Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens, at 70, took his final bow this week, leaving behind a legacy marked in no small part by the subversive success of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The CBS Saturday morning phenomenon ran from 1986 to 1991, capturing the imaginations of children and adults alike. Notable for its surreal set designs, courtesy of the famed underground cartoonist Gary Panter (his “Jimbo” is a must-read), the show became a tangible demonstration of what Panter argued for in his Rozz-Tox Manifesto: “An antimedia that creates, participates, and services a broader-based lunatic fringe.”
Growing up, I found myself drawn to several such unconventional “children’s” shows, thanks to my father’s distinct taste for the offbeat. Among them were Fleischer Studios’ Popeye the Sailor (“Vim, Vigor, and Vitaliky” was his all-time favorite episode of anything), Looney Tunes cartoons, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and of course, Pee-wee’s Playhouse. My father had a particular fondness for colorful productions with unusual “built” or “constructed” sets—he’d gladly expatiate on the merits of Michael Powell’s The Thief of Baghdad—and Pee-wee’s Playhouse had a similar appeal.
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