Sorry, Grace… back in the box
Without a doubt, “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” was the best show on Saturday mornings during the 1980s.
It basically was the kids-TV version of a Salvador Dali painting, featuring numerous non-human characters like Conky, Chairry, Globy and Pteri. There also were many human inhabitants of Pee Wee’s world: Miss Yvonne, Ricardo, the King of Cartoons, and, of course, Cowboy Curtis, played by a young Laurence Fishburne. S. Epatha Merkerson played Reba the Mail Lady, who arguably was the lone straight character on the show, one who viewed Pee Wee’s surreal world with a detached bemusement.
The show also featured the musical stylings of Danny Elfman, Cyndi Lauper, who sung the theme song, and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, who would go onto work on “Yo Gabba Gabba,” another brilliant show and one that is deeply influence by “Pee Wee’s Playhouse.”
Anyway, in the spirit of the season, I thought I’d post a video of the first few minutes of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special,” which inexplicably features singing U.S. Marines. The Corps most definitely got theirs that day.
