The Whole Point

The original Pee-Wee Herman Show was a nod (and making fun of) 1950s kids shows, for kids. When it was produced in the early 80s, it was for Baby-Boomers that grew up with these kind of shows. It was nostalgic, and it made fun of those kind of shows that they watched, like "The Howdy Doody Show," and "The Mickey Mouse Show," and other locally produced programming. Pee-Wee Herman was a character that Paul Reubens created as part of The Groundlings in L.A., to make fun of, and salute, these kind of shows. All actors in the original HBO special are Groundlings members.

HBO picked up on it in 1981, and filmed a performance for their network in 1981. The show and his character was so popular, that he ran with it, and a movie was created, "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," and an actual Saturday morning children's show (in the vein of a 1950s show) for Saturday morning television in the late 1980s, hence "Pee-Wee Herman's Playhouse."

This is what Paul Reubens did for a while, until he was busted in a movie theater that shows porn in Florida where his parents live.

The Saturday children's show was bound by Saturday morning kid's shows rules: multi-culturalism (Cowboy Curtis, Latinos, etc.), and could not be sexually adult, like the original Groundlings show.

The new HBO special, filmed from the new Broadway show, is a copy of the original 1981 show, but with addition of elements from "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" that kids born beyond Baby-Boomers grew up on.

The original 1981 HBO special is available on DVD. Watch that first, before watching the new 2011 HBO special. It's much more funny.

I miss Phil Hartmann!