Pop culture doesn’t always make sense. For Pee-wee Herman, nothing ever does. His wacky style of nonsense humor made him a staple of 1980s television and movies without anyone having to think too hard, just have a dorky sense of humor. For all those laughs and for screaming real loud, Pee-wee Herman is inducted into the Pop Culture Hall of Fame as a Character for 2023.
As a young comedian, Paul Reuben’s standup was derailed by his inability to stick the landing with punchlines. He nevertheless managed to catch on the the comedy troupe The Groundlings in the late 1970s and stood out for his ability to improvise brilliant and deeply weird bits. When the group was challenged to create personas for themselves for a project, He donned an ill-fitting suit and ran around like a demented, friendly man-child. Pee-wee Herman was born.
Even the most devoted fans of this character seem to think the chronology of his career arc is the opposite of its real trajectory. First, came a raunchy, vaudevillian stage show, immortalized by HBO. So many double entendres and not-so-subtle jokes make viewing that show kind of shocking today.
Then came the movie. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, was essentially a boy meets bike, boy loses bike, boy searches the country for bike film. While the movie didn’t do that great in its initial release, it has turned out to be a cult classic of comedy films, road films, and bike films. Oh yeah, and it was the directorial debut of Tim Burton, whose next project was the 1989 Batman film. This movie got someone’s attention in Hollywood.
After the movie, a Saturday morning live show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse started airing on CBS. Sure, he had to tone down the raunch of the HBO era a lot, but it didn’t matter. The slapstick silliness, the recurring puppets and characters, and the psychedelic ‘80s set of the Playhouse were hard to resist. A fantastic series of action figures were released. It even led to a star-studded Christmas TV special that must be seen to confirm that, it is as weirdly brilliant today as it was then.
Of course, a couple of years later, Reubens, out of costume, did some, er, embarrassing things that led to his downfall. At least temporarily.
One of his first returns after that career hiatus was in Tim Burton’s second (and arguably best) caped crusader movie, Batman Returns. Given a chance to separate himself from his famous character, he excelled. He got more roles from that. And he got lots of love from fans who forgave his transgressions. He would go on to appear in many TV and movie projects (You must see Blow from 2001) and other Pee-Wee projects over the next few decades.
Sadly, Reubens died in 2023 after a long, secret battle with cancer. He kept his condition under wraps from the public, as couldn’t bear fans seeing him suddenly looking old and frail. He had always been so ageless up until that point. Pee-wee’s social media lives on via friends and co-creators, and it’s always a positive, fun few seconds of your day.
So many catchphrases, so many silly gimmicks, and so much brilliant goofing around. As he used to say, “I know you are, but what am I?” You’re an inductee in the Pop Culture Hall of Fame, that’s what you are.
