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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Joyce Slaton

In PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE, star Paul Reubens pulled off a kind of Bugs Bunny trick -- he entertained the kiddies while giving grownups something to smirk at. The magic of Playhouse was its dual audience: Children noticed only the show's imaginative whimsy, while adults warmed to the sly subversiveness of many of the characters and situations. Mixing live animation, puppetry, animation, and vintage cartoons, the show centers around Pee-wee (Reubens), a smirking man-boy who lives in a playhouse that's equipped with a bewildering variety of toys and gadgets (such as Chairry, the talking chair, voiced by Alison Mork) and visited by a variety of Pee-wee's oddball friends, which include now-well-known actors like Laurence Fishburne playing Cowboy Curtis, or Law & Order's S. Epatha Merkerson as Reba the Mail Lady.

Is It Any Good?

5

Most of the Playhouse gags still seem amazingly innovative when compared to the stale Saturday morning shoot-outs available on the networks today -- Pee-wee's cooking segments are particularly choice, as are any interactions with Jambi the Genie (John Paragon). Parents will still giggle over Pee-wee's double entendres while wee ones will lap up all the weirdness -- this is one Playhouse where everyone can frolic.

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