she might've lived a pretty straight-laced life before she met Pee Wee and joined the freak show.)

Miss Yvonne is horny! (Go Miss Yvonne!)

Jambi is creepy...he likes ordering people to say "Hiney-ho!" ;-)