Post by HeXsTeR on Nov 15, 2004 15:52:39 GMT -5
Back to 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' Here come DVDs, films
Tuesday, November 09
Pee-wee Herman is looking to make a comeback. Paul Reubens, the man behind the bow-tied, rouge-cheeked Pee-wee, is working on a script for a third Pee-wee movie, a belated follow-up to 1988's Big Top Pee-wee and 1985 hit predecessor Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The sought-after renaissance comes as all 45 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse arrive on DVD in two box sets, seasons 1-2 and 3-5 on Nov. 16 ($50 each, Image Entertainment). The release includes six episodes that never aired. ''That's been my dream since the first DVD I saw, to have that show come out on DVD,'' says Reubens, 52. ''The show looks so much more incredible than I've ever seen it look.'' Pee-wee's Playhouse won 22 Emmy awards during its run on CBS from 1986-91. It was a surrealistic children's TV show with music, clay animation, puppetry and inanimate objects, including a globe and a chair, that sprang to life. Pee-wee's trademark phrases -- ''That's so funny, I forgot to laugh'' -- became part of the national lexicon. But the career of Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee were sidelined in 1991 when Reubens was arrested in an adult theater in Florida on an indecent-exposure charge. While Playhouse has been available on VHS, this is the first time the series is out in its entirety. And Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special is now in stores ($15, Image), with guest stars including Frankie Avalon, Whoopi Goldberg, the Del Rubio Triplets and Magic Johnson. Bucking a trend in the TV DVD arena, neither box set has special features, but Reubens and Image are working on a special collector's edition, tentatively planned for release in late 2005. ''The decision to release Pee-wee's Playhouse No. 1 and No. 2 this year was based on overwhelming response from fans,'' says Image's Garrett Lee. Reubens says he began to tire of the Pee-wee character even before his legal woes. (The Florida case ended with a plea bargain that left him with no criminal record. In 2001, he was arrested again and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge involving photos from his erotica collection.) ''CBS was ready to sign on for two more years, but I was sick of the character. I was certainly burned out, and I took a break at that time,'' Reubens says. ''That break got extended, shall we say, when I got arrested in Florida. And that wasn't quite a big inducement to run back to my work, so my break turned into a longer break than anticipated.'' Since then, Reubens has kept a relatively low profile. He did voiceovers for family films such as 1998's Dr. Dolittle and this year's Teacher's Pet and had a part in 2001's Blow. He played a recurring part on TV's Murphy Brown. But now, Reubens says, he's itching to do Pee-wee again -- a character he confesses he regarded as neither child nor man, ''just as a real person who is 100% normal.'' ''I'm really proud of both the Pee-wee movies and the television series, and now I'm thinking of taking Pee-wee into the future,'' Reubens says. ''The first movie will be 25 years old next year, which is freaky. It seems like yesterday.'' He says he's now working on two Pee-wee movie scripts, ''one that is going to be made as soon as spring and summer, and the other that's a little longer way off, a movie version of the television series that's going to be called Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie.'' Why the change of heart? ''Pee-wee's a bit of a hard act to follow,'' Reubens says. ''I doubt if I could ever come up with someone that has that kind of appeal.'' To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to www.usatoday.com © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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. . . .There is a god. . .
AWESOME
Tuesday, November 09
Pee-wee Herman is looking to make a comeback. Paul Reubens, the man behind the bow-tied, rouge-cheeked Pee-wee, is working on a script for a third Pee-wee movie, a belated follow-up to 1988's Big Top Pee-wee and 1985 hit predecessor Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The sought-after renaissance comes as all 45 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse arrive on DVD in two box sets, seasons 1-2 and 3-5 on Nov. 16 ($50 each, Image Entertainment). The release includes six episodes that never aired. ''That's been my dream since the first DVD I saw, to have that show come out on DVD,'' says Reubens, 52. ''The show looks so much more incredible than I've ever seen it look.'' Pee-wee's Playhouse won 22 Emmy awards during its run on CBS from 1986-91. It was a surrealistic children's TV show with music, clay animation, puppetry and inanimate objects, including a globe and a chair, that sprang to life. Pee-wee's trademark phrases -- ''That's so funny, I forgot to laugh'' -- became part of the national lexicon. But the career of Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee were sidelined in 1991 when Reubens was arrested in an adult theater in Florida on an indecent-exposure charge. While Playhouse has been available on VHS, this is the first time the series is out in its entirety. And Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special is now in stores ($15, Image), with guest stars including Frankie Avalon, Whoopi Goldberg, the Del Rubio Triplets and Magic Johnson. Bucking a trend in the TV DVD arena, neither box set has special features, but Reubens and Image are working on a special collector's edition, tentatively planned for release in late 2005. ''The decision to release Pee-wee's Playhouse No. 1 and No. 2 this year was based on overwhelming response from fans,'' says Image's Garrett Lee. Reubens says he began to tire of the Pee-wee character even before his legal woes. (The Florida case ended with a plea bargain that left him with no criminal record. In 2001, he was arrested again and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge involving photos from his erotica collection.) ''CBS was ready to sign on for two more years, but I was sick of the character. I was certainly burned out, and I took a break at that time,'' Reubens says. ''That break got extended, shall we say, when I got arrested in Florida. And that wasn't quite a big inducement to run back to my work, so my break turned into a longer break than anticipated.'' Since then, Reubens has kept a relatively low profile. He did voiceovers for family films such as 1998's Dr. Dolittle and this year's Teacher's Pet and had a part in 2001's Blow. He played a recurring part on TV's Murphy Brown. But now, Reubens says, he's itching to do Pee-wee again -- a character he confesses he regarded as neither child nor man, ''just as a real person who is 100% normal.'' ''I'm really proud of both the Pee-wee movies and the television series, and now I'm thinking of taking Pee-wee into the future,'' Reubens says. ''The first movie will be 25 years old next year, which is freaky. It seems like yesterday.'' He says he's now working on two Pee-wee movie scripts, ''one that is going to be made as soon as spring and summer, and the other that's a little longer way off, a movie version of the television series that's going to be called Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie.'' Why the change of heart? ''Pee-wee's a bit of a hard act to follow,'' Reubens says. ''I doubt if I could ever come up with someone that has that kind of appeal.'' To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to www.usatoday.com © Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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. . . .There is a god. . .
AWESOME
