FILM
01.22.10
FILM, Hollywood Film, Early Television Innovators, Hyperrealism, Independent Film, Film Criticism and Theory, TV, Comedies, Musicals, n, s Playhouse, Rob Zombie, Sally Hershberger, Saturday Night Live, Phil Hartman, Kris Kristofferson, Randal Kleiser, MoMA, Pee-Wee, pee-wee herman, Tim Burton, danny elfman, phil hartman, MTV, guns roses, Rem, Chris Isaak, Murphy Brown, 227, Pee-Wees Big Adventure, Conan O'brien, Paul Reubens
by Natalie
Pee-Wee Herman appeared last night on the second to last episode of Conan O'brien's "Tonight Show," to help break down the events that lead up to Conan's break from NBC. Pee-Wee (AKA Paul Reubens) aficionados know that the character -- loosely inspired by 50's TV host Pinky Lee -- was developed with Phil Hartman in the 1970's, when the two men worked together in the LA-based comedy troupe "The Groundlings." Pee-Wee didn't make it onto "Saturday Night Live" with Hartman, but his Pee-Wee Herman character appeared in "Cheech & Chong's Next Movie," and the popular stage show was punctuated with appearances on Letterman and HBO. Anyone around my age might have vague memories of Pee-Wee infused shows ranging from "227" to