Pee-wee's next adventure

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Sunday, July 23, 2006 12:07 AM CDT

Paul Reubens is ready to start matching wallpaper samples.

No, Reubens, the actor and creative talent who is the life force of Pee-wee Herman's famous face, laugh and silly personality, isn't re-decorating his Los Angeles area home.

He's ready to re-build "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

"After the show finished, I was storing the entire set and all of the props for a number of years," said Reubens in a telephone interview from his home earlier this month.

"Then it just got to be too expensive and I had to disassemble it and just keep the most important details. So I kept samples of all the wallpaper, curtains, the paneling and paint designs so it can all be re-created."

Reubens has good news for fans of Pee-wee Herman.

He has the greenlight for a big screen movie about Pee-wee Herman and all the favorite characters from his CBS Saturday morning show that attracted fans of every age.

"I've actually been busy working on two screenplays," Reubens said.

"One is a traditional family movie Pee-wee story and the other script is more of a dark comedy version. It looks like the family movie script is the one that's going into production first."

Reubens and movie producers realize the time is right for the return of Pee-wee, considering this month Turner and Time-Warner just added all 45 episodes of "Pee-wee's Playhouse" to Cartoon Network's sister station Adult Swim, and the ratings and audience response have been phenomenal.

Reubens created his Pee-wee character in 1978 while a member of a Los Angeles improv group, which led to a popular HBO special in 1981 called "The Pee-wee Herman Show," which was just released on DVD this week.

In 1985, Reubens got his friend Tim Burton to direct a big-screen film called "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and that served as the springboard for the television series, which ran from 1986-91 and garnered 22 Emmy Awards, many for Reubens' writing, producing and directing.

As for the ever-present appeal of Pee-wee, Reubens believes he has it figured out.

"Part of me wants to say it's a love-hate attraction," Reubens said.

"People will say: 'He kind of reminds me of my dorky cousin.'"

Reubens said he did a number of characters onstage during his improv comedy days and it was always clear that Pee-wee Herman was the character audiences most responded to with positive feedback.

As a performer and actor, whose roots are in comedy, Reubens believes that timing is everything when planning, which is why he believed the time was right to bring Pee-wee back to the airwaves after 15 years.

"I was just about in the final stages of signing to have 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' air somewhere else, when the Adult Swim opportunity came along, which I knew right away was the better fit for this show," he said.

Even though other stories in the press have mentioned that children's show hosts from the past like Soupy Sales and Pinky Lee served as the inspiration for his concept for "Pee-wee's Playhouse," Reubens said while growing up it was Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo and Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody that he most idolized.

"I was always mesmerized by some of the local children's show programming too, like Bozo the Clown, which you had in Chicago," Reubens said.

"I remember one of the girls who I performed with early on in Los Angeles, as part of the Groundlings, had a boyfriend who came to our show and had an older relative with him who had been the host of a local children's show in Chicago in the 1950s called 'Uncle Buckie.' Some people from Chicago who saw him found out who he was, and they were so excited. I'll never forget their reaction to seeing this man who was a part of their childhood."

Reubens says when he's recognized, he always responds to fans in the same kind and gentle way as he witnessed decades earlier during the "Uncle Buckie" moment.

He said he feels "it's (his) fault" that when the 2004 DVD release of all 45 episodes of "Pee-wee's Playhouse" were released, a second collector's edition featuring commentary, as promised, never materialized.

"I was supposed to be working on the collector's edition, which was going to have lots of extras, tons of funny outtakes, never-seen-before footage and lots of interviews with all the actors and actresses who played characters," he said.

"I never got it together. But it's still in the works, along with a complete documentary, both about a year away."

Reubens' own experiences breaking into show business would make an interesting documentary, considering he made 15 appearances on "The Gong Show" and three contestant appearances on "The Dating Game," both allowing him the opportunity to experience the art of taping a television show.

But of all his own television work as Pee-wee, Reubens said he's proudest of the 1988 "Pee-wee's Christmas Special," primarily because of the galaxy of stars that agreed to tape the special.

"You think of people like Oprah, Cher, Charo, Dinah Shore, Grace Jones, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Joan Rivers all on the same show together, it's amazing," he said.

"I still watch that show and I can't believe the names who came together for that special."

As for his favorite episode of "Pee-wee's Playhouse," Reubens says it's impossible to pick just one.

"I know this sounds kind of silly, but when I'm asked that question, I think of what Pee-wee would say," he said.

"So if I said I really liked the episode that was mostly about the Cowntess, I think about if it would be hurting Chairry's feelings. I like all of these characters and shows just the same."