My kids can’t seem to get enough Pee-wee Herman. When the seasons 1 & 2 set came out I enjoyed sharing the series with my kids who laughed about as hard as I have ever heard. The only problem was that DVD release was not the whole of the series. Now Shout Factory has made the rest of the series available with this new Seasons 3, 4, & 5 DVD set which also included the infamous Christmas special.
Let’s take a quick overview of that Christmas special. Cher, Grace Jones, The Del Rubio Triplets, Grace Jones, Frankie & Annette, Whoopi Goldberg, and Little Richard are but some of the guest stars. It is almost a random mix of who Paul Ruebens (Pee-wee’s creator and alter ego) grew up liking and who he liked at the time of filming. With so many guest stars if you blink you are sure to miss one. This special episode was broadcast during prime time, where the series was a Saturday morning production. Despite the “children’s” label the show had broad appeal and the Christmas special is evidence of that.
Wonderfully bizarre and bizarrely wonderful – that is how I would describe “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”, the Saturday morning live action show based on Paul Reuben’s character that wound up having a successful stage run, an HBO special, and ultimately a feature film. By tweaking the humor Pee-Wee Herman was able to maintain his adult fans while winning over legions of children. At the time Saturday mornings were pretty dull. Sure there were a few decent shows, but on the whole Saturday mornings did not necessitate making sure you got out of bed early. “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” was appointment television for my group of friends. No matter how wild and long our Friday nights were (and when you are in your early 20s, they can be pretty wild and long) we made sure we were up for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”.
23 episodes are presented on four discs – and that is including the Christmas Special. The 3rd season was cut drastically short to the point of near non-existence due to the television writer’s strike at the time. While there aren’t as many episodes as one might expect, they are all no less potent. Some standouts in this collection include when the playhouse gets a visit from a fireman, when Conky needs to be repaired, or when Miss Yvonne needs to stay at the playhouse for a few days. While the animation segments are great (and varied) it is the live action parts where Pee-wee Herman interacts with the other citizens of Puppetland where the series really shines.
Special features are decent, starting with two audio commentaries for the Christmas special. Paul Reubens, John Paragon (Jambi), Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne) and animation producer Purdence Fenton are on one track, with several of the puppeteers on another track. Both tracks are definitely worth checking out. Sadly this is the only spot where Paul Reubens appears within the special features. Several featurettes are included as well looking at the making of the series. A lot of people are interviewed from the cast and crew, but sadly not the titular man himself. Still these featurettes are well worth checking out for fans of the series. Plenty of great stories and information here.
You don’t need to have kids to enjoy “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” but it does offer up a great excuse. Think of the show almost like a sitcom, with its cast of characters – just in an outlandish setting with an almost surreal sense of happenstance. Thankfully Shout Factory now has a way to own the whole of the series on DVD looking better than ever and with a solid chunk of extras.