Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience! Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!
Sorry this Christmas- related entry is coming so late, I was UNBELIEVABLY busy this Christmas season, and could barely get it out at all!
I will be continuing a series of entries on this blog that I call "A Very 80's Christmas." I started it last year with my look at 'He- Man and She- Ra: A Christmas Special,' but my computer died on me so I had to put the series on hold after that.
Well, now I've got a new computer, and am ready to dive right back into my faith- based look at certain 80's Christmas specials. Unfortunately, my planned third and final entry for this series will have to wait until next Christmas, so you'll just have to be patient for that one! Sorry!
Anyway, today, I'm going to take things on an admittedly rather weird note by looking at the Christmas special for the incredibly surreal TV series 'Pee- Wee's Playhouse.'
It was a children's show that ran in the late 80's and involved the incredibly eccentric man- child Pee- Wee Herman (Played by Paul Reubens, and yes, I'm fully aware of the scandals he was involved with which led to the show's cancellation), and his various friends, human and puppet alike, interacting with each other in his big Playhouse. Practically everything in the Playhouse was alive and talking, from the furniture to some of the food in his fridge to even a section of the floor! In each episode, there is a "Secret word" which, if spoken by a character over the course of the episode, causes everyone in the Playhouse to loudly scream (In this Christmas special, the word in question is "Year").
Needless to say, this was a weird, weird show, but funny and pretty memorable. It also gains points for being an early career role for a young Lawrence Fishburne, who plays Pee- Wee's buddy Cowboy Curtis.
The Christmas special, made in 1988, was pretty straightforward in terms of plot: After a REALLY snazzy opening musical number featuring the UCLA Men's Glee Club singing like a Marine Choir, we see that it's Christmas Eve in the Playhouse, and Pee- Wee and his pals are preparing for it in various ways. Along the way, various guests drop by to offer presents and well- wishes to Pee- Wee and co., from usual supporting characters on the show to a whole plethora of celebrities making cameos. We see them all go through all kinds of holiday and winter- related activities (From interesting ways to make homemade Christmas cards, to a nice Hannukah moment, to various games that can be played in the snow), and Pee- Wee making his gigantic list of presents he wants from Santa.
Then, in the end of the special, Santa himself shows up, and it leads to a quite nice and heartwarming ending and a merry Christmas for all!
This short is absolutely jam- packed with cameos from 80's celebrities. Admittedly, most of the celebrity guests seen in it are now either dead or has- beens, though a few of them are still rather relevant today (i.e. Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Cher), and the episode uses most of them in pretty funny and clever ways, sometimes to sing a song, other times to just talk with Pee- Wee for a bit. The use of the late Dinah Shore in particular makes me laugh HARD every time I see it!
It can also feature at times some subtle humor aimed squarely at adults. For instance, the first guest/ visitor Pee- Wee receives at the Playhouse is his lovely friend Miss Yvonne (A recurring supporting character on the show), bearing a gift. Always fashion- forward, she shows up with a new hairstyle that has mistletoe on it to ensure that she gets as many kisses as possible from the others there. A number of the Playhouse characters volunteer for this, and Pee- Wee chimes in, "So, Miss Yvonne, before you start makin' out with everyone in the Playhouse, how about forking over the gift?"
Speaking of gifts, there's a pretty funny subplot in which each and every guest who comes to the Playhouse over the course of the special (Both the recurring characters from the show, and the celebrity guests) gives Pee- Wee a fruitcake as a present. Making it especially funny are Pee- Wee's reactions to each one (Paul Reubens has such an expressive face), the heavy metal "CLANG" sound effects used whenever Pee- Wee sets one of those Yuletide monstrosities on a table or shelf, and how this dilemma with all the unwanted fruitcakes is ultimately resolved at the end of the show in a quite clever way.
Basically, the 'Pee- Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special,' while bizarre, nevertheless is very funny and enjoyable as an "Off the beaten path" Christmas special. Just don't expect a lot of high drama from a show with talking puppet furniture.
In spite of how weird at times this special is (Not to mention how weird its star is), it does have some pretty good Scriptural lessons.
First up, this special earns some serious cool- points for the fact that it at one point quite unashamedly talks about what Christmas is truly meant to celebrate. Near the end of the special, Randy (A mean little marionette who acts as kind of a recurring antagonist on the show) attempts to sabotage Pee- Wee's lighting of the Playhouse's Christmas tree, on the grounds that he hates Christmas because he believes was just made up by corporations to "Exploit consumer guilt." Pee- Wee points out that this is wrong, and has his friend the Magic Screen shows a video of a Nativity play and explains that it is celebrating the birth of the Christ- child in Bethlehem and the Wise Men bringing Him gifts. Randy is noticeably moved by this, and even thanks them for setting him straight on the matter.
We as Christians should similarly be prepared to stand against the world's lies about the faith and the Savior it's geared around. 1 Peter 3: 15 says "Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." That's what Pee- Wee and the Magic Screen do for Randy, and that's what we all should be prepared to do to any who may have questions or misconceptions about our faith.
The special also offers a good lesson on the problems that selfishness can cause, shown in two parts. Right from the start, Pee- Wee's only caring about making his Christmas list consumed his thoughts so much in the beginning of the special that he completely forgot to put up the Playhouse's Christmas decorations, which he laments as a direct consequence of only thinking about himself; Fortunately, a well- placed wish to his pal Jambi the Genie (Did I mention that this was a REALLY weird show?) enables the Playhouse to be magically decorated in seconds thanks to Jambi's magic. Then, it's really driven home in the very end of the special: Santa arrives at the Playhouse, having given Pee- Wee every gift on his massive list. However, Santa points out that he spent so much time making all the MANY gifts on Pee- Wee's list that he couldn't make any for the other children of the world, and asks if Pee- Wee would be willing to let Santa have his presents and give them to all the children. Pee- Wee is at first hesitant about this, but then remembers his own words from earlier in the special: "Christmas is the time when we should be thinking about what we can do for others," and so he agrees to let Santa give his presents away. Santa is so impressed with Pee- Wee's selfless generosity that he lets Pee- Wee ride with him in the sleigh and help him deliver the presents that night, and the episode ends with them happily doing that while flying around the world.
The Bible is littered with condemnations of selfishness. 1 Corinthians 10:24 says "No one should seek their own good, but the good of others." Also, Proverbs 11:25 says "A generous person will prosper; Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." As Christians, we know that the truest joy and happiness comes from putting others before ourselves, and that especially holds true during the season of Christmas as we celebrate God being willing to give us the ultimate gift of His Son coming to Earth to eventually save us from our sins. So, we too should be more willing to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 points out the exact point, when it says "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give, than to receive.'"
That sums up my look at the 'Pee- Wee's Playhouse' Christmas special, an odd but fun Yuletide gem which teaches great messages on putting others before ourselves and always being prepared to witness to others as to the truth of Jesus.
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I'm working on my Top 10 Movie Characters of 2022 list, so keep an eye out for that entry when it comes.
Until then, happy New Year, and may God bless us all!
