Customer Reviews

Pee-wee's Playhouse #1 - Seasons 1 and 2

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Has there ever been a more surreal and bizarre opening sequence to any show ever made in America than that of PEE WEE'S PLAYHOUSE? The Surrealists felt that one of the keys of art lay in our dreams, and the intro to this show seems like a happy nightmare of sorts. The music, Pee Wee's odd vocal interjections, the variety of visual images, the introduction of the strange group of inhabitants living in the playhouse, all combine to announce to the would-be viewer that his was a show that wasn't going to go down any path that had been traveled by any previous show.

For five seasons beginning in 1986, this was simply one of the most amazing shows TV has ever produced. Paul Reubens was amazing as Pee Wee Herman, literally a child with the appearance of an adult, who was a veritable encyclopedia of irritating habits that kids can assume, with every annoying verbal come a kid has ever used. Armed with a great group of writers, a stellar cast, and some remarkable set and character designers, this show did things that no kid's show had ever done before or has done sense, though the influence on the more anarchistic line of kid's cartoons can still be detected. I would be willing to be that the makers of shows like SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS are fans of Pee Wee.

Unfortunately, this all came crashing to an end when a sex scandal caused CBS to pull the show off TV. In fact, before the scandal they had already ceased making new episodes of the show. But the incident did two things: 1) it caused CBS to cease showing the show in reruns and 2) killed off any future use of the Pee Wee character by Reubens. The series has been re-released on video, though it has been out of print for a number of years, and because of the sexual nature of Reubens demise, few networks have been willing to rebroadcast the show. Until this DVD release, PEE WEE has been more or less unavailable to the public.

Although Paul Reubens dominated the show as Pee Wee, the show is amazing today for the remarkable amount of talent on the show. Over the years I have been amazed at how many people remember Cowboy Curtis from the show, but are unaware that Laurence Fishburne portrayed him. Captain Carl was played by Phil Hartman before he went on to star on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for years. The second actor to play the King of Cartoons was William Marshall, star Blaxploitation cult classic vampire film BLACULA. Natasha Lyonne, who played Opal, went on to additional success as a child actress and as a young adult, including THE SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS and BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER. S. Epatha Merkerson, who played Reba the letter carrier, has gone on to a long career on LAW AND ORDER. And of course the woman who made Pee Wee's heart skip a beat, the beautiful Miss Yvonne, was played by Lynne Marie Stewart, who has gone on to plays a host of supporting roles on TV and in film. All in all, you have to acknowledge that this was far from a normal children's cast.

But it wasn't merely the human cast that made this show so remarkable. Inhabiting Pee Wee's playhouse were an extraordinarily odd group of denizens, from Pterri the Pterodactyl to Mr. Kite to Mr. Windows to Cool Cat and talking chairs, flowers, and fish. Conky the Robot would each week dispense that show's secret word, a stunt seemed designed to irritate parents' as much as possible. One of my favorite recurring characters was the Salesman, whose appearance at Pee Wee's door would cause panic and disconcerted screaming each week. And how could you describe Jambi to someone who hadn't seen the show before? A disembodied genie's head who each week could solve whatever problems facing either Pee Wee or his friends with those amazing words, "Mekka Lekka Hi-Mekka Hiney Ho!"

I'm delighted that these are available now on DVD. A whole generation of kids has passed not knowing what a great thing they missed. Kids who are in high school today have only a vague idea about Pee Wee, though they might know his two movies. For many he was someone whose career ended because he did something very, very bad, though not many seem to know what that was. Now we get to see all of these great shows again, and they get to discover him for the first time.

This years edition of the show may have all the episodes but it's lacking in the special features department. According to the site TVSHOWSONDVD.com there will be another edition coming out in 2005. The 2005 edition will be chocked full of heavenly goodness. It is being produced with the help of the great Paul Reubens. The 2005 addition will contain all 5 seasons in one handy-dandy boxed set and will.....is everybody listening..........have audio commentary with Paul Reubens himself. Woo-hoo! If you are a hard-core fan of the show you may want to just wait till next year when the better edition is released. Until then, thanks for reading my review.

A box set containing all 45 episodes PLUS audio commentary, behind-the-scenes footage and other extras is scheduled for next year. Real fans will want to wait, if they can stand it.

This is an absolute classic, that has been awarded numerous Emmys and critical acclaim. It's a show that both kids and adults can have a great time watching. Paul Reubens is an underrated genius, imo, who unforunately had some 'bad luck' along the way. I was sorry to see the series go, due to CBS's decision. Not many people were aware at the time that the Pee Wee's Playhouse theme song was sung by noneother than the underrated and extremely talented singer Cyndi Lauper, who used the pseudonym "Ellen Shaw." This is definitely one to own.

A must have for any DVD library, this groundbreaking, innovative series, Pee-wee's Playhouse, was created and produced by the genius of Paul Reubens who also stars as pop culture icon, Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee's Playhouse is marked by a campy sensibility and frequent use of double entendre, engaging viewers of all ages.

Incorporating clips from vintage cartoons, 3-D animation, hand puppets, marionettes, and a cast of endearingly eccentric memorable characters, Pee-wee's Playhouse is non-stop fun that might best be described as a wild mix of Mr. Rogers, The Wizard of Oz and MTV. Each episode Pee-wee Herman welcomes you into his kaleidoscope, fantasy clubhouse for adventure through a labyrinth of zany characters and sci-fi inventions. Music for the shows was provided by cutting edge artists such as Mark Mothersbaugh, Todd Rundgren, Danny Elfman, and Van Dyke Parks.

This set of DVD releases divides all 5 years (45 episodes) of the Playhouse into 2 affordable box sets (which includes 8 lost episodes) in all their side splitting hilarity sparkling in never before seen DVD clarity.

Also, check out the newly released DVD of Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special -- a charming, star-studded Christmas classic.

[...]

These five discs come in compact packaging that give you 23 episodes of the first two seasons that will only occupy an inch and a half of shelf space.
I remember watching the first episode the first season when it first aired on TV. The dreamy opening segued into the most action packed stop motion animation, computer animation, clay animation, and regular animation that I'd ever experienced. I couldn't believe only a small half hour had transpired. This was the trippy-est project going for 1986. Eye candy hid everywhere, in the refrigerator, the toy shelf, and the mouse hole.
And a powerhouse of talent contributed, including Larry Fishburne, Phil Hartman, and a young Natasha Lyonne. And for music the opening and closing credits were written with Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo). Additional contributions by Danny Elfman, Todd Rundgren, Dweezil Zappa, and The Residents. I especially like Danny Elfman's score in the "Monster in the Playhouse" episode #9.
Admittedly I am a first season diehard. In season two the Playhouse gets remodeled and we lose the toy shelf after that.
There are no special features. But this perfectly replaces my original taped video collection of episodes. Now I can easily match and entertain my friend's or my friends kid's over-stimulated minds.

I purchased this DVD set for my two children under five. They enjoy watching Pee Wee's Playhouse over any other current kids TV show. This is what they have told me. Pee Wee makes them laugh. All the charactors are funny and the all furniture and dinosaurs talk. They also love watching King cartoon and his video's, and Jombi with his magical powers. Personally I think all the episodes are wonderful for the kids to watch. You won't be disappointed in purchasing this collection. And while your at it, pick up a copy of Pee' Wee's chrismas special. This is an awesome show and the special guests are never ending.

This tv show had a strong effect on me as a child, probably not unlike the effect Gumby had on my dad growing up as it's totally surreal in similar kind of way. The humor is unique, and the variety is astounding; from claymation and other cut-out and hand drawn animations, to the acting and puppetry, I can't imagine the chore it must've been to crank out an episode every week (although the exorbatantly long intro was proabably designed to take off some of that pressure). Truly, this is a entertainment masterpiece.

With my personal opinon about the show out the way, I have to say, I'm a little dissapointed by the dvd box sets. Not only are they devoid of any special features (save a few "lost" episodes), but the editing is rather annoying as well as you cannot skip the intro theme without skipping part of the first scene. This makes watching several episodes in a row kind of tedious as, despite its quality, the intro's high pitched vocals and length will start to get to you and you'll want to start fast forwarding though it. While this is a minimal gripe it could have been avoided.

The quality of Pee-Wee's Playhouse alone demands five stars and since this is the only available dvd set it's essential for fans with some expendable income who want to get re-aquainted with it. The quality of this particular collection, however, deserves a pretty low score, but i'm going to be generous and give the collection as whole a 4/5 for the show's merits alone.

Absolutley, hands down the best Satuday morning show there ever was. Wonderful to have this (2nd season) on DVD, especially since my kids now love him.

One important note though: The transfer to DVD is downright awful. Okay, I suppose the higher-ups didn't feel it necessary to produce a flawless transfer given the content. But at times it can be downright distracting. Portions out of focus, lines and pixelation. Ugh! There is another version coming out in 2005 packed with goodies (not the least of which is commentary by Paul himself), perhaps this will be a higher end product.

This being said....It is a purchase enjoyed by all.

just in time for everyone to buy for the generation of children which have been deprived of this genius television series.
hopefully this will spark enough interest to rebroadcast the series, and if mr. reubens is so interested to make more!