#Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse

[bitter69uk]

“Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse, inarguably the best and most significant holiday variety show of our time (this is not up for debate!) has been a staple of my family’s holiday tradition for my entire life. For many of us children of '80s and '90s, it served not only as an entry point to the zany world of Pee-wee Herman, also as a refreshing alternative to the boring, strait-laced Christmas specials from squares like Andy Williams and The Carpenters … Joyously combining the era's rising stars, campy gay icons, and all-American cultural icons of the 1960s, Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse feels vibrant, punk-rock, queer, and alternative even 30 years after it originally aired on 21 December 1988.���

/ From “Forget Frosty: Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse Is the Holiday Special That Keeps on Giving” by Dom Nero in the December 2018 issue of Esquire magazine /

Wow! I didn’t realize that the Lobotomy Room film club’s presentation of Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse on 21 December 2023 actually represents the 35th anniversary of when it first dropped on TV! How serendipitous! Venue: Fontaine’s cocktail lounge in Dalston. Spaces are limited, so reserve your seat now (phone 07718000546 or email bookings@fontaines.bar). Pictured: Pee-wee (Paul Reubens) with special guest star Little Richard!

[bitter69uk]

“Many of the celebrities featured on Pee-wee’s special are . . . well actually a bunch of them are dead. The Del Rubio Triplets, Annette Funicello, Joan Rivers, Dinah Shore — they’ve all gone to that Playhouse in the sky. Recently departed Christmas Special guest star Zsa Zsa Gabor is knocking on that heavenly door as we speak. But just look at the roster of stars in the special who are still with us! Little Richard, Whoopi Goldberg, Laurence Fishburne (as Cowboy Curtis, of course), Frankie Avalon, Magic Johnson, Charo, K.D. lang and Oprah Winfrey, when she was just Oprah as opposed to the Oprah. Even she was outdone by the Playhouse’s most exalted guest, Grace Jones, sporting some kind of avant-garde plastic fantastic getup and crooning "Little Drummer Boy" while sensually snaking her arms. The plotline of Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special is beyond simple. Opening with a tune sung by the UCLA men’s chorus dressed in military garb (for what reason? Who knows?) Pee-wee prepares for Christmas, makes an insanely long list for Santa and barely hides his disdain for all the fruitcakes people keep dropping off. But each visit also provides an excuse to pull off an artful visual gag, educate the children and their overgrown counterparts about different holiday traditions and eventually have Cher blurt out the word of the day. Oh yes. Cher was there, too. Santa shows up eventually, forcing Pee-wee to face his childish greed. How does it all turn out? Good lord, people, just watch the thing.”

/ From “Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special”: The last great holiday variety show?” by Melanie McFarland in Salon.com. Before any pedants vomit with rage, McFarland’s review dates from December 2016 when Zsa Zsa Gabor and Little Richard were still alive! /

Yes! “Just watch the thing” in the glittering surroundings of Fontaine’s bar in Dalston while imbibing festive cocktails on Thursday 21 December when the free monthly Lobotomy Room cinema club presents Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse (1988)! Spaces are limited – reserve your seat now via the venue! Details here.

Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse (1988)

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

Paul Reubens (1952-2023)

I’m absolutely devastated to learn that Paul Reubens, also known as Pee-Wee Herman, has passed away after privately battling cancer.

I first came across his work, not through Pee-Wee but as Oscar Vibenius in a few episodes of Pushing Daisies; you can imagine my shock just two years ago when I got into TNBC and realised that one of the voice actors of my favourite trio of characters was in the first television show I was truly obsessed with and one that remains close to my heart. Despite only being in two or three episodes, he made such an impact and was by far one of the best guest stars on the show.

As I’ve mentioned, he was one of the voice actors who brought the trio of Lock, Shock and Barrel to life in Nightmare Before Christmas - I love those characters so much that I got a tattoo of them in 2021 on my left arm, and it’s one of my favourite tattoos I’ve ever gotten even now. I know that in the scale of things, especially given this man’s career, a voice role doesn’t seem like a huge deal but it does to me.

Once I realised that this man was Pee-Wee Herman, I of course had to check it out. I remember many mornings in summer 2021 being spent watching episodes of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse online, laughing at them despite the fact I’m a full grown adult and just loving the positivity and joy in them. Watching those episodes became a small little routine for me, bringing me something to smile and laugh at even as I dreaded another day of work or whatever the future held. For a small moment every morning that summer, they were a little respite.

This world has truly lost a bright, hilarious, witty and generous spark that can never be replaced.

[ducktracy]

saw "75 influences in 75 seconds" on Twitter and decided to give a go at it! i didn't realize how much print cartooning/fine art/still, non moving images had a stranglehold on me until making this! I'm inspired by so much and so fleetingly it's hard to make a list... still fun to make!

[peteneems]

[demifiendrsa]

American actor and comedian Paul Reubens has passed away at age 70 due to cancer.

Reubens is best known for his Pee-Wee Herman character. He created the character when he joined the Los Angeles-based improvisational comedy team the Groundlings in 1977. The Pee-Wee Herman character made his first TV debut on The Dating Game with three episodes and film debut with Cheech and Chong's Next Movie in a cameo role. In 1980, He created the stage show focused on his character called The Pee-wee Herman Show, which played for five sellout months and led to HBO tapping one of the shows and airing it as a special in 1981. The success of The Pee-wee Herman Show prompted several movies and TV shows on the character such as Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Pee-wee's Playhouse. Reubens also committed to the character in his interviews, talk show bookings, and public appearances.

Some of Paul Reubens other live-action film roles include Mystery Men and Blow. Some of his voice roles include Lock in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pavel in Tron: Uprising, Bat-Mite in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Reuben in Chowder, and RX-24 (Rex) in Disneyland's Star Tours attraction.

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Muppet Magazine: Christmas

[millionmovieproject]

[iamnotathornbird]

[bitter69uk]

On this day 35 years ago (21 December 1988) gloriously campy festive TV special Christmas at Pee-wee’s Playhouse (praised by Vulture as “one of the strangest, most glorious, most improbable, most confident pieces of entertainment to appear on television”) debuted on CBS. And in an eerie coincidence, it is the seasonal selection at tonight’s Lobotomy Room film club at Fontaine’s bar in Dalston! Believe it or not, I didn’t even deliberately plan this to coincide with the 35th anniversary (I wish I’d the foresight to think of that!). Join us for frosty cocktails, abrasive kitschy Christmas music and to pay tribute to the late, great comedic genius Paul Reubens tonight! Unsure if there are seats left so check with the venue: (phone 07718000546 or email bookings@fontaines.bar).

[themightyfoo]

The Gayest Christmas Special

If you haven't seen the Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special, you really owe it to your LGBTQ+ self to watch it. He scatters pearls everywhere, given that this was 1988 and Ronald Fucking Reagan was in the White House. Here's Grace Jones genderfuck version of the Little Drummer Boy.

[helloparkerrose]

[moratoirenoir]

[randomrichards]

R.I.P PAUL REUBENS:

Man who was Pee Wee

Made fans embrace the wacky

Acted with a light touch

[jdtrashman]

To the weirdos, outcasts, and outsiders, the time has come to bid farewell to our patron saint. Some of you will remember him for bat-mite on batman the brave and the bold, the older among us will remember him for Peewee's Playhouse

Me? I'll be putting on nightmare before Christmas tonight, wishing him a happy Halloween.

RIP Paul Reubens - 1952-2023