Crack-free Pee-wee on the comeback trail

When we posted the 20-year-old anti-crack PSA with Pee-wee Herman the other day, we didn’t realize that the world is actually experiencing a mini Pee-wee revival. The Cartoon Network is airing the original 45 episodes of Pee-wee’s Playhouse during its late-night Adult Swim block of shows. And in an interview with Time magazine, Paul Reubens, now 53, says he’s working on a film version of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, with production set to begin in early 2007. In the same interview, Reubens also explains a bit about Pee-Wee’s man-child nature, which is what made the character (and that PSA) so oddly compelling. “There was always a dichotomy in him,” Reubens says. “People said he was innocent but had a dark, devilish side. He could be gracious and also very selfish. When I started out, I was always asked how old Pee-wee was, but I never wanted to attach an age to him. If it worked as a man trying to act like a kid, or a kid trying to act like a man, that was OK.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

July 18, 2006 | Permalink