Pee-wee's Playhouse
Series, 1986, The '80s, Set in The Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is #9 of 18 in release order and #9 of 18 in chronological order in the CBS Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The story
Join Pee-Wee Herman and his friends Chairry, Miss Yvonne, Cowboy Curtis, Jambi the Genie and others as they play around in Pee-Wee's magical Playhouse!
Pee-wee's Playhouse recap
Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986) follows Pee-wee Herman in a playhouse where the furniture talks, a genie lives in a box and every day has a secret word. Paul Reubens plays Pee-wee and created the show from his stage production, The Pee-wee Herman Show; it ran on CBS Saturday mornings for five seasons and 45 episodes, plus a Christmas special full of celebrity guests. The residents include Jambi the genie (John Paragon), Chairry the armchair, Conky the robot, Globey the globe (George McGrath), Pterri the pteranodon, Magic Screen and Mr. Window. Visitors include Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne), Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson) and, in the first season only, Captain Carl (Phil Hartman). The King of Cartoons screens old cartoons, and the Playhouse Gang of kids drops by. Episodes mix live action, puppetry, clay animation and chroma key effects. After a first season shot in New York, production moved to Los Angeles; several characters were dropped or recast and new ones such as Ricardo arrived. Seasons ran 13, 10, 2, 10 and 10 episodes, starting with "Ice Cream Soup" on September 13, 1986.
Pee-wee's Playhouse ending explained
Pee-wee's Playhouse ends with "Playhouse for Sale", aired November 17, 1990. While Pee-wee is away, Miss Yvonne sees a for sale sign outside, and the friends look back on their best times in a clip show, until it turns out Pee-wee was only selling lemonade and that word had fallen off the sign. CBS and Reubens had agreed to end the show; reruns ran until July 1991, when CBS pulled them after Reubens was arrested in Florida. Reubens later played Pee-wee again in the Netflix film Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016).
Where to watch Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is streaming on Prime Video, fuboTV, Hoopla, Fandango at Home Free, Shout! Factory TV, and Plex in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.2/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, before Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures.
- Chronological order: after Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, before Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures.
Cast
- Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman
- Lynne Marie Stewart as Miss Yvonne
- Laurence Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Reba
- John Paragon as Jambi
- Alison Mork as Chairry (voice) / Magic Screen (voice)
- Suzanne Kent as Mrs. Renee
- William Marshall as The King of Cartoons
- Phil Hartman as Captain Carl
- Gilbert Lewis as The King of Cartoons
- Shirley Stoler as Mrs. Steve
- Gregory Harrison as Conky 2000 (voice) / Knucklehead (voice)
Created by Paul Reubens.