World's most beloved sexual deviant?

You got to hand it - no pun intended - to Paul Reubens. Very few actors can survive arrests for public masturbation and child pornography and emerge triumphantly in today's celebrity-crazed world.

Such is the legacy of Pee-wee Herman, the greatest fictional character of the later half of the 20th century. (Yeah, I'm dissing you, Max Headroom, you techno-poser!)

Reubens was arrested in 1991 for masturbating in a Sarasota adult theater during a showing of "Nurse Nancy" (begging the question, what else do you do during a movie that stars "Sandra Scream?") and again in 2001 for an investigation into child pornography. But a little legal wrangling later, he reappeared nearly unscathed.

Reubens -- who turns 56 years old today -- is working again today as Pee-wee, with production of a movie version of "Pee-wee's Playhouse" already in the works and set for release next year.

TOP 5 MEDIA MOMENTS FOR PAUL REUBENS:

5. THE GONG SHOW: Don't ask me to explain what's happening in this 1976 clip. Just watch -- in horror.

4. BATMAN RETURNS: Reubens played the father of Danny DeVito's "Penguin" character in the 1992 stink-fest.

3. CRACK INFOMERCIAL: Don't wait for a punchline -- it's not coming.

2. CHEECH & CHONG: "I'm soooorry I took the money!"

1. TEQUILA: From "Pee-wee's Big Adventure." God bless, youtube.com

Comments

[mike]

I remember his show on all the time in the 1980s. It was funny as heck.

[Steph]

Aw man, Spearsie, I can't find a link to the death scene in Buffy! Just lame "tribute" videos. Ugh. Sorry!!

And Rick...Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is totally kid appropriate. I just watched it with my 10 year old, and it was right up his alley. Nothing bad, and I'm pretty strict about what the rugrats watch.

[trim]

A truly great creator and talent. Lesson learned? Don't be your reel character in real life.

[Pat]

don't forget the MTV awards "I'm Back"

[Gee]

I remember Mystery Men, I caught it on cable not too long ago. It's a pretty funny movie.

Come on, no-one here remembers his as a SuperHero in Mystery Men with the likes of Ben Stiller and Jeneane Garoffolo? Classssssic! Covered in Zits and his Superpower was massively sticky farts... And his Superhero name you ask? The Spleen! ahahahaha

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

Webmaster, you have got to change the title of this blog entry. My firewall at work goes up and doesn't allow me access to the SIT80's blog, because of the combo "Sexual Deviant"...ugh! I hate my work's e-mail!

[Rick]

Remember the original HBO special where Pee-Wee was introduced to America?

It was bawdy and very funny with Phil Hartman as Kap'n Karl. But my favorite bit was when Pee-Wee claimed he was doing a magic trick, asked for someone's wallet, and did nothing with it but pocket it -- then never said another word about it!

As time passed and the joke crept up on me, I remember I laughed till I fell off the couch.

[Former Producer Dave]

I knew I'd found my soulmate when my soon-to-be second wife laughed just as much as I did when we saw "Pee Wee's Big Adventure". "...Playhouse" was a classic bit of television and was the best Saturday morning show I'd seen since I was a little kid.

Does anybody here remember a short black and white comedy short that Paul did for Showtime where he parodied High School Health films? I have it on tape somewhere...

[Tonka61]

Anyone remember Laurence Fishburne as the black cowboy on PeeWee's Playhouse?

Oh, and Reubens was pretty good in "Blow."

[Christine]

I *heart* perverts.

[Eric62]

Wasn't "Im soooooorrrrryyy'' immediately followed with "I'm not sooooorrrryyy."

I havent seen that movie in years, but that bit came to mind as I perused today.

[Gee]

That's because it happened before TMZ and Perez Hilton took over the world.

[Rick]

My kids regularly watch Pee-Wee's Playhouse on DVD and love it.

Here's my fear on a Pee-Wee movie -- my kids'll want to see it and it will be R-rated material in the wake of his pervie reputation: the way of dealing with such revelations these days isn't to apologize but to embrace the mistake more fully...

"I meant to do that!" Sound familiar? ;-)

[Spears]

You know, I only saw the movie version of "Buffy" once, so I've forgotten that death scene. Feel free to include a link to it.

(I'm sadly now addicted to the TV series of Buffy, which I'm watching on DVD. Repeat after me: I ... have ... no ... life.)

[Steph]

How on earth could you not include his death scene in Buffy?! WONDERFUL!

[Spears]

Of those 5, my favorite clip is the Cheech and Chong one really. I used to say that for years... "I'm soooorryyyyy!"

[Another Andy]

going a@@-over elbows on his bicycle ..
"I meant to do that" !!!
My favorite line anywhere ..

[Sherrie]

That Gong Show clip was great, I love how earnest and serious Paul Reubens is in it. My favorite character on PeeWee's Playhouse was Phil Hartman's Captain Carl- classic.

[Scott]

I always regret not spray painting "Pee Wee's Playhouse" on the side of the theater in Sarasota...

[Crockett]

"I know you are but what am I?"

[Clark]

I lived in Sarasota when Pee Wee got busted. It was right around that time that a kid got arrested while doing his job at a music store called Tracks for selling the Too Live Crew album. Yep, Sarasota was ground zero for indecency controversies for a brief period.

Wasn't the chick in the clip in Pee Wee's Big Adventure (as the waitress?)

[jo]

Off the Pee Wee Topic, but if anybody cares:

Hot LA quintet ~Low Vs Diamond~ will be singing one of their big, melodic American anthems on Jay Leno tonite 8/27, at the end of the show. Check em out. They've got a big, west coast buzz goin!

[Bassnote]

Jeff from Vegas, I loved Reuben's death scene in Buffy The Vampire Slayer! "Aaahhh! Ooohhh! Owwwww! Ughhhh!..."

One 80s role you didn't mention was his turn as a waiter in The Blues Brothers.

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

There's a big difference between yanking your wanky when you are at home in your bedroom, surrounding yourself with your older sister's Glamour magazines and Victoria's Secret catalogs, but to do what he did in a theater/public place is a small step above perv-dom.....

Needless to say, his Playhouse show was just classic television that was unfortunately cut off when it was at its peak. L.Fishbourne as a Cowboy was just soooo classic.

[Jeff from Vegas]

What about Paul Reubens' death scene in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"? That was classic!

[chase]

Pee Wee ... ick.

[don in tulsa]

and yet with all those positives batman returns still sucked. i can't stand to watch it and will turn the channel if i see it.

[8]

Yeah, why don't ya marry it?

[ARod]

Actually, beside the fact that the movie was overly dark and depressing and the little people dressed in penguins at the end were downright horrible, I do appreciate a few things about it: it had Michelle Pfeiffer (huge plus), Christopher Walken, and last appearance of Michael Keaton as Batman (before Val's incredibly lame attempt at the role).

[knockknock]

Actually, Batman Returns was a laff riot (just not PeeWee's part). Plus you had Michelle Pfeiffer in a catsuit.