Between 1986 and 1991, nearly ten million people a week watched Pee-wee’s Playhouse , the critically acclaimed and widely successful children’s program broadcast on CBS. Now, on the 25th anniversary of the show, the complete behind-the-scenes story is being told for the first time by those who experienced it. Complete with an episode guide, biographical information about the cast and key members of the show’s creative team, never-before-told anecdotes, and previously unpublished photos, Inside Pee-wee’s Playhouse takes the first in-depth look behind the program TV Guide recently cited as one of the top ten cult classics of all time. Paul Reubens (as Pee-wee Herman) has been making a comeback since August 2010, appearing on Saturday Night Live , The View , The Jimmy Kimmel Show , Conan , and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno . He starred in a successful stage revival of his live show in January and February of 2010, and it hit Broadway later that year. It’s been turned into a special on HBO. His public Twitter and Facebook accounts boast over one million fans and followers. Inside Pee-wee’s Playhouse is the first comprehensive look at this amazingly successful (and still revered) children’s program. Pee-wee Herman fans have been energized recently by the character’s re-emerging presence. From casual fans to devout followers, everyone will be interested in taking a look Inside Pee-wee’s Playhouse . “This book is a great nostalgic trip” — San Francisco Book Review “The human portrait of Paul Reubens stands as Gaines’ signal achievement.” — Kirkus Reviews “A must read for pop culture fans as well as Pee-Wee Herman/Paul Reubens fans.” — Boomerocity.com “If you are a fan of Pee-wee’s Playhouse , Inside Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon is a must read.” — The Retroist “If you loved Pee-Wee, this is definitely a book to check out. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s still a great read.” — KSite TV Caseen Gainesis a pop culture enthusiast who has won awards for essays on The Flip Wilson Show and the Planet of the Apes film series. He is a high school English teacher and the co-founder of Hackensack Theatre Company. He lives in New Jersey. In the spring of 1986, Saturday morning children’s television was popular, profitable, and predictable. The three major television networks, abc, cbs, and nbc, aired cartoons that lacked in originality and, for the most part, had no educational value. There were superheroes ( Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends , The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians ), animated adaptations of live-action movies and tv shows ( It’s Punky Brewster , Star Wars ), new shows with established characters ( Alvin and the Chipmunks , The Smurfs ), and even a show starring a larger-than-life wrestling personality ( Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling ). As children urged their parents to empty their wallets for toys based on their favorite Saturday morning cartoons, some parents began paying closer attention to children’s programming, and many didn’t like what they saw. Critics described the networks’ lineups as being filled with “program-length commercials” for merchandising like Pound Puppies, G.I. Joe, and Care Bears. Peggy Charren, the founder and president of Action for Children’s Television, claimed that Saturday morning tv was “filled with do-goody nonsense” and she urged networks to introduce shows with more educational value. With the scrutiny of children’s television increasing, President Ronald Reagan established National Children’s Television Awareness Week that October, a month after the new season of Saturday morning programming debuted. Television as we knew it would be forever changed. Into the Saturday morning television war zone stepped Pee-wee Herman, the man-child in a too-small gray suit of armor, a soldier of a new era of creative children’s programming. While Pee-wee’s Playhouse was hardly the first show to blend animation, puppetry, and liveaction — pbs’s Sesame Street had crossed that bridge almost 20 years earlier — it added a subversive, hipster sensibility to the format, providing a gust of fresh air to a tired timeslot reserved for the stale ideas of network execs. Playhouse ’s impact was immediate. The Washington Post described the program as “utterly magical, beautifully realized, and veritably giddy with plaintive charm.” The show gained the respect of parent advocacy groups and critics alike for being the lone Saturday morning children’s show that was not completely animated. In the weeks following its debut, Playhouse was frequently cited as being not only the best new show of the season, but the best program on Saturday morning, period. As William S. Burroughs once said, “In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents.” This was certainly true for Playhouse . The show not only provided a generation of children with something wildly entertainin