Repentant Pee-Wee Admits Shocking Abuse Of 'Playhouse' Co-Stars
In San Francisco to attend his tribute at SF Sketchfest, Paul Reubens answered many questions regarding the fate of his greatest creation, noted bicycle-fetishist Pee-wee Herman. He mentioned another movie starring the toy-hoarding manchild was in development, featuring all of the original Playhouse characters. Later pressed for some behind-the-scenes dirt, Reubens offered up this childhood-sullying recollection:
Reubens says he was a secret smoker during "Pee-wee's Playhouse" — and now admits that his beloved robot sidekick, Conky, was sometimes used as an ashtray.
"I had really tough security on the 'Pee-wee' set," Reubens said. "Ninety percent of that is I didn't want some kid to walk on and see me smoking."
When trusty Conky 2000 booted up and announced, "Ready to assist you, Pee-Wee!" he probably had other processing tasks in mind than becoming an ash recepticle for Pee-wee's "Mmm! Nicotine-y!" habit. Still, that revelation was hardly the memory-scarring bombshell of the evening, as Reubens would go on to tell the ugly truths about how the King of Cartoons liked to slip in a blue reel now and then, the Countess met a grisly end on the Peter Luger menu, and the Dinosaur Family were accidentally rendered extinct after a studio ant infestation led to the deployment of a Raid fogger.
