Today's Secret Word....

.... is Pee-wee! 

Herman, that is. Some people cringe when they hear that name, after the 1991 "lewd incident" involving Paul Reubens. But I don't want to talk about that. Prior to that mess, Reubens was responsible for the imaginative character Pee-wee Herman, who will likely live on for generations. 

The coolest nerd ever. 

Paul Reubens created the Pee-wee character in the early 80's, gradually developing the man-child persona and then bringing it to full realization in a successful run as a stage show. An HBO special about this curiosity helped launched the phenomenon.... Reubens went on to become Pee-wee for a full decade -  in the Tim Burton cult movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure, its sequel Big Top Pee-wee, and then in the Emmy Award winning kids' TV show Pee-wee's Playhouse. 

Based largely on wacky 50's kids' show host Pinky Lee (but I see a Jerry Lewis influence, too), Reubens/Pee-wee went on to influence comedians, actors, and characters, including Jim Carrey and ....

The look, the persona... remind you of anyone?

I think that it was the Saturday morning TV show that first caught my attention. This was back at a time when I was working in the film business, animation to be exact, so part of my "homework" was to check out cartoons. And the Pee-wee show dropped quite neatly into my viewing schedule. What a blast! The show was silly, irreverent, highly imaginative, and clever in its appeal to both children and adults. Twice, Pee-wee's Playhouse made TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever, rolling in at #10 and #12.

Just plain fun. If you didn't like the show, then I guess you were never a kid or at least didn't enjoy being a kid. Pee-wee was for the kid in all of us, no matter our age. 

Some old Playhouse VHS tapes that

are still hanging around my place

Reubens had a career outside of the Pee-wee world, though sometimes there was a weird overlap, where he was asked to play the character in others' TV programs and movies. His gigs (before, during, and after the Pee-Wee era) included a 1981 episode of Mork & Mindy (Robin Williams' hit TV show), The Blues Brothers, two Cheech and Chong movies (very much as a Pee-wee-like character), Back to the Beach (as Pee-wee), SNL (hosting as Pee-wee),  Sesame Street (again as his alter ego), and as the weirdest character ever played by anyone on my favourite all-time TV show 30 Rock. Plus tons more appearances, and even voice acting, in both film and television. And a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Quite the resume.

I don't often care about the personal lives of entertainers, certainly not to the extent that their off-screen actions affect my opinion of their work. And with Reubens.... he didn't hurt anyone at all. I can easily ignore his transgression and simply admire his impressive body of work as an actor - especially his Pee-wee character. And I'm sure that if anyone heckles him with remarks about being a "perv", he replies with:

I know you are, but what am I?

I think Jerry Lewis must have had something

to do with the invention of Pee-wee.... just

look at that clown!