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88-507: Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American comedy children's television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS , and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's popular stage show and the TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show , produced for HBO , which was similar in style but featured much more adult humor. In 2004 and 2007, Pee-wee's Playhouse

176-586: A multiple-camera setup . Sitcoms are seldom presented as realistic depictions of life, but they can generate honest humour through the relationships between and development of characters. Improvisational comedy is a genre that features actors creating dialogue while in the process of acting. It has a history of prominence in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Before appearing on television, comedy programs were already present on

264-455: A Howdy Doody doll. However, while Paris had created the puppet, Bob Smith owned the rights to the character. An argument ensued between the two men, Paris claiming he felt he was being cheated out of any financial benefits. After one such disagreement, Paris took the puppet and angrily left the NBC studios about four hours before the show was to air live - leaving the program with no "star". It was not

352-468: A Pop Phenomenon , was released by ECW Press . In the wake of Reubens' death from cancer in 2023, John Jurgensen of The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Pee-wee Herman wasn't originally meant for kids. So when Paul Reubens did make a Saturday-morning TV show for them, his signature character came in a package shaped by underground art , punk rock and improv comedy .⁠ As MTV was to cable and The Simpsons would soon be to prime-time, Pee-wee's Playhouse

440-513: A budget of US$ 325,000 per episode (comparable to that of a half-hour prime-time sitcom), and full creative control, although CBS did request a few minor changes over the years. Reubens assembled a supporting troupe that included ex- Groundlings and cast members from The Pee-wee Herman Show , including Phil Hartman , John Paragon , Lynne Marie Stewart , Laurence Fishburne , and S. Epatha Merkerson . Production began in New York City in

528-429: A fixture in composing music for children's shows like Rugrats , joined the show on hiatus from recording with Devo . Said Mothersbaugh in 2006: Paul Reubens asked me to do Pee-wee's Playhouse , and I had some time, so I was like, yeah, let's do it. Pee-wee's Playhouse was really chaotic. They'd send me the tape from New York on Tuesday. I'd watch it Tuesday night; Wednesday I'd write the music. Thursday I'd record

616-483: A foolish carpenter who was usually the butt of Bluster's plots, Flub-a-dub, a beast with a duck's head, cat's whiskers, and the parts of several other animals, Heidi Doody, Howdy's sister, and Howdy himself, of course, were retained from the U.S. production. But it had some major differences from its American cousin. Other puppets included Percival, a parrot, and Mr. X, who zipped through time and space in his "whatsis box," traits that British-based expatriate Sydney Newman

704-510: A forest ranger, played by Peter Mews. Mews later appeared in the films The Unforeseen , Folio and First Performance . He also appeared on television in the 1954 production of Delilah , and the 1974 mini-series The National Dream . One of his most notable works was as Matthew Cuthbert in the Charlottetown Festival’s production of Anne of Green Gables , which he played for over twenty years. Peter Mews died on November 24, 1984, at

792-471: A good time and to encourage them to be creative and to question things," Reubens told an interviewer in Rolling Stone . In 2007, Pee-wee's Playhouse was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 Best TV Shows. On November 1, 2011, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the show, a book by Caseen Gaines called Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of

880-611: A jeweled box. The Playhouse is visited by a regular cast of human characters, including Miss Yvonne ( Lynne Marie Stewart ), Reba the Mail Lady ( S. Epatha Merkerson ), Captain Carl ( Phil Hartman ), Cowboy Curtis ( Laurence Fishburne ), and a small group of children called The Playhouse Gang. Although primarily a live-action comedy, each episode includes segments featuring puppetry, video animation, and prepared sequences using Chroma-key and stock footage (for example when Pee-wee jumps into

968-696: A larger entertainment extravaganza. Some gameshows may give the guests a chance to perform stand up comedy to win a round. Examples of this genre in the UK include Have I Got News For You , 8 Out of 10 Cats , Mock the Week , and Never Mind the Buzzcocks . In the US this is a less common genre, Oblivious being one of the few examples. In Japan and South Korea, these comedy gameshows , often with subtitles and word bubbles , are extremely popular. A comedy-drama ,

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1056-556: A major component. In many of the 1949–1954 episodes released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2008, the children also can be heard singing jingles for commercial breaks, with Buffalo Bob or Howdy leading them and the lyrics appearing on screen. Colgate toothpaste, Halo Shampoo, 3 Musketeers candy bars, Tootsie Rolls and Poll Parrot Shoes are among the products advertised this way, as well as series-long sponsor Wonder Bread . The popularity of Howdy Doody and its Peanut Gallery led executives at United Features Syndicate to use

1144-462: A new Photo Doody which Smith used in personal appearances until his death from cancer on July 30, 1998, at the age of 80. One of Semok's marionette duplicates appears on a 2005 cover of TV Guide magazine as part of a series recreating classic covers from the magazine's history. The cover featured Howdy with TV host Conan O'Brien dressed as Buffalo Bob Smith. Another of the Semok duplicates resides in

1232-429: A puppeteer whose puppets appeared on the program, was asked to create a Howdy Doody puppet. Bob Smith, the show's host, was dubbed "Buffalo Bob" early in the show's run (a reference to the historical American frontier character Buffalo Bill as well as to Smith's hometown of Buffalo, New York ). At first the set was supposed to be a circus tent, but it was soon changed to a western town. Smith wore cowboy garb, as did

1320-457: A review of the first season for The New York Times , John J. O'Connor called it "undoubtedly this season's most imaginative and disarming new series". O'Connor lauded the show's mixed-media format and commented that the Saturday morning kids' programming of "low-cost, dreary and occasionally questionable cartoons will never be the same" after Pee-wee . Of Pee-wee, O'Connor said, "He whips up

1408-407: A secret for long!!") Finally, in the show's closing moments, the surprise was disclosed through pantomime to Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody; as it turned out, Clarabell the mute clown actually could talk. Amazed, Bob frantically told Clarabell to prove it, as this was his last chance. An ominous drum roll began as Clarabell faced the camera as it came in for an extreme closeup . His lips quivered as

1496-430: A spot for the TV series National Velvet . The restored color videotape of the final broadcast is available commercially. Three Musketeers candy bars offered a promotion early in 1950 in which sending in 10 cents and one wrapper from a Three Musketeers bar obtained a Howdy Doody puppet. The show had two one-minute announcements about the promotion on consecutive weeks. The first announcement resulted in 80,000 requests;

1584-582: A staple of variety and late-night talk shows; talk-variety shows such as The Tonight Show traditionally open with a comedy monologue performed by the program host. Television stand-up reached a peak of popularity on British schedules with the ITV programme The Comedians . Their style of comedy was swept away almost entirely in the Britain of the early 1980s when a new generation of stand-ups challenged what they saw as racist and sexist humour and revolutionised

1672-400: A tightly contained world in which anything is possible as long as it doesn't hurt anyone", and "He's sweetly looney and unpredictable, gentle yet always tip-toeing on the edge of devastating absurdity. He is a one-man force battling the plague of boredom that has settled on Saturday-morning programming for children." The show's subversiveness and its "apparent outbreak of playful queerness during

1760-528: A wave of nostalgia interest in an idealized representation of the 1950s, and with it films such as American Graffiti and the TV show Happy Days . An episode of Happy Days was entitled "The Howdy Doody Show" (number 33 of the series; original airdate February 18, 1975) during the series' second season, having a Howdy Doody storyline featuring Smith as Buffalo Bob with actor Bob Brunner as Clarabell. Shortly thereafter, Nicholson-Muir Productions (owned by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir) acquired from NBC

1848-531: Is a program that combines humor with more serious dramatic elements, aiming for a considerably more realistic tone than conventional sitcoms. These programs are shot with a single-camera setup and presented without a laugh track, and typically run an hour in length. This can refer to a genre of television or radio drama series. There are different subgenres within this category, such as the medical comedy dramas like M*A*S*H and Grey's Anatomy , legal comedy dramas like Ally McBeal and Boston Legal , and

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1936-718: Is an American children's television program (with circus and Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell and E. Roger Muir . It was broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer of children's programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. One of the first television series produced at NBC in Rockefeller Center , in Studio 3A, it pioneered color production in 1956 and NBC (then owned by RCA Television) used

2024-530: Is believed to have loved so much as to inspire him to create such a character of his own in the UK, creating what has since become the Guinness World Record holder for the longest-running science-fiction television series: Doctor Who . The show had Howdy and Clarabell, but most of the human performers differed in the CBC version. There was no Buffalo Bob, for instance. The show's host was Timber Tom,

2112-413: Is credited to "Ellen Shaw", though in her autobiography, Cyndi Lauper admits to being the actual singer. The show has many Recurring gags, themes, and devices. Each episode usually contained a running gag particular to that episode, or a specific event or dilemma that sends Pee-wee into an emotional frenzy. At the beginning of each episode, viewers are told the day's " secret word " (often issued by Conky

2200-589: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and first aired on November 15, 1954. The CBC built its own Doodyville in a Toronto studio, and the show was set in Canada’s north. It was more low-budget than its American counterpart, with less raucous plots and fewer villainous villains, as well as a more educational orientation. Most of the puppet characters, including Phineas T. Bluster, the cranky mayor and chief killjoy of Doodyville, Dilly Dally,

2288-635: The Culver Studios , also in Los Angeles. The premise of the show is that host Pee-wee Herman plays in the fantastic Playhouse in Puppetland. The house is filled with toys, gadgets, talking furniture and appliances (such as Magic Screen and Chairry), puppet characters (such as Conky the Robot and Pterri the baby Pteranodon ), and Jambi ( John Paragon ), a disembodied genie 's head who lives in

2376-574: The Del Rubio triplets , and Grace Jones . Note: Penny was created by Nick Park , the creator of Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit . As soon as it first aired, Pee-wee's Playhouse fascinated media theorists and commentators, many of whom championed the show as a postmodernist hodgepodge of characters and situations that appeared to thumb its nose at the racist and sexist presumptions of dominant culture. For example, Pee-wee's friends, both human and not, were of diverse cultural and racial origins. In

2464-411: The musical comedy drama Glee . Sketch comedy programs differ from sitcoms in that they do not basically feature recurring characters (though some characters and scenarios may be repeated) and often draw upon current events and emphasize satire over character development. Sketch comedy was pioneered by Sid Caesar , whose Your Show of Shows debuted in 1950 and established many conventions of

2552-470: The 2000 U.S. presidential election, 435,000 young adults viewed Stewart's coverage, while 459,000 watched traditional news. Despite its satirical approach, journalists have stated that programs such as The Daily Show and " Weekend Update " still broadcast real news, which ensures that its producers are aware of how to cover this news in a way that viewers can gain knowledge. Stand-up comedy has been represented on television. Stand-up comedians have been

2640-642: The International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, the private museum owned by illusionist David Copperfield . After Bob Smith's death, a fierce legal and custody battle for the original Howdy Doody puppet erupted among his heirs, the Rufus Rose estate, and a museum to which the marionette had been bequeathed. Howdy was in the news once again, with his face and story making headline broadcast, wire, talk show and print news around

2728-655: The Kagran Corporation, the organization which produced the original Howdy Doody for NBC, started production on La Hora de Jaudi Dudi, a daily Spanish-language version of the program filmed in Mexico City. The program aired over Canal 2 in Mexico and, beginning on April 27, CMQ-TV in Havana, Cuba. According to Billboard , the series featured a freckleless Howdy puppet and a new puppet named Don Burro. While

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2816-636: The Magic Screen), as well as inserted clay animation sequences (some made by Aardman Animations , who would later make Wallace & Gromit ) and excerpts from cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation and in the public domain , usually presented by the character "The King of Cartoons". Each episode features specially written soundtrack music by rock and pop musicians such as Mark Mothersbaugh ( Devo ), Todd Rundgren , Mitchell Froom , and The Residents . The show's theme song performance

2904-633: The Playhouse because it was fast-paced, colorful, and "never talked down to them", while parents liked the Playhouse because it reminded them of the past. At the start of season two, the show moved from its New York City warehouse studio to facilities at the Hollywood Center Studios , creating changes in personnel and a change to the set that allowed the show to take advantage of the additional space. The show changed production facilities again in 1989 during its fourth season, this time at

2992-733: The Pterodactyl, and Clocky. While enjoying continuous popularity with the show, Reubens teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985 to make the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure . It became one of the year's surprise hits, costing a relatively modest $ 7 million to make but taking in $ 40 million at the box office. After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure , the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal. In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Reubens to act, produce, and direct his own live-action Saturday morning children's program, Pee-wee's Playhouse , with

3080-547: The Robot) and are instructed to "scream real loud" every time a character says the word. CBS and Reubens mutually agreed to end the show at the end of the 1990–91 season after five seasons and 45 episodes. The last original episode aired on November 17, 1990. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida , adult movie theater, prompting CBS to immediately stop airing its Playhouse re-runs, which were originally intended to air until late 1991. The show

3168-422: The US. Television comedy is described by media scholar Bore as a way to bring audiences to a collective sense in viewing and enjoying commonly-watched programs across societies. One specific way this can be done is through laugh tracks. While some view laugh tracks as ways to allow audiences to lightheartedly poke fun at characters, others see them as ways to restrict viewers to only laugh at certain moments. For

3256-469: The United States, sitcoms have become more prominent among television viewers. I Love Lucy was popular in Nielsen's audience ratings, topping the viewing charts in four out of their six years on the air. Sitcoms will often portray comedic moments through audience laughter, either through live audiences or a laugh track. They are almost always a half-hour in length, and in some cases, they will film using

3344-643: The aim was to produce a series to distribute to the entirety of Latin America, the company halted production after six months due to unforeseen production difficulties (at the time, Mexican television programming was scarce and often improvised, unlike the American-influenced Cuban market, apart from the fact that Mexican broadcasters weren't interested in foreign production) and market considerations (until 1960, most South American countries did not have television services or supermarkets ; by 1953,

3432-562: The air occasionally. "Double Doody", the Howdy stand-in, is in the entertainment collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History . Photo Doody is the near-stringless marionette that was used in personal appearances, photos, parades, and the famed NBC test pattern. He was sold by Leland's Sports Auction House in 1997 for more than $ 113,000 to a private art collector, TJ Fisher . Besides Howdy Doody,

3520-623: The camera. News comedy is a genre that brings humour into stories reported on mainstream news, commonly adding this by creating mostly-fictional jokes to summarize true events. It is a common way for young adults to learn about the political news and events of their time. Programs that have accomplished this include The Daily Show and " Weekend Update " on Saturday Night Live . The Daily Show became more well-known when Jon Stewart began hosting in 1999. The award-winning show mocks political events and candidates, and brings in correspondents to report further on these events and people. During

3608-503: The campaign trail, Howdy decided to improve his appearance with some plastic surgery . This made it possible for the network to hire Disney animator Mel Shaw and his business partner Bob Allen to design (refer to U.S. Patent D156687 for a "new, original, and ornamental design" for the puppet) and Velma Wayne Dawson to build and operate a visual character more handsome and appealing than Paris's original, which Bob Smith had called "the ugliest puppet imaginable". Since Paris did not provide

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3696-491: The cast members (particularly the witty Dayton Allen) and the puppet characters. Corny Cobb was played by Bobby "Nick" Nicholson in 1952, by puppeteer Rufus Rose in 1953 and 1954 while Nicholson assumed the role of Clarabell, and again by Nicholson from early 1955 until the end of the show. Clarabell was first played by Bob Keeshan (who also played The Featherman). Keeshan continued in that role until December 1952, when he, Dayton Allen, puppeteer Rhoda Mann, and Bill LeCornec left

3784-570: The chain had restaurants in as many as 27 locations throughout New England before dissolving toward the end of the 1970s. A 1955 merchandise catalog had 24 pages showcasing the range of products licensed by the show. The extensive merchandising included the aforementioned puppet, toys and clothing, plus tie-ins with cereals and other food products. Dell published a comic book from 1950 to 1956 along with Little Golden Books and Tell-a-Tale books, many written by Doody head writer Edward Kean . In addition Dell scribe John Stanley contributed scripts for

3872-560: The character's voice, Howdy's voice remained the same after his appearance changed. The puppet remembered as the "original" Howdy Doody replaced Paris's original. Howdy Doody himself was a freckle-faced boy marionette with 48 freckles, one for each state of the union at the time of his creation (up until January 3, 1959, when Alaska became the 49th state), and originally was voiced by Smith. The Howdy Doody show's various marionettes were created and built by puppeteers Dawson, Scott Brinker (the show's prop man), and Rufus Rose throughout

3960-403: The comic book. Kean also did some scripting (along with Stan Lee ) of a Sunday-only Doody comic strip through United Feature Syndicate which ran from October 15, 1950, to June 21, 1953. Milt Neil and Chad Grothkopf were the initial art team through December 3, 1950, after which Grothkopf handled the art solo. UPA was hired to do an animated cartoon ( Howdy Doody and his Magic Hat ),

4048-581: The drumroll continued. When it stopped, Clarabell simply said softly, "Goodbye, kids." A tear could be seen in his right eye as the picture faded to black, and some children in the Peanut Gallery could faintly be heard sobbing immediately before the credits music played. The show quietly ended with a roll of credits over an empty, darkened set as " Auld Lang Syne " was played on a Celesta , followed by an announcement that The Shari Lewis Show would be seen in its place at that time next week followed by

4136-437: The early days of comedy, and in shows such as Roseanne and Ellen , ratings could be changed up to TV-14 and receive a "mature content" warning as a result. Ellen DeGeneres famously came out on her show, although ABC cancelled Ellen one year later, with some gay rights groups protesting this decision. I Love Lucy became the first sitcom to have a multilingual couple. Lucy was American and spoke English, while Ricky

4224-515: The explanation, show sponsors insisted they wanted Smith himself to hawk their products. In response, NBC set up a special studio at Smith's home so he could appear live "from Pioneer Village" to do commercials. During Smith's absence from the show, Howdy was voiced by Allen Swift . Swift continued to voice the character for the remainder of the show's run, even after Smith's return in September 1955. The final episode , "Clarabell's Big Surprise",

4312-547: The final words of the final broadcast: "Goodbye, kids." Howdy Doody dolls and marionettes of Howdy Doody and Flub-a-dub were sold commercially. There were also two other marionettes, Don José and Hector Hamhock Bluster, brothers of Phineas T. In addition to the original vintage puppets, puppet maker Alan Semok (at the request of Bob Smith in the early 1990s) created several precise replicas of Howdy, including—thanks to improved materials and new molding techniques—a more exact marionette replica than had ever been produced, as well as

4400-478: The first directorial effort of Gene Deitch and long thought lost until a print turned up at the Library of Congress in 2010. On April 15 of that year, the film was posted online. On February 20, 2001, NBC Home Video licensed Image Entertainment to release four individual discs, each containing four episodes. These shows came from the latter part of the series run, from 1957 to 1960. One show from April 1, 1953,

4488-444: The first time this had happened. With Paris's past disappearances, impromptu excuses regarding the whereabouts of Howdy Doody had been hastily concocted. This time, an elaborate explanation was offered—that Howdy was busy with elections on the campaign trail. NBC hurriedly constructed a map of the United States, which allowed viewers, with the help of Smith, to learn where Howdy was on the road. The explanation continued that while on

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4576-407: The form under the banner alternative comedy . In the US, stand-up comedy programs became popular on many cable television channels beginning in the mid-1980s, as such "brick wall" shows (nicknamed for the stereotypical use of a fake brick wall as a backdrop) were cheap to produce and air. Stand-up humour later had mixed fortunes on the small screen, often shunted away to the small hours or as part of

4664-540: The genre. American sketch comedy reached a later peak in the mid-1970s with the debut han Saturday Night Live , originally a variety program but soon devoted mostly to sketches. In the UK, two of the more successful examples are Monty Python's Flying Circus and Little Britain . Animated cartoons have long been a source of comedy on television. Early children's programming often recycled theatrical cartoons; later, low-budget animation produced especially for television dominated Saturday-morning network programming in

4752-470: The idea of two central forms of humour that comedies will use: one prioritizes the joke itself and how it generates laughter from an audience, while the other prioritizes the personal characteristics of whom an actor is impersonating. Comedy has been a television genre prominent for introducing concepts that typically do not align with series' respective social norms. One of these concepts is same-sex intimacy. The appearance of these scenes were not popular in

4840-496: The last years pre-recorded on color videotape. A distinctive feature was the Peanut Gallery , onstage bleachers seating about 40 children. Each show began with Buffalo Bob asking, "Say kids, what time is it?" and the kids yelling in unison, "It's Howdy Doody Time!" The kids then sang the show's theme song (to the tune of " Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay "): It was thus one of the first television shows with audience participation as

4928-443: The latter, it can also be seen as collectively taking over the real laughter of viewers watching from home. Another aspect of audience's interpretations of comedy on television refer to how far writers go when poking fun at characters or real-life people. Saturday Night Live found itself in controversy when a sketch was performed, imitating politician David Paterson for both his political abilities and his blindness. This brought up

5016-427: The most commonly-watched types of television comedy. As the name suggests, these programs feature recurring characters placed in humorous situations. The first television sitcom was the U.K.'s Pinwright's Progress , ten episodes being broadcast bi-weekly from November 1946 to May 1947. Since the early 1950s, with shows including Hancock's Half Hour in the U.K. (derived from a radio show), and I Love Lucy in

5104-478: The music, it'd go out Thursday night to them, they'd have Friday to cut it into the picture, and then Saturday we'd watch it on TV. And it was like really fast, and instead of writing an album once a year I was writing an album's worth of music once a week, and it was really exciting. It was a new experience and it was a different creative process. The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Les Baxter 's " Quiet Village ". The theme song, which originally followed

5192-463: The name Peanuts for syndication of Charles M. Schulz 's Li'l Folks comic strip, reportedly to the lifelong chagrin of Schulz. In September 1954, Bob Smith suffered a heart attack and was ordered to recuperate at home. NBC managed to keep the show going with guest hosts, including Gabby Hayes and New York disc jockey Ted Brown as Bison Bill, explaining to kids that Smith was vacationing at Pioneer Village. While kids generally were satisfied with

5280-511: The only ones in the region were located in Havana and Lima, Peru ). 96 half-hour episodes were filmed. Cuban television later launched its own local version, named Club Chirikin , which lasted through 1959 or early 1960 over CMQ. It was a Monday-Saturday show produced by Stone Associates, a company formed by former Kagran president Martin Stone. The Canadian Howdy Doody Show was produced by

5368-516: The original Howdy. Originally an hour on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (at 5 p.m. Eastern), the show moved to Monday - Friday, 5:30 to 6 p.m. EST in August 1948. During part of its run, it was preceded by the 15-minute The Gabby Hayes Show , hosted by veteran cowboy sidekick actor George "Gabby" Hayes . In June 1956, it began to be shown on Saturday mornings only (10-10:30 Eastern), continuing until its final broadcast on September 24, 1960, with

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5456-591: The other characters in this show included: The show also featured animal puppets such as: There also were several human characters, most notably: The characters inhabited the fictional town of Doodyville. Several characters (including Ugly Sam, the world's worst wrestler, and Pierre the Chef) were played by comedian Dayton Allen , who would become a cast regular on NBC's prime time The Steve Allen Show . The Howdy show's non-televised rehearsals were renowned for including considerable double-entendre dialogue between

5544-584: The politically reactionary Reagan-Bush/ Moral Majority years was a key factor of many adults' enjoyment of the show". Captain Kangaroo ' s Bob Keeshan hailed the show's "awesome production values", adding, "with the possible exception of the Muppets , you can't find such creativity anywhere on TV." "I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different — not that it's good, not that it's bad, but that it's all right. I'm trying to tell kids to have

5632-481: The prelude, was performed by Cyndi Lauper (credited as "Ellen Shaw"), imitating Betty Boop . For the final season in 1990, a new version of the prelude theme was recorded, and the opening theme was slightly edited. Many now-well-known TV and film actors appeared on the show, including Sandra Bernhard , Laurence Fishburne , Phil Hartman , Natasha Lyonne , S. Epatha Merkerson , Jimmy Smits , and Lynne Stewart . Future heavy metal musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie

5720-418: The program. Cast members Lew Anderson and Robert "Nick" Nicholson were both experienced jazz musicians. As both the character and TV program grew in popularity, demand for Howdy Doody-related merchandise began to surface. By 1948, toymakers and department stores had been approached with requests for Howdy Doody dolls and similar items. Macy's department store contacted Frank Paris to ask about rights for

5808-573: The puppet. The name of the puppet "star" was derived from the expression "howdy doody"/"howdy do," a commonplace corruption of the phrase "How do you do?" used in the Western United States and in Britain as well (e.g. " Here's a howdy-do " from The Mikado ). (The straightforward use of that expression was also in the theme song's lyrics.) Smith, who had gotten his start as a singing radio personality in Buffalo, frequently used music in

5896-728: The radio. Several of these programs, including The Day Today and The Mary Whitehouse Experience , eventually transferred over to television. Whose Line is it Anyway? was created in 1988 by The Comedy Store Players , Mike Myers ' improvisation students in London. It began broadcasting in the UK before expanding to the US, with Drew Carey starring in the American version until its cancellation. Some sitcoms may also use improvisation when filming. The actors of Curb Your Enthusiasm had general episode summaries to rely on, but would often create their own lines when they were in front of

5984-678: The rights to produce the New Howdy Doody Show , an attempt by Buffalo Bob and most of the old cast to recreate their past fame. For this incarnation, which aired in first-run syndication , the Howdy Doody marionette had actual hair in a contemporary 1970s style and was operated by puppeteer Pady Blackwood. New cast members included: Crew members: It was staged before a larger Peanut Gallery of children and their parents originating from and taped in Florida. The revived series

6072-660: The rights to the entire series from Paul Reubens, which was released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 21, 2014, the release went out of print several years later. Shout! Factory reissued the complete series Blu-ray on August 27th 2024. In addition, the entire series was digitally reconstructed from the original 16 mm film elements and original audio tracks, with some special effects recreated digitally. The restored episodes have also been made available on streaming platforms in May 2024. August 27th 2024 (reissue) Television comedy The situation comedy , or sitcom , has become one of

6160-437: The scripts to find out where everything would be situated, set workers hurriedly asked him, "Where's the plans? All the carpenters are standing here ready to build everything." Panter responded, "You just have to give us 15 minutes to design this thing!" When asked about the styles that went into the set design, Panter said, "This was like the hippie dream .... It was a show made by artists .... We put art history all over

6248-685: The second increased the total number of requests to 240,000. In the early 1960s, William Rosenberg founded a fast food chain, Howdy Beefburgers (later Howdy Beef n' Burger), in Massachusetts, locating many of its restaurants beside Dunkin' Donuts shops so they could share common parking lots to compete with larger chains such as McDonald's for retail space and customer draw. Howdy Beefburgers was inspired by The Howdy Doody Show that had run on television from 1947 to 1960, and even adopted Howdy Doody as its mascot. Serving such products as hamburgers, French fries, fish sandwiches and New England clam chowder,

6336-493: The show over a salary dispute. The role of Clarabell was then taken by Nicholson, who played it for about 22 months. In January 1955, the role was turned over to Anderson, who kept it until the series ended and for all subsequent revivals and specials, while Nicholson took on the role of J. Cornelius "Corny" Cobb. Each of the cast members also played other roles as required. At the end of the final episode, telecast on September 24, 1960, Clarabell broke his series-long silence to say

6424-443: The show to promote color television sets in the late 1950s. Buffalo Bob Smith created Howdy Doody during his days as a radio announcer on WNBC . At that time, Howdy Doody was only a voice Smith performed on the radio. When Smith made an appearance on NBC's television program Puppet Playhouse on December 27, 1947, the reception for the character was great enough to begin a demand for a visual character for television. Frank Paris,

6512-643: The show's run. The redheaded Howdy marionette on the original show was operated with 11 strings: two heads, one mouth, one eye, two shoulders, one back, two hands and two knees. Three strings were added when the show returned—two elbows and one nose. The original marionette now resides at the Detroit Institute of Arts . There were duplicate Howdy Doody puppets, designed to be used expressly for off-the-air purposes (lighting rehearsals, personal appearances, etc.), although surviving kinescope recordings clearly show that these duplicate puppets were indeed used on

6600-526: The show. It's really like .... I think Mike Kelley said, and it's right, that it's kind of like the Googie style – it's like those LA types of coffee shops and stuff but kind of psychedelic , over-the-top." Several artistic filmmaking techniques are featured on the program including chroma key , stop-motion animation , and clay animation . Pee-Wee's Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children. Its conception

6688-536: The summer of 1986 in a converted loft on Broadway , which one of the show's writers, George McGrath, described as a " sweatshop ". Reubens moved the production to Los Angeles for season two in 1987, resulting in a new set and a more relaxed work atmosphere. The creative design of the show was concocted by a troupe of artists including Wayne White , Gary Panter , Craig Bartlett , Nick Park , Richard Goleszowski , Gregory Harrison, Ric Heitzman , and Phil Trumbo . The first day of production, right as Panter began reading

6776-427: The world. For a while during the tug-of-war fight, the puppet was held in a bank safe deposit box while the saga played out in the federal courts. During one day of deposition, puppet maker Semok (who had performed various maintenance and repainting of the original Howdy marionette beginning in 1989) was called upon to unseal a trap door on the back of the puppet's head; Velma Dawson , the puppet's original builder, who

6864-428: Was 88 at the time of the deposition, was present and given the opportunity to examine the inside of the head in an effort to verify that the puppet in question was the original she created. Despite 50 years of numerous repairs, repaints, and replaced body parts, Dawson eventually declared the head of the puppet to be the one she originally made in 1948. The Detroit Institute of Arts ultimately prevailed and has custody of

6952-523: Was Cuban and spoke Spanish. The relationship between spouses in sitcoms has also changed throughout history. In earlier shows, the women would be the ones who made comedic errors, while the men, having more dominance, would become upset at their wives. Some more recent shows, such as The King of Queens , would have the opposite roles, with the male characters making more mistakes, while their more sophisticated wives would become upset at their husbands for their actions. Howdy Doody Howdy Doody

7040-463: Was a disrupter of the TV domain for kids. The show's psychedelic absurdism also attracted an audience of teens, college students and savvy parents of the show's target viewers. With his wild remix of the kids' shows that he grew up with as a baby boomer , Reubens put a stamp on Generation X .⁠" Image Entertainment first released all 45 episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse on DVD in 2004. On July 3, 2013, Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired

7128-460: Was a production assistant, and future filmmaker John Singleton was a security guard and production assistant. The Christmas special episode, "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special", aired between seasons 2 and 3 and included the regular cast, along with appearances by Annette Funicello , Frankie Avalon , Magic Johnson , Dinah Shore , Joan Rivers , Zsa Zsa Gabor , Oprah Winfrey , Whoopi Goldberg , Little Richard , Cher , Charo , k.d. lang ,

7216-573: Was also included. On November 4, 2008, Mill Creek Entertainment (under license from NBCUniversal ) released Howdy Doody Show: 40 Episodes 1949–1954 on DVD in Region 1. The five-disc set features 40 of the best episodes from the series as selected by fans as well as the final color episode (also on the Image discs) and bonus features. Early episodes of Howdy Doody are available in the public domain and are online for audiences to view. The 1970s brought

7304-443: Was broadcast September 24, 1960. The hour-long episode was mostly a fond look back at highlights of the show's past. Meanwhile, in the midst of it all, Clarabell has what he calls a "big surprise." The rest of the cast attempts to find out what it is throughout the entire show, with only Mayor Phineas T. Bluster succeeding and promising to keep it a secret. ("But," he says upon leaving, "it's not gonna be easy to keep something like this

7392-437: Was greatly influenced by 1950s shows Reubens had watched as a child, like The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show , The Mickey Mouse Club , Captain Kangaroo , and Howdy Doody . The show quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and adults. Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, sought to make a significantly moral show that would teach children the ethics of reciprocity . Reubens believed that children liked

7480-626: Was not as successful as its predecessor, lasting only 130 episodes; the show debuted at the start of August 1976 and was canceled six months later at the end of January 1977. Reruns of the show later aired on Sundays on Cozi TV . Recently, Amazon Prime began offering 20 episodes online. A decade later, the show celebrated its 40th anniversary with a two-hour syndicated TV special, It's Howdy Doody Time: A 40-Year Celebration , featuring Smith, Anderson, Nicholson and LeCornec, who reprised his former role of Chief Thunderthud. Late in life, Bob Smith befriended New York-based fan Jack Roth, who already

7568-439: Was quite familiar with Smith's gallery of puppet characters. Since Smith's death in 1998, Roth usually has provided the voice for Howdy in TV appearances and live venues. Actor-puppeteer Alan Semok, who was approached by Smith to re-create the Howdy marionette, also has voiced Howdy. Like the later Sesame Street , Canadian, Cuban, and Mexican spin-off shows were licensed using local casts and duplicate puppets. In March 1953,

7656-527: Was ranked No. 10 and No. 12 on TV Guide ' s Top Cult Shows Ever, respectively. It was also named to Time ' s list of the 100 Best TV Shows in 2007. The Pee-wee Herman character was developed by Reubens into a live stage show titled The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1980. It features many characters that would go on to appear in Playhouse , including Captain Carl, Jambi the Genie, Miss Yvonne, Pterri

7744-506: Was replaced by reruns of The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy . The music for the show was provided by a diverse set of musicians, including Mark Mothersbaugh , The Residents , Todd Rundgren , Danny Elfman (who provided the score for both of the Pee-wee movies), Mitchell Froom , Van Dyke Parks , George S. Clinton , and Dweezil Zappa with Scott Thunes (spelled 'Tunis' in the credits). Mothersbaugh, who later went on to become

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