Pee Wee's Playhouse marathon on IFC Thanksgiving 2018

I had forgotten what a great show this was, lot's of fun for kids and adults. Check it out folks!!

 

Ice Cream Soup for everyone! What a great, imaginative, purely crazy show this was.

I used to love The King Of Cartoons segment because they'd always show such weird, old cartoons that I'd never seen anywhere else before.

 

Why don’t you marry it?

 

I totally walked right into that, didn't I?

 

If you guys like Pee-Wee's Playhouse check out the precursor HBO special "The Pee-Wee Herman Show". It's available on DVD and it's really funny. Phil Hartman is in it.

Also, anyone remember the "Penny" cartoon claymation shorts? Those were really wild!

 

What I love about Pee Wee's Playhouse is that it was so subversive. It was full of innuendo, both homo and heterosexual, yet to the child there was no way they could have picked up on. It's humor was often dark, but to a child it was all lighthearted. That's masterful!

I'm not saying that every tiny bit of every episode holds some hidden meaning; yet, the depth is certainly there on simultaneous levels.

Pee Wee's Playhouse wasn't the first of it's kind, see Sid and Marty Kroftt, though I think that Paul Herman and writers perfected it. This is why nearly everyone, of all ages, can get something from the show, even if it's on a subconscious level.

In sum: Pee Wee's Playhouse isn't merely a slight offering. It's one of the greatest shows every created.

 

I’d say this is a big reason why I continue to follow animated children’s programs to this day (at least the ones for older kids, 8-12ish). The folks writing those shows tend to be a bit more interesting and creative than those writing similarly lighthearted programming for adults (like sitcoms), and in the best shows they tend to just throw in whatever they think is funny in hopes that some of it translates to the intended young target audience rather than writing down in at attempt to pander to them. Pee Wee had a big part in creating a creator-driven atmosphere in programming for that demographic, as well as The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, and Animaniacs in moving American animated shows past the 80s glut of toy commericals.

 

Miss Yvonne: I don’t have anywhere to sit.

Chairy: You can sit here Miss Yvonne.

Miss Yvonne: Oh Chairy I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather sit on.

 

Genius. Love the way it evolved from the skits into a more childish vanilla but refused to not be silly and boundary pushing.