On Sept. 5, 1991 as the MTV Video Music Awards began, no one in the audience nor at home watching was expecting to see Pee-wee Herman come out on stage to begin the show. On July 26 of that year, Pee-wee (or Paul Reubens as he was legally known) had been arrested in Florida in a sting operation by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office at the XXX South Trail Cinema.
Reubens had been arrested in the lobby on a complaint of misdemeanor indecent exposure, even though he denied he had ever exposed himself. Reubens had offered to do some charity work to keep the charge from being filed or reported in the media. It was to no avail. His mugshot with longer scraggly hair, a goatee and glasses made him look like the type of guy you would cross the street if you saw him walking toward you.
CBS abruptly canceled Pee-wee’s Playhouse (even though production had ended in 1990). Toys R Us pulled the dolls from the shelves. And the jokes basically wrote themselves especially since there were many double entendre jokes about his movies (Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-wee) along with the Pee-wee’s Playhouse which became Pee-wee’s Play-With-Yourself-House. Then there was the joke we told in the middle school locker rooms and at lunch time. “What are Pee-wee’s two favorite baseball teams? The Yankees and the Expos.”
But as the news broke, it became obvious that Paul Reubens and Pee-wee Herman were one and the same. You couldn’t do a quick Google search back then but a Florida reporter noticed the name in an arrest. Reubens had turned the show focusing on a character he created as a stuggling actor/comic into a squeaky-clean educational children’s show, even though now many say it was like a kids’ show on LSD. Reubens had actually started his career on more adult-themed and mature material but more on that later.
Reubens stood before the audience at the VMA as they stood up and cheered. You can watch it online and see that Reubens (dressed as Pee-wee with his hair cut shorter and the goatee gone) is a bit overwhelmed by the reaction. No one is booing. No one is jeering. They’re clapping and cheering. Most of them grew up watching Playhouse or his movies. It’s not like Reubens had done worst things. Many others in Hollywood and the entertainment industry were being arrested and charged for major offenses.
Kelsey Grammer had a history of alcohol and substance abuse and had been in and out of jail for years through the 1980s and 1990s. And people thought he was squeaky clean Dr. Fraiser Crane. James Brown, the hardest working man in show business, had been in prison on attempting to flee police and carrying a loaded firearm. Sean Penn had assaulted people and then there were the allegations he hit Madonna while they were married. Comic Sam Kinison who had done a whole skit on how Pee-wee needs to be executed had gotten into a physical altercation with Slash in May of 1991 where he was choking the musician before Duff McKagan, also with Guns N’ Roses, intervened.
Yet, most of these incidents didn’t make as much press as Reubens’ arrest. It’s a shame because it would be a blemish on his career. Reubens had started off working with The Groundlings, an improvisation group in Los Angeles. After being rejected for the 1980-1981 season of Saturday Night Live over Gilbert Gottfried, Reubens and others, such as Phil Hartman, developed the stage show The Pee-wee Herman Show.
Reubens had appeared as Pee-wee during a scene in Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, which came out in 1980. He had appeared as a snooty desk clerk at a hotel in the R-rated movie. He later would appear in the Pee-wee Herman attire at a night club. In Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams, he had a bigger role as Hamburger Dude, who snorts cocaine with the titular characters before ripping them off of their money. He would also appear in Meatballs II, which was reportedly intended to be an R-rated sexy comedy that was re-edited and re-titled when the studio picked it up for distribution.
Even The Pee-wee Herman Show which was taped and broadcast on HBO around 1981 had more sexual innuendos and adult-themed humor especially a scene where Pee-wee hypnotizes a woman played by fellow Groundling Joan Leizman to take off her clothes. The show was originally intened to be a parody of kids shows from the 1950s and 1960s. But after the success of Big Adventure, Reubens wanted to tone down Pee-wee’s image. He had voiced the robotic commander Max in Disney’s Flight of the Navigator under the pseudonym Paul Mall, but people could tell it was Reubens.
For the rest of the 1980s, Reubens mostly appeared as Pee-wee even in public at events. Despite being a chronic smoker, Reubens made sure he was never photographed smoking. Pee-wee’s Playhouse became a constant staple of Saturday morning viewing in the 1980s. Hartman reprised his role as Captain Carl from The Pee-wee Herman Show for the first season of the show before he would join the SNL cast. Laurence Fishburne famously played Cowboy Curtis. John Paragon also appeared as Jambi, reprising his role from the stage show. And Lynne Marie Stewart was on the cast as Miss Yvonne also reprising her role from the stage show.
Playhouse is now more famous for its “Before they were famous” cast and crew. Rob Zombie had worked as a production assistant and John Singleton had worked as a security guard. This is how Fishburne was later cast in Boyz n the Hood. Natasha Lyonne appeared as one of The Playhouse Gang during the first season. William H. Marshall, known as Blacula and other roles, played the King of Cartoons. And Tito Larriva (who would go on to appear in Road House, Desperado and From Dusk till Dawn) appeared as El Sombre in a claymation cartoon. And the late Leslie Jordan appeared in a notable episode where he tries to impersonate Pee-wee.
The show was reknown for its diversity and was hailed by Captain Kangaroo himself. “With the possible exception of the Muppets, you can’t find such creativity anywhere on TV,” Bob Keeshan once said. The show went on to earn 15 Emmy Awards and ran for five seasons, even though the third season consisted of just two episodes and a Christmas special. Filming on Big Top Pee-wee put a halt on the production.
By the end of the fifth season, Reubens was burnt out and concerned about the show’s drop in quality. He also wanted to branch out. So, the last new episode aired on Nov. 17, 1990 with the reruns airing up until the summer of 1991. And Reubens had two options, either face what had happened or run from it. He took in front of thousands and asked, “Heard any good jokes lately?” And the audience laughed and cheered.
He would go on to perform 75 hours of community service as part of his sentence and his court hearing was over and done with faster than a commercial break on the show. However, attempts to break free of the Pee-wee Herman character took years. His first role was a vampire in the 1992 horror-comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer where he overacts so badly when he is stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake it’s one of the movie’s few highlights. He would also appear as Tucker Cobblepot in Batman Returns, working alonside Tim Burton for the first time since Big Adventure.
He would appear in small roles throughout the 1990s as he reportedy suffered from depression. He would credit Debi Mazar, his girlfriend at the time, with helping him overcome this. He voiced Lock in Nightmare Before Christmas and appeared in Matilda, Dunston Checks In and Buddy before beating Bradley Cooper by 16 years when he voiced a raccoon in Dr. Dolittle. He appeared as The Spleen in the cult classic superhero movie Mystery Men alongside Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Tom Waits and Janeane Garofalo, among others.
But it was his role as Derek Foreal, based on true-life Richard Barile, in the crime movie Blow that wowed people. Reubens was playing his first grown-up role in years as the southern California hairdresser who becomes a California connection for drug smuggler George Jung and the Medllin Cartel before double-crossing Jung. Blow was an uneven crime movie but Reubens’ performance probably got more people in theaters.
Unfortunately, in 2002, Reubens would find himself in trouble with the law again, this time on suspicions of child pornography. His attorneys argued that Reubens had purchased the vintage photographs in bulk and didn’t know they contained images of underage people. The prosecutor only charged Reubens with misdeanor obscenity charge which he pleaded guilty to and couldn’t be in the company of a minor without permission of a parent or legal guardian for three years.
But by 2002, the Internet was around and a second arrest made people more leery. Reubens denied there was anything ever involving children in what he had. A lot of what was in question was very vintage material and the proseuctors reportedly didn’t file anything until the last day they were required too. But the damage had already been done. Reubens never had a return to the fame he had in the 1980s.
He would return to playing Pee-wee on stage and it was televised on HBO in 2011, 30 years after the first time. It was also nominateds for an Emmy. Reubens continued to act in movies and TV shows as he reportedly battled cancer for many years. But for many who grew up on his show, his death is like the death of the cool cousin or the fun uncle you rarely ever see but always have a great time when they’re around.
Reubens, through Pee-wee Herman, taught a generation you didn’t have to be the alpha male. It’s ironic that Herman’s style and attire is now in fashion. People in the 1980s were being told they had to be “manly men” like Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The latter even used this in Kindergarten Cop where he told kids to “stop whining” and they’re too “soft.” Playhouse showed people of all races and cultures can get along. While people were still mourning John Wayne, Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis was showing them that at least 25 percent of the “cowboys” of the Old West were black. And Miss Yvonne was her own person rather than being a love interest for Pee-wee.
The show, like The Muppets, knew how to balance the material between kids and their parents who might be watching. You can see the influence on many other TV shows that became popular in the 1990s and 2000s like Spongebob Squarepants. Stephen Hillenburg, who created that show, said he wad very influenced by Playhouse. And cast and crew members went on to work on Hey Arnold! and Wallace and Gromit.
It was okay to be a little different. As “Lead, follow or get out of the way,” spread through the country, it was okay to “get out of the way.” There’s no point in leading and no point in following. As Jordan said once, “Dance like no one is watching and sing like no one is listening.” Reubens wanted to entertain us. And like Weird Al Yankovic, it wasn’t about being the toughest person in the room. In Big Adventure, Pee-wee’s friend, Dottie (E.G. Daily), is never really considered his love interest. They’re good friends and Pee-wee not wanting to go that extra step was unheard of in 1980s movies where every leading man had to have a love interest.
The movie bucked traditions (or more or less common expectations) and managed to show a character who was likeable but could be cocky and arrogant at times. All in all, Pee-wee Herman had his faults but you rooted for him, because he meant well. It’s a shame two misdemeanor charges hurt Reubens career when other celebrities did worse and their careers never faltered much. He had his faults too, but you still rooted for him because he meant well.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 