# What happened to Pee-Wee's Playhouse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224 "2006-10-12T18:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/1 "2006-10-12T18:29:02Z")
If you’ve been watching the repeats of “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” on Adult Swim, you know they recently ran through the entire catalog of episodes. I wasn’t a regular watcher of Pee-Wee in its first run (to my regret), and watching all five years of the show now, I have one question: Why did it get so **bad**? By the last season, it seems that Miss Yvonne and King of Cartoons were the only guest characters who turned up with any regularity. Cartoons or other weird video segments were introduced and allowed to run longer than before, almost as if they were deliberately trying to fill space in the show. The last episode was a _clip show,_ for gosh sakes. The last shows have little energy or creativity; they actually seem kind of sad, like a party where only a few people showed up. So noticeable is the drop in quality that I can’t put it down to any kind of creative choice—I can’t believe Paul Reubens actually _wanted_ the show to be like that. So I wonder if there’s some kind of scoop behind it. Did CBS cut Pee-Wee’s budget? Did they not have the time they needed to write the episodes? Did Paul Reubens just not care anymore? Anyone have any knowledge of this? Or is it all in my head, and the last season of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse is actually great? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/2 "2006-10-12T19:06:00Z")
And how does a Satuday morning kids show end up on Adult Swim? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/3 "2006-10-12T19:56:45Z")
To your second post, perhaps because parents don’t want their kids watching a show whose creator and star was arrested for public masturbation at a gay porn theater. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/4 "2006-10-12T20:04:45Z")
It wasn’t a “gay porn theater”. The movie being shown was the hetero porn _[Nurse Nancy](http://www.adultfilmdatabase.com/index.cfm/Action/DV/VideoID/23574/Nurse_Nancy/)_ ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/5 "2006-10-12T20:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] And how does a Satuday morning kids show end up on Adult Swim? [/QUOTE] Although _Pee-Wee’s Playhouse_ was a kids’ show, its bizarre humor and double entendres gave it a large adult fan base as well. It was actually based on a stage show Paul Reubens created called _The Pee-Wee Herman Show_ both parodying and paying tribute to such kids shows with a little ribald humor thrown in. The show was filmed for an HBO special, which is now available on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/6 "2006-10-12T20:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] Although _Pee-Wee’s Playhouse_ was a kids’ show, its bizarre humor and double entendres gave it a large adult fan base as well. It was actually based on a stage show Paul Reubens created called _The Pee-Wee Herman Show_ both parodying and paying tribute to such kids shows with a little ribald humor thrown in. The show was filmed for an HBO special, which is now available on DVD. [/QUOTE] Huh. Thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/7 "2006-10-12T22:25:34Z")
I vote for “Paul Reubens didn’t care anymore.” According to Wiki: _In early 1991, Reubens had been offered by CBS to continue for a 6th season, but Reubens had other ideas. He had decided early on to end the Playhouse at the end of his 5th season, but did agree to allow re-runs of the show to continue throughout the summer._ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/8 "2006-10-12T23:13:59Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] To your second post, perhaps because parents don’t want their kids watching a show whose creator and star was arrested for public masturbation at a gay porn theater. [/QUOTE] But they won’t think twice about taking them to church or dropping them off at school. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/9 "2006-10-12T23:23:47Z")
I remember even as a kid going ‘Huh. So he masturbated. What the hell does that have to do with TV?’ ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/10 "2006-10-13T00:08:19Z")
I’m still grumpy that they cut the opening sequence in half (getting rid of the second, hyper part), probably to fit in commercials. Kind of like how when they show _Animaniacs_ on Nick they just run it with the one opening, none of the ones with different rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/11 "2006-10-13T00:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=Nonsuch] Why did it get so **bad**? [/QUOTE] Judging by the fairly recent [article in _Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1515978-4-5_3%7C%7C233618%7C1_,00.html), I think it was a matter of burnout/exhaustion on Paul Reubens’ part. > [@](#): > > Reubens moved the production to Los Angeles for season 2 in 1987, resulting in a new set and a more relaxed (though no less harried) work atmosphere. But the constant work over the next two and a half years took a toll on Reubens, who was also readying his next feature film, 1988’s Big Top Pee-wee. > … > Reubens: At the end of the third year, [CBS] made a deal with me to do two more seasons [filmed all at once]. It was a real grind. > > Stewart: Paul was exhausted. He was doing everything. And that starts to wear on someone. > > As production of the fourth and fifth seasons continued, CBS approached Reubens and asked about the possibility of a sixth season in thePlayhouse. > > Reubens: I just politely said ‘‘No.’’ It was time to take a year off. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/12 "2006-10-13T04:04:04Z")
> [@](#): > > But they won’t think twice about taking them to church or dropping them off at school. To be clear, I agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/13 "2006-10-13T04:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] Although _Pee-Wee’s Playhouse_ was a kids’ show, its bizarre humor and double entendres gave it a large adult fan base as well. It was actually based on a stage show Paul Reubens created called _The Pee-Wee Herman Show_ both parodying and paying tribute to such kids shows with a little ribald humor thrown in. The show was filmed for an HBO special, which is now available on DVD. [/QUOTE] I remember seeing that show on HBO at age 10 or 12. I was rather disturbed by it; the combination of kid-show style and adult content threw my young brain for a loop. One segment–I think it was the closing bit–involved Pee-Wee bringing a woman from the audience up on stage, hypnotizing her with a puppet, and having her remove her dress. She then left the theater and walked down the street wearing only her slip (which was far more conservative than most of Paris Hilton’s outfits), as the camera followed her along during the closing credits. Being an impressionable young’un, I believed without question that this poor woman had suffered the embarrassment of walking down the street in her underwear, and it never occurred to me that she might be a confederate. I was really upset by the whole thing; I’d forgotten about it until now. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/14 "2006-10-13T11:34:46Z")
Pee Wee’s Playhouse was cool, in the day. I had a guy friend (who wanted more, but, um, no) named Phil who was a great underage drinking buddy. Every Saturday morning when PW came on one or the other of us would phone the other and we’d stay on the phone throughout the show. We’d laugh together about the funnies and yell out the secret word together on the phone. It was a lot of fun. I think we watched Smurfs via phone too. Now, I have maybe 10 eps TiVo’d for my 5 y-o son and he LOVES the show. It’s quite harmless, basically just a grown man acting like a child and being silly. Small kids really enjoy that premise. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/15 "2006-10-13T11:44:59Z")
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was my favorite show when I was 6-8 years old. I even had the entire action figure set, along with a miniature playhouse, and my brother and friends and I would act out our own live show in my basement. However, by around season 4, I either grew out with it, or realized myself that it was past its prime. I’m reloving the show now in adult swim…I honestly think that the reason it was placed there was to appeal to #1 people like me and #2 potheads. And I’m amazed how much adult humor was actually snuck into the show - they weren’t even trying to be discreet about Dogchair looking up Ms Yyvonne’s dress. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/16 "2006-10-13T13:34:33Z")
I think the bigger question is: Since **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure** was such a cult classic, why was **Big Top Pee Wee** such a horrible unfunny film? (I always though a better film would have been _PeeWee Goes to College_) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/17 "2006-10-13T14:11:38Z")
What, you didn’t like LARGE MARGE??? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/18 "2006-10-13T14:50:39Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] And how does a Satuday morning kids show end up on Adult Swim? [/QUOTE] It was very adult. The kids didn’t catch half of it but I personally think it was written for adults first, with a sprinkling of kid stuff tossed in. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/19 "2006-10-13T14:57:50Z")
My son bought the boxed set for our family for Christmas. It rocks. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-pee-wees-playhouse/376224/20 "2006-10-14T02:09:41Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] What, you didn’t like LARGE MARGE??? [/QUOTE] Large Marge sent me…to tell you that she was in _Big Adventure_, not _Big Top_.