In my family, we have a lovely and poignant Christmas tradition. We gather in front of the TV with some hot chocolate and watch our all-time favorite holiday show: “Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special.” If you’re familiar with this work of art, then you know the words “lovely” and “poignant” may not be the best adjectives.
“Raucous” and “goofy” might be more appropriate. If, on the other hand, you are not familiar with the late Paul Reubens’ iconic Pee Wee Herman man-child character and have never seen his Christmas special, there is no way you’ll understand why we find this show so entertaining. You see, the character Pee Wee Herman is really weird.
I mean, the word quirky doesn’t even begin to describe him. His brand of humor would have to stay in school for at least three more years to be considered sophomoric. Fortunately, my daughters and I have similar quirky senses of humor.
So, we really enjoy all the goofy antics that occur in the show. The gags and silly comments are delivered in rapid-fire fashion. In addition to the regular Playhouse characters, a stream of celebrities make appearances, usually for no more than a minute or two each.
Here is the list: Laurence Fishburne, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Charo, Whoopie Goldberg, Cher, Magic Johnson, Grace Jones, k.d. lang, Little Richard, Joan Rivers, Dinah Shore, Oprah Winfrey, Zsa Zsa Gabor and those world-famous musical geniuses, the Del Rubio Triplets.
As you probably know, humo.
