Blu-Ray Review: Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series

By Tyler Hodg

It would be hard to find a child born in the early ‘80s who didn’t wake up every Saturday morning to watch Pee-wee Herman squirm around and yell at the top of his lungs. Twenty-three years after its initial run, Pee-wee’s Playhouse finally sees its Blu-ray release, making it easier for the show’s mature fans to revisit their childhood once again. Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray includes all five seasons, the Christmas special, and numerous behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Out of frustration of being cut in the final round of Saturday Night Live auditions, Paul Reubens decided to take his career into his own hands and develop a stage show based on his previously created character, Pee-wee Herman. Although Pee-wee saw his debut long before the show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse made the man-child a household name. The show became a massive success, spawning every type of merchandise you can think of, and kickstarting the careers of several well-known actors such as Lawrence Fishburne (The Matrix, Hannibal), Natasha Lyonne (American Pie, Orange is the New Black) and Jimmy Smits (L.A. Law, Dexter). To top it off, Cyndi Lauper sang the show’s theme song under the name Ellen Shaw.

Pee-wee’s Playhouse was a historic show and fantastic moment in time. With that said, that moment in time was 23 years ago, and the show wasn’t exactly a big-budget production. Initially, there isn’t a noticeable upgrade in the visuals department on the Blu; it’s not until you watch the special feature about the restoration process that you see how incredible the show now looks. With a side by side comparison, it’s clear that the Blu-Ray edition is superior. The colors are brighter, the movement is more fluent, and you can finally make out the pin-stripes on Pee-Wee’s suit. The folks at Shout! Factory were able to restore all footage to its absolute peak, making Pee-wee’s Playhouse look better than it ever has before.

Updated visuals and audio are obviously a plus, but the special features are what make this collectors set worth the $119.99 price tag. Along with commentaries carried over from the DVD set, Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray includes four hours of unreleased interviews with the cast and crew. However, the downside is the lack of presence of Paul Reubens. Aside from commentary on the Christmas special, he is virtually absent from the box set’s additional content. It comes as a surprise, considering Reubens resurrected the character in 2007 and has been playing him ever since.

From the claymation introduction to the moment Pee-Wee zooms off on his scooter at the end of each episode, Pee-wee’s Playhouse is meant to bring joy to its viewers, and the show’s lessons and themes are as relevant today as they were when it first aired over two decades ago. The incredible restoration gives you that much more incentive to revisit it and the special features give an immense amount of insight into how much love and passion went into making the show truly special. Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray is a collection of everything the groundbreaking show accomplished, and deserves to be considered not only a “must see” but also a “must own.”

Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray was released by Shout Factory on October 21.