I wonder if he’d be seen as a Mr Rogers Lite if not for the unfortunate movie theater incident. He did help raise a generation of us in a more 80s/90s style compared to the reserved styling of Rogers.
I loved the 80s movie "Flight of the Navigator" where he played Max, the alien ship robot, remarkably well. You could tell it was him because Max's laugh was Peewee's laugh: https://youtu.be/fjv7k54YTa0
Reubens' comedy is a little more subversive. Letterman had it right:
"What makes me laugh about (Peewee) is that it has the external structure of a bratty little precocious kid, but you know it's being controlled by the incubus -- the manifestation of evil itself."
I don't think so. His stuff by today's standards was very un-woke (John's genie character itself would probably be considered an offensive stereotype) and there are YouTube videos compiled of clips that show unambiguous double entendres that would be considered child-corrupting.
What happened to Rubens for the movie theater incident was incredibly harsh, I think even for that era, but I just don't think that a show as deliberately weird as Peewee's Playhouse would be well received today by parents and cultural stewards. A shame though, Rubens was a really great performing artist.
Too weird for today? Have you seen Yo Gabba Gabba?
Parents of today like weird. And yes, maybe some stuff would be offensive in today's context, but not that bad.
We watched a couple of the old Pee-Wee movies with my kids and a bit of some of the old shows and they loved them. We're very lefty and I don't recall anything in them that raised any particular alarm bells.
