The Pee Wee Herman Show on HBO

[KirbyCat]

Posted: 3/19/11 at 11:32pm

What did you guys think?
I think it was wonderfully shot and it had me giggling like a little kid... but the flying sequence at the end really disappointed me. Maybe it was different live in the theater, but it looked pretty cheap.

[hairspraydude1962]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 1:32am

I'm sure they could have done the flying sequence better, if they wanted to. However, that's the way it was done in the original The Pee-Wee Herman Show from the '80s.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 1:47am

It's days like this that I wish I had HBO.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 1:52am

I'm sure the ending made Julie Taymor slap her forehead. You know, if she even has a TV.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 2:06am

Guys. I mean, like, it was clearly intentional. Haven't seen the film yet, but it got huge laughs and awwwwws in the theatre.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 2:25am

Scarywarhol (love that name, btw), were you in the theater the night of the HBO shoot? I'm thinking maybe not, because Reubens, after the show, actually apologized to the audience about the flying effect and said it was more effective during the show's run (something I can't attest to, because I only saw that one night).

The audience was held captive for about 45 minutes after the show was over in order to get audience reaction shots, and audience responses to scenes that got filmed less than perfectly and so had to be re-shot.

Reubens as Reubens, keeping us occupied while cameras and lights were rest, was very, very funny. I'd love to see him do stand-up as himself.

[KirbyCat]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 7:49am

I mean, I get it- they kept the flying close to the TV show..... but Basil Twist re-vamped all of the puppetry (gorgeously), so I was sort of hoping for a kind of flying affect much like Fester's dance with the moon in the Addams Family. Now THAT was breath-taking.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 10:29am

Will be watching last night's HBO broadcast shortly but I'm still bummed HBO only presented a 30 minute abridged version of the show -- it was an intermission-less almost 90 minute show on Broadway.

I expected HBO to air the full show as seen on Broadway. Not an abridged version.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 10:48am

Hmmm... Haven't watched it yet, but my DVR says it's 90 mins.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 11:19am

I watched it last night, and it was indeed 90 minutes. Can someone tell me who the girl in the blue dress at the curtain call played? I'm assuming she was the voice of Chairy or Magic-Screen but i'm not sure which.

[Overkill]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 11:20am

It's the whole show, Brody.

I LOVED it. I'm a huge Pee-Wee fan, so this was like christmas morning for me. The set and the puppets were beautiful and I adored the song between Pee-Wee and Chairy.

The flying affect seemed like it did in The Pee-Wee Herman Show from the 80's that HBO also filmed. Seemed fine to me.

I will say that I was a little disappointed in the script. The new stuff was hilarious and it all still had charm, but it was the same script as the 1980's show, only with Cowboy Curtis instead of Captain Carl (who I missed). Phil Lamarr as Curtis didn't impress me much. He didn't have the sweetness and charm that Laurence Fishburne had, but that might have been a character choice. He probably didn't want to copy Laurence.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 11:35am

I stand corrected. I'm about to watch it and it is indeed 90 minutes.

Today's Secret Word: YIPPEE-YA-YOO-HOO!

[KirbyCat]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 3:26pm

She was actually the voice of both!

[Huey's Pop]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 3:55pm

I saw the Pee Wee show when he did it in Los Angeles last year. The NY version actually looked better on HBO.

[Parks]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 5:54pm

Anyone know if there's anywhere to find this online? My school switched from HBO to Showtime last year, unfortunately .

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 7:54pm

I thought it was God-awful, and I'm a big Pee Wee fan, or at least I used to be. I own every episode of the original series on DVD, and watch it often with my 7 and 9 year old nephews. They love it! But, as far as I'm concerned, this Broadway/HBO reincarnation was a complete dud from beginning to end. The only thing it accomplished was proving the age-old adage, "You can't go home again". I didn't laugh or crack a smile once; and believe me, I wanted to. It was as stale as two-week old bread. The jokes and gags were as tired as the 60ish Miss Yvonne. I have to erase it all from my mind so that it doesn't destroy my fond memories of the original. Thank God I was smart enough not to pay Broadway prices to see it live.

Updated On: 3/20/11 at 07:54 PM