Pee-wee's Playhouse Information

Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more adult humor.

In 2004 and 2007, Pee-wee's Playhouse was ranked #10 and #12 on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever.

On November 1, 2011, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the show, a book by Caseen Gaines called Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon, was released by ECW Press.

Show creation and format

The Pee-wee Herman character was developed by Reubens into a live stage show entitled The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1980. It featured many characters that would go on to appear in Playhouse, including Captain Carl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne, Pterri the Pterodactyl and Clocky. While enjoying continuous popularity with the show, Reubens teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985 to make the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure. It became one of the year's surprise hits, costing a relatively modest $6 million to make but taking in $45 million at the box office.

In 1985, writer producer Michael Chase Walker (The Last Unicorn, He Man, She-Ra, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Dino-Riders) joined the CBS Television Network as Director of Childrens Programs with a mandate to overhaul the network's third place standing.

Walker's vision was to shape the Saturday morning lineup into a Saturday movie matinee format with an eclectic blend of genres: westerns, comedy, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. He turned to Hanna Barbera to develop the fantasy western, "Wildfire", with his Last Unicorn alumns, Peter S. Beagle and Jimmy Webb. He also commissioned a Johnny Quest inspired adventure based on "Ripley's Believe it or Not" from Alan Burnett.

He was approached by Sidney Iwanter of TMS studios with the hilarious space comedy, "Galaxy High School", designed by Ren and Stimpy creator, Jon Kricfalusi. Learning there would be considerable resistance from CBS brass to working with an untried animation studio, Walker persuaded up and coming screenwriter director Chris Columbus (Goonies, Gremlins, Young Sherlock Holmes) to come on board as the series show runner. (The main characters bear the names of Columbus siblings.) As the schedule shaped up, Walker sensed he needed a name talent to frame the morning schedule on. As an independent producer, Walker co-controlled the rights to Louis Sachar's "Sideways Stories from the Wayside School", and was looking for a way to turn it into a live-action animated hybrid.

Walker commissioned the East coast animation company Broadcast Arts to come up with a series of stop motion, claymation vignettes to be included in the prospective series. Their designs for Life in the Fridge, The Toy Shelf and Penny Cartoon were so much fun, Walker was even more determined to find the right vehicle for it. Accepting an invitation from LA Entertainment critic David Sheehan, Walker attended an early screening of Pee Wee's Big Adventure and all the answers fell into place.

Walker saw the rich promise of inserting an eccentric, Chaplinesque character into an environment of puppets, zany characters, and animated cartoons.The only problem was Paul Reubens was about to become a huge feature film star. Film stars didn't do television let alone Saturday Morning children's programs. Undaunted, Walker called Paul Reubens's manager Richard Gilbert Abramson and pleaded for a meeting. As expected, he was rebuffed time and again with the same terse response: "Paul was not interested in doing television, period."

Walker did not give up and finally begged for five minutes of Paul's time. A few days before Christmas 1985, Abramson invited Walker to meet Paul Reubens and make his case. He did, and with flourish. "It's simply not true my pitch was either ill-conceived, or ill-received, because it was a tour de force." Walker says. "I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was exciting enough for Paul to look at me squarely and tell me outright, ? he always wanted to do a children's show'. Abramson called Walker a week into the New Year and a deal was eventually hammered out. That's when the fun and the fury began.

Walker goes on to reflect, "In 1985 Saturday morning television was the left hand of the entertainment business. On the network side, the children's programming executives were risk adverse and violently skeptical of anything that might be considered artsy or creative. On the supply side there was Hanna-Barbera, Ruby Spears, and newcomers, Nelvana, Marvel, and DIC. I realized if I was to accomplish anything truly groundbreaking I would have to do so from the ground up, and covertly. To go through conventional channels was to risk seeing it crushed at inception, or worse, handed over to one of the "approved" cartoon mills. I've got to laugh at the credit posturing that goes on as if the Playhouse's success was a fait accompli. It certainly was not. After the turbulent first season and the hugely disappointing ratings, I was blamed, not praised. My boss told me bluntly, "We should have stayed with Hulk Hogan's Rock and Wrestling." It wasn't until February of 1987 when the esteemed critic for Vanity Fair, James Wolcott, called it ?one of the most creative television shows in history' that the CBS brass started to come around. Over night they were stepping over themselves to claim credit for it.

After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal. In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Reubens to act, produce and direct his own live-action Saturday morning children's program, Pee-wee's Playhouse, with a budget of $325,000 per episode, (comparable to that of a half-hour prime-time sitcom) and full creative control (although CBS did request a few minor changes over the years).

Reubens assembled a supporting troupe that included ex Groundlings and cast members from The Pee-wee Herman Show, including Phil Hartman, John Paragon, Lynne Marie Stewart, Laurence Fishburne and S. Epatha Merkerson. Production began in New York City in the summer of 1986 in a converted loft on Broadway, which one of the show's writers, George McGrath, described as a "sweatshop". Reubens moved the production to Los Angeles for season two in 1987, resulting in a new set and a more relaxed work atmosphere

Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children, and its conception was greatly influenced by 1950s shows Reubens had watched as a child, like The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, The Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo and Howdy Doody. The show quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and grownups. Reubens, always trying to make of Pee-wee a positive role model, sought to make a significantly moral show that would teach children the ethics of reciprocity. Reubens believed that children liked the Playhouse because it was fast-paced, colorful and "never talked down to them", while parents liked the Playhouse because it reminded them of the past.

Plot

The premise of the show was that host Pee-wee Herman went to play in a fantastic house (situated in Puppetland) known as the Playhouse, which was filled with toys, gadgets, talking furniture and appliances (e.g. Magic Screen and Chairy) and puppet characters such as Conky The Robot, Pterri the baby Pteranodon and Jambi the Genie (John Paragon), a disembodied genie's head who lives in a jeweled box. The Playhouse was also visited by a regular cast of human characters, including Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Reba The Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), Captain Carl (Phil Hartman), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne) and a small group of children, The Playhouse Gang.

Although primarily a live-action comedy, each episode included segments featuring puppetry, video animation and prepared sequences using Chroma-key and stock footage, e.g., when Pee-wee jumps into the Magic Screen, as well as inserted clay animation sequences (some made by Richard Goleszowski and Nick Park, creators of Wallace & Gromit) and excerpts from cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, usually presented by the character "The King of Cartoons". Each episode also featured specially written soundtrack music by noted rock/pop musicians such as Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Todd Rundgren, Mitchell Froom and The Residents. The show's theme song was performed by Cyndi Lauper, although she is credited under the pseudonym "Ellen Shaw".

Each episode usually contained a running gag particular to that episode, and/or a specific event or dilemma that would send Pee-wee into an emotional frenzy. The show had many recurring gags, themes, and devices. For example, at the beginning of each episode, viewers were told the day's "secret word" (often issued by Conky the Robot) and were instructed to "scream real loud" every time a character on the show said the word. Pee-wee would always say the word himself at the end of the episode, just before launching himself and his scooter out of the playhouse through a hidden exit. During the closing credits, images of him were chroma-keyed together with footage of various roads and highways to make it appear that he was traveling along them.

CBS and Reubens mutually agreed to end the show in 1991 after 5 seasons and 45 episodes. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for allegedly exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida adult movie theater, causing CBS to immediately stop airing Playhouse re-runs.

The art of the playhouse

The creative design of the show was concocted by a troupe of artists including Gary Panter (the art director), Craig Bartlett, Richard Goleszowski, Gregory Harrison, Ric Heitzman, Phil Trumbo, and Wayne White. The first day of production, right as Panter began reading the scripts to find out where everything would be situated, set workers hurriedly asked him, "Where's the plans? All the carpenters are standing here ready to build everything." Panter responded, "You just have to give us 15 minutes to design this thing!" When asked about the styles that went into the set design, Panter said, "This was like the hippie dream...It was a show made by artists ... We put art history all over the show. It's really like ... I think Mike Kelley said, and it's right, that it's kind of like the Googie style " it's like those LA types of coffee shops and stuff but kind of psychedelic, over-the-top." Several artistic filmmaking techniques were featured on the program including chroma key, stop-motion animation, and claymation.

Soundtracks

The music for the show was provided by a diverse set of musicians, including Mark Mothersbaugh, The Residents, Todd Rundgren, Danny Elfman (who provided the score for both of the Pee-wee movies), Mitchell Froom, Van Dyke Parks, George Clinton and Dweezil Zappa with Scott Thunes (spelled 'Tunis' in the credits).

Mothersbaugh, who later went on to become a fixture in composing music for children's shows like Rugrats, joined the show on hiatus from recording with Devo:

The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Les Baxter's "Quiet Village". The theme song, which originally followed the prelude, was performed by Cyndi Lauper (credited as Ellen Shaw) as an imitation of cartoon character Betty Boop.

Cast and crew

Many now-well-known TV and film actors appeared on the show, including Sandra Bernhard, Laurence Fishburne, Phil Hartman, Steve James, Natasha Lyonne, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jimmy Smits, and Lynne Stewart. Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie was also a production assistant and future filmmaker John Singleton was also a security guard.

Season 3 (which consisted of only 3 episodes) included an all-star Christmas special featuring the regular cast, with appearances by Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Magic Johnson, Dinah Shore, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Little Richard, Cher, Charo, k.d. lang, the Del Rubio triplets and Grace Jones.

Human characters

Character	Played by	Description
Cowboy Curtis	Laurence Fishburne	A singing "cowboy" with a jheri curl mullet.
Captain Carl (first season)	Phil Hartman	A gritty, unshaven sea captain with a gruff voice, but a somewhat shy demeanor. He came by the playhouse to show Pee-wee interesting things from the ocean. His tolerance for Pee-wee's antics was often tested whenever he stopped by. Captain Carl was more adult-oriented in the HBO special and Miss Yvonne appeared to have deep feelings for him.
Miss Yvonne	Lynne Marie Stewart	A woman obsessed with beauty and cosmetics, who often flirted with Pee-wee and many of the other male characters on the show. She was given the title "the most beautiful woman in Puppetland" by the puppet characters (especially Mr. Window, who would usually introduce her). Yvonne wore a large brown bouffant-style wig, gaudy dresses and heels, and her appearance was always accompanied by some sort of theme music. She, like Ricardo, also has a medical background, as evidenced by her nurse get-up and actions in "Pee-wee Catches a Cold". Unlike many regulars, Yvonne appeared in almost every Playhouse episode, and in a few episodes, she even danced with Pee-wee herself. Pee-wee appeared to have a slight crush on Miss Yvonne in some episodes, and most of the time commented on how beautiful she looked upon greeting her.
Reba the Mail Lady	S. Epatha Merkerson	An African-American female mail carrier who was often confused by the rules of the playhouse; over time, she gets really annoyed at having to be screamed at in her ears. At one point in the series, she had a boyfriend named Derek (who was played by martial arts movie actor, Steve James). She also had a pet dog which Pee-wee recovered when she lost him. Rarely acknowledged the viewing audience.
The King of Cartoons	Gilbert Lewis (first season); William H. Marshall (subsequent seasons)	He showed a brief cartoon clip during his segment. His catch phrase was "Let the cartoon begin!" The original King of Cartoons used a film projector to show the cartoons (which he would aim at the lens of the camera shooting the actual show). On later seasons, the King would turn on a television set with a remote control.
Tito (first season only)	Roland Rodriguez	The Latino playhouse lifeguard. He usually came into the house during snack time or during a gathering.
Ricardo	Vic Trevino	A Latino soccer player with an apparent medical background. He replaced Tito after the first season.
Mrs. Steve (first season only; mentioned in "Fire in the Playhouse" of season 3)	Shirley Stoler	A frequent visitor to the playhouse during the first season. Enjoyed eating and "snooping around" when Pee-wee wasn't seen.
Mrs. Renee	Suzanne Kent	A neighbor of Pee-wee's, who replaced Mrs. Steve after the first season. She is the polar opposite of Mrs. Steve, being much more tolerant and fun-loving.
Dixie (first season)	Johann Carlo	A taxi driver who introduced the King of Cartoons in the first season by playing her trumpet (frequently referring to him as "King Cartoon").
The Playhouse Gang (first season)	Natasha Lyonne (Opal); Shaun Weiss (Elvis); Diane Yang (Cher)	Three children who interacted with Pee-wee during the first season. They were replaced by three other children for the subsequent second season.
The Playhouse Gang (second season)	Vaughn Tyree Jelks (Fabian); Alisan Porter (Li'l Punkin); Stephanie Walski (Rapunzel)	Three children who interacted with Pee-wee, but only in two episodes of the second season. Their only notable personality trait is that Li'l Punkin never spoke, instead whispering in Pee-wee's or other characters' ears. She spoke occasionally, but only in unison with the other two, and once she sang a song.

Puppet and object characters

Character	Voiced by	Description
Jambi	John Paragon	A blue-faced (later green) genie who lived in a jeweled box. Usually appeared once per show to grant Pee-wee a wish, often with unexpected results. Sometimes, he appeared more than once per show or not at all. His catchphrases included "Wish? Did somebody say 'Wish'?", and the magic words "Mecca lecca hi, mecca hiney ho" (which grew more complicated as the show progressed).
Chairry	Alison Mork	A bluish-green armchair with eyes on the chair back, a mouth between the seat cushions, and armrests that flapped around and occasionally hugged Pee-wee when he sat on her.
Magic Screen	Alison Mork	A screen on wheels that slightly resembled an Etch-A-Sketch, it flashed in an array of colors when not in use; it also showed films, and Pee-wee would frequently jump into the screen itself to interact with a fantasy land inside, usually to "connect the dots" (see below). Magic Screen once mentioned having a relative, Movie Screen. In the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, Magic Johnson stated that he and Magic Screen were cousins. Magic Screen is addressed as "she" and "her" in the puppeteers' commentary indicating that Magic Screen is actually female.
Pterri	John Paragon (Seasons 1, 3 "? 5); George McGrath (Season 2)	A green Pteranodon and one of Pee-wee's closest friends; he usually acted like a young child. Pterri was afraid of thunderstorms (as revealed in "Rainy Day") and was very sensitive. He was often picked on by Randy and sometimes hung out with Globey. In the HBO special, The Pee-wee Herman Show, he worked for Captain Carl as a sort of "talking parrot" element.
Mr. Window	Ric Heitzman	The window to the left of the playhouse door when inside the playhouse; he had googly eyes and talked by moving his yellow window pane up and down. His role on the show was to introduce other characters (usually Miss Yvonne), and occasionally serve as a means for Pterri to enter and exit the playhouse (though Mr Window would only open up his "mouth" about half to two-thirds of the time).
Clockey	Kevin Carlson	A yellow and red clock shaped like a map of the United States; he often introduced "Penny" cartoons and the like by asking Pee-wee "Do you know what time it is?... Time for a Penny cartoon (etc.)!." He originated in the HBO special acting in a similar manner.
Conky 2000	Gregory Harrison (Season 1); Kevin Carlson (subsequent seasons)	The playhouse robot, who gave Pee-wee the "secret word" each week and served as a "brain" element in the show. He spoke with a stutter, and was made from various parts of old electronics, including an old camera attachments (eyes), a boombox (chest), phonograph (torso), and a typewriter with no keys (head)and Vacuum Cleaner Hood as the top skull. The robot referred to himself as "Conky 2000" (after the first season, though he used this in episode #3 in the first season) when Pee-wee turned him on. According to evidence suggested in the episode "Conky's Breakdown", there may be more than one Conky robot. Designed and built by Gregory Harrison, voice created and performed by David Powers and Gregory Harrison season one.
Globey	George McGrath	A spinning globe with a pair of arms at the base and a large face in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Globey spoke with a French-sounding accent and would often help Pee-wee out with geography, language, astronomy, or history questions. He sometimes hung out with Pterri, and, like Pterri, acted in the manner typical of a young child.
Puppet Band	Wayne White (Dirty Dog); Ric Heitzman (Cool Cat); Alison Mork (Chicky Baby)	Three animal puppets who comprise a 1950s-style jazz combo, who live in a corridor of the Playhouse designed to resemble an alley. They normally spoke in rhyme, parodying Beat generation poetry.
Mr. Kite	Wayne White	A pink kite that occasionally appeared in one of the playhouse windows. Occasionally, Pee-wee would ask for weather reports and Mr. Kite would tell Pee-wee what the weather was going to be like.
Randy	Wayne White	A red-headed marionette who served as the playhouse bully, usually making life miserable for Pee-wee and the playhouse characters. Once talked Pee-wee into prank-calling a woman (Alison Mork) who was the wife of the police officer "Daryl" (George McGrath) on the Picturephone, suggesting that he might be a juvenile delinquent.
Billy Baloney	Paul Reubens	A ventriloquist dummy, slightly resembling Randy in appearance (but blonde), who Pee-wee himself operated on occasion.
Dog Chair	George McGrath	A white chaise longue, which was similar to Chairry but resembling the face of a dog. He sat next to Chairry, but was used and referred to much less often.
Ant Farm	Miscellaneous.	Occasionally, Pee-wee would check to see what the ants were up to; a short close-up animated sequence would follow depicting the ants engaged in some "human" activity. On one occasion, they actually managed to get out of the farm.
The Dinosaur Family	George McGrath (Red); Alison Mork (Light Blue); Ric Heitzman (Blue); Kevin Carlson (Pink)	A den of miniature, claymation dinosaurs who lived in a mouse hole in the playhouse. The camera view would frequently zoom in on the dinosaurs to see what they were doing. In the Christmas special, they are revealed to be Jewish as they are shown celebrating Hanukkah.
Food	Miscellaneous.	The contents of Pee-wee's refrigerator. Various claymation food items including pizzas, vegetables, french fries and others that would dance and juggle to Pee-wee and friends' amusement.
Flowers	Ric Heitzman; George McGrath; Wayne White	Three flowers living in a flowerbed in the window to the right of the playhouse door. After Dixie left the show, they introduced the King of Cartoons.
Fish	Ric Heitzman (Purple); George McGrath (Yellow)	The fish lived in the playhouse aquarium. Their trademark was that often when something happened, the purple fish would make a snide remark regarding the situation, which the yellow fish would follow up with a witty comment. Both fish would then cackle, an act reminiscent of Muppets Statler & Waldorf.
Penny	Anna Seidman	A claymation short featuring a blonde girl with pennies for eyes, who described some situations in her life and daily activities. She would reappear later outside the show on public service commercials. 37 different claymation shorts were featured on this show.
Knucklehead	Gregory Harrison (Season 1); Kevin Carlson (Season 2)	A large image of a side view of a fist, with "googly eyes" and lipstick, who told bad knock-knock jokes. He had a bit part in the HBO special, The Pee-wee Herman Show, but as a sock puppet who acted and sounded differently.
Cowntess	George McGrath	A life-sized, talking cow that spoke in an elegant accent.
Salesman	Ric Heitzman	A caricatured salesman, dressed in a tacky suit and a humongous head, who rang the doorbell and shouted "I'm going door to door to make you this incredible offer!" (occasionally he could be heard starting another sentence, "I'm sure by now you have realized-") while a horror movie-style effect played in the background. This caused Pee-wee to slam the door and scream, occasionally frustratedly saying, "Salesmen!" Pee-wee once let him in during a party, saying, "What's your incredible offer?", to which the salesman replied "Free foil!", which Pee-wee gladly accepted for his foil ball. This character was retired after the first season.
Floory	Kevin Carlson	A section of the playhouse floor that stood up and talked. For the first season, he was covered by Pee-wee's tepee. But after Pee-wee and his friends remodeled the playhouse, he emerged and the tepee was placed in a different part of the playhouse.
Chandelier	Alison Mork	A talking chandelier with a French accent who appeared in later seasons.
Exercise Belt	Ric Heitzman	A vintage vibrating belt exercise machine. Pee-wee would sometimes get on it, turn it on, then get stuck on it. Conky would usually have to get him out.
Toys	Miscellaneous.	Pee-wee's strange toys, that he keeps in a smiley face shaped window, with movable shelves inside. Their space on the wall was taken over by Clocky and were relocated to the back wall of the playhouse behind a door that looked like a tire.
El Hombre	Unknown.	A Spanish language cartoon shown toward the later run of the series about a superhero who stops crime, thwarts strangers, saves people's lives, and rights any other wrongs. 6 different claymation shorts were featured on this show, and was usually used as a substitute for the penny cartoon, but two episodes ("Miss Yvonne's Visit" and "Mystery") featured both.

One-time characters

Character	Played by	Description
Roger	Janine Scherr	A large, green monster that invaded the playhouse. He resembled a giant eyeball, had two mouths and one leg, and spoke in a language incomprehensible to Pee-wee until he wished he could understand the monster (at which point he learned his name in English). During this episode, Roger talked to his mother on the Picturephone; during the conversation, Roger's mother said the Secret Word in their language, at which point they both screamed while a bunch of symbols appeared on the screen. At the end of the episode, Roger left the Playhouse with Pee-wee on the back of Pee-wee's scooter. Roger made his second and final appearance in the "Pajama Party" episode.
Rusty	Calvert DeForest	A strange old man who hung out with the Playhouse Gang in the first season " and acted exactly like them, if not more childish. Oddly enough, he wears a "Playboy" pin on his hat, among others.
Yvona	Lynne Marie Stewart	A female alien, who was captured by Zyzzybalubah and locked in a cage as his personal slave. Bears a striking facial and bodily resemblance to Miss Yvonne and has similar theme music. It is implied by her in "Playhouse in Outer Space" that Zyzzy has kept Yvona as his slave for years (when she says "It's always been like this."). Pee-wee seems to develop feelings for her, probably due to her similarities to Miss Yvonne, whom he also had apparent feelings for.
Zyzzybalubah	George McGrath	A malevolent male alien, who hypnotized Conky into making his own name the secret word and launched the Playhouse into space. He calls anyone he captures his "friends" but Pee-wee sets him straight.
Conky Repairman Johnny Wilson	Jimmy Smits	Fixed problems with Conky, the playhouse robot.
Rhonda	Sandra Bernhard	Picturephone operator, who has a crush on Pee-wee.
Derek	Steve James	Reba's boyfriend, a fireman. He was going to take Reba to the firemen's ball, but after it got canceled because of a fire at the ballroom itself, they don't know where else to go. So Pee-wee allows Derek and Reba to have their date right there at the playhouse; they would play drive-in, with Magic Screen as the screen and Pee-wee and Miss Yvonne as Derek and Reba's chaperones (possibly for a double date).

Production

At the start of season two, the show moved from its New York City warehouse studio to facilities at the Hollywood Center Studios, creating changes in personnel and a change to the set that allowed the show to take advantage of the additional space. The show changed production facilities in 1989 during its 4th season, this time at the Culver Studios, also in Los Angeles, California.

Critical praise

As soon as it first aired, Pee-wee's Playhouse fascinated media theorists and commentators, many of whom championed the show as a postmodernist hodgepodge of characters and situations which appeared to soar in the face of domineering racist and sexist presumptions. For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and non, were of diverse cultural and racial origin. In its entire run, Pee-wee's Playhouse won 15 Emmys as well as other awards. Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan hailed the show's "awesome production values." Adding, "with the possible exception of the Muppets, you can't find such creativity anywhere on TV."

"I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different "? not that it's good, not that it's bad, but that it's all right. I'm trying to tell kids to have a good time and to encourage them to be creative and to question things," Reubens told an interviewer in Rolling Stone.

Awards and nominations

• 1987 " Outstanding Makeup " Sharon Ilson (won)
• 1987 " Outstanding Hairstyling " Sally Hershberger and Eric Gregg (won)
• 1987 " Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design " Gary Panter, Sydney J. Bartholomew Jr., Nancy Deren, Wayne White and Ric Heitzman (Won)
• 1987 " Outstanding Film Sound Mixing - Rolf Pardula and Ken Hahn
• 1987 " Outstanding Videotape Editing - Paul Dougherty, Doug Jines, Joe Castellano, Les Kaye and Howard Silver
• 1987 " Outstanding Graphics and Title Design - Prudence Fenton and Phil Trumbo (won)
• 1988 " Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design " Gary Panter, Wayne White, Ric Heitzman, Jeremy Railton, James Higginson and Paul Reubens (won)
• 1988 " Outstanding Makeup " Ve Neill (won)
• 1988 " Outstanding Videotape Editing " John Ward Nielson for "Playhouse in Outer Space"
• 1989 " Outstanding Hairstyling " Yolanda Toussieng Jerry Masone for "To Tell The Tooth" (won, tied with The Oprah Winfrey Show)
• 1989 " Outstanding Videotape Editing " Charles Randazzo, Peter W. Moyer, David Pincus and Steve Purcell for "To Tell The Tooth" (won)
• 1989 " Outstanding Film Sound Editing " Steve Kirklys, Steve Michael, Peter Cole, Ken Dahlinger, Greg Teall and John Walker for "To Tell The Tooth" (won, tied with Muppet Babies)
• 1991 " Outstanding Graphics and Title Design " Paul Reubens, Prudence Fenton and Dorne Huebler (won)
• 1991 " Outstanding Film Sound Editing " Peter Cole, Chris Trent, Glenn A. Jordan, Steve Kirklys, Ken Dahlinger and John Walker (won)
• 1991 " Outstanding Film Sound Mixing " Bo Harwood, Peter Cole, Chris Trent and Troy Smith (won)

Episode guide

Golden Age cartoons

During the show's run, many cartoons were shown from the "Golden Age" of animation, usually courtesy of the King of Cartoons. However, they were not featured with their respective titles, nor credited, and generally only brief clips were shown. As Reubens stated in a 2004 radio interview, almost all of the cartoons they obtained were in the public domain.

First Season: 1986	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1	Fresh Vegetable Mystery	1939	Dave Fleischer
2	Ants in the Plants	1940	Dave Fleischer
3	Summertime	1934	Ub Iwerks
4	Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!	1931	Rudolf Ising
5	Old Mother Hubbard	1935	Ub Iwerks
6	The Three Bears	1935	Ub Iwerks
7	Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies	1935	Burt Gillett, Tom Palmer
8	Flip the Frog: Puddle Pranks	1931	Ub Iwerks
9	Jack Frost	1934	Ub Iwerks
10	Mary's Little Lamb	1935	Ub Iwerks
11	Somewhere in Dreamland	1936	Dave Fleischer
12	Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!	1931	Rudolf Ising
13	Bunny Mooning	1937	Dave Fleischer
Second Season: 1987	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 14	Philips Broadcast	1938	George Pal
2 / 15	To Spring	1936	Bill Hanna
4 / 17	The Sunshine Makers (44 sec)	1935	Ted Eshbaugh
5 / 18	Piano Tooners	1932	John Foster, George Rufle
6 / 19	Philips Broadcast	1938	George Pal
7 / 20	Neptune Nonsense	1936	Burt Gillett
8 / 21	Much Ado About Mutton	1947	Isadore Sparber
9 / 22	Ship of the Ether	1934	George Pal
10 / 23	Musical Memories	1935	Dave Fleischer
Third Season: 1988	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 24	Farm Foolery	1949	Seymour Kneitel
2 / 25	Christmas Comes But Once a Year	1936	Dave Fleischer
3 / 26	An Elephant Never Forgets	1935	Dave Fleischer
Fourth Season: 1989	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 27	Hunky & Spunky	1938	Dave Fleischer
2 / 28	The Stork Market	1949	Seymour Kneitel
3 / 29	Spring Song	1949	Isadore Sparber
4 / 30	To Spring	1936	Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
5 / 31	Pantry Panic	1941	Walter Lantz
6 / 32	The Kids In the Shoe	1935	Dave Fleischer
7 / 33	The Song of the Birds	1935	Dave Fleischer
8 / 34	In the Cartoon Studio	1931	Rudolf Ising
9 / 35	Little Lambkins	1940	Dave Fleischer
10 / 36	None
Fifth Season: 1990	Cartoon Title	Year	Director
1 / 37	One More Time	1931	Rudolf Ising
2 / 38	Farm Frolics	1941	Bob Clampett
3 / 39	The Little Red Hen	1934	Ub Iwerks
4 / 40a*	Freddy the Freshman	1932	Rudolf Ising
4 / 40b*	Humpty Dumpty	1935	Ub Iwerks
5 / 41	Fin 'n' Catty	1943	Chuck Jones
6 / 42	Sinkin' in the Bathtub	1930	Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
7 / 43	Freddy the Freshman	1932	Rudolf Ising
8 / 44a*	Allegretto	1936	Oskar Fischinger
8 / 44b*	Balloon Land	1935	Ub Iwerks
9 / 45	None
10 / 46	None

* These episodes had more than one classic cartoon each

Later airings and home video releases

• On August 15, 1998, the show returned to television in reruns on Fox Family Channel, only to go off the air once again the following year.
• Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block began airing the show Monday through Thursday on July 10, 2006. After the first week only the "Quiet Village" part of the opening was shown, leaving out the Cyndi Lauper vocal. "Quiet Village" was not part of the first week of broadcasts. The newer opening theme and prelude created for the 1990"91 season was left off. Adult Swim originally slated to end airings on the weekdays on October 19, 2006 and move the show to Sundays at 10 PM. In late December 2006, Adult Swim moved the show to Sunday nights, returning it to the schedule at 1:30 AM.
• Several episodes were initially released by Hi-Tops Video, the "children's imprint" of Media/Heron Communications, in 1988. They were then reissued on video by MGM/UA Home Entertainment in 1996, along with several episodes that were not released on video the first time. Finally, all 45 episodes were released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2004. It should also be noted that the Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special was released during each of these three times.

VHS and laserdisc releases

Hi-Tops Video releases

Vol. 1 - Ice Cream Soup
Vol. 2 - Luau for Two
Vol. 3 - Rainy Day/Now You See Me, Now You Don't/Cowboy Fun (Just Another Day)
Vol. 4 - Beauty Makeover
Vol. 5 - Restaurant
Vol. 6 - Ants in Your Pants
Vol. 7 - Monster in the Playhouse
Festival of Fun - Monster in the Playhouse/The Cowboy and the Cowntess/Stolen Apples/The Gang's All Here/Party
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Vol. 8 - Open House
Vol. 9 - Puppy in the Playhouse
Vol. 10 - Pajama Party
Vol. 11 - Pee-wee's Store
Vol. 12 - Pee-wee Catches a Cold
Vol. 13 - Tons of Fun
Vol. 14 - School
Vol. 15 - Why Wasn't I Invited?

Hi-Tops Video laserdisc releases
Fun-o-Rama - Ice Cream Soup/Luau for Two/Rainy Day/Now You See Me, Now You Don't
Potpurri - Just Another Day/Beauty Makeover/The Restaurant/Ants in Your Pants
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

MGM/UA Home Video Releases
Vol. 1 - Open House/Pee-wee Catches a Cold
Vol. 2 - I Remember Curtis/Conky's Breakdown
Vol. 3 - Store/Playhouse in Outer Space
Vol. 4 - Pajama Party/To Tell the Tooth
Vol. 5 - The Gang's All Here/Party
Vol. 6 - Luau for Two/Now You See Me, Now You Don't
Vol. 7 - Fire in the Playhouse/Love That Story
Vol. 8 - Sick? Did Somebody Say Sick?/Miss Yvonne's Visit
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Vol. 9 - Dr. Pee-wee and the Del Rubios/Rebarella
Vol. 10 - Let's Play Office/Mystery
Vol. 11 - Front Page Pee-wee/Tango Time
Vol. 12 - Playhouse Day/Accidental Playhouse
Vol. 13 - Ice Cream Soup/Puppy in the Playhouse
Vol. 14 - The Cowboy and the Cowntess/Reba Eats and Pterri Runs
Vol. 15 - Tons of Fun/School
Vol. 16 - Why Wasn't I Invited?/Ants in Your Pants

DVD releases

Image Entertainment has released all 45 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse on DVD as NTSC Region 0 discs..

DVD name	Ep #	Release Date	Notes
Pee-wee's Playhouse #1	23	November 16, 2004	Includes all episodes from Seasons 1 and 2
Pee-wee's Playhouse #2	22	November 16, 2004	Includes all episodes from Seasons 3"5
Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special	1	October 19, 2004
Pee Wee's Playhouse - The Complete Collection	45 + 1	October 19, 2010	Includes all episodes from Seasons 1"5 plus the Christmas Special