Go ahead and make fun, but the fact is that Pee Wee’s Playhouse was the most imaginative, interesting, and funny program ever to appear on Saturday morning TV (with the obvious exception of Bugs Bunny, which was actually made for movie theaters and only appeared on Saturday morning years later).
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (PWP) had a budget per episode that was typical of prime time shows of its era rather than the typical budget of some chintzy, bad-animation 30 minute infomercial for a dumb toy (I’m looking at you, He-Man). With that budget PWP was able to offer a mix of claymation, animation, puppetry, live-action, and a creative set. And it had a long list of talented actors. PWP regulars included Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne, and S. Epatha Merkerson (of Law and Order fame). Special guests included Jimmy Smits and Grace Jones in this so awful it is great Christmas special singling Little Drummer Boy. You have to see it to believe it:
OK, still don’t believe me that this was the greatest Saturday morning TV show ever? It won 22 Emmys. And it had this scene where Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne) prepares for a date by practicing with Pee Wee pretending to be Miss Yvonne (I know, it’s a stretch):
And who could resist repeat-gags like the secret word, when everyone would have to “scream real loud” whenever it was said. Like this “time” when the secret word was “time”:
Don’t forget that Tim Burton also launched his directing career with the movie Pee Wee’s Great Adventure and Danny Elfman did the music for both the TV show and movie.
PWP was not bad-good, like the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon or Shazam/Isis. It was good-good.
(I should add that I had the honor of meeting the actress who played Chairry this summer. Barrymore never had Chairry on his resume.)
Posted by Jay P. Greene 
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