LYNNE-MARIE STEWART, 1946-2025

 The Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Photobook page marks the passing of Lynne-Marie Stewart, who originated the character of Miss Yvonne with the Groundlings and continued the character on Pee-Wee's Playhouse. 

Thank you, and may you always be The Most Beautiful Woman in Puppetland.

And may you sail forevermore with Captain Carl.

12/25 BONUS: COUNT FLOYD EXTENDED SCENE

NOTES: This is an extended take for the King of Cartoons/Count Floyd scene that I came up with well after everything had wrapped and the relevant scene went online. It's a riff on a similar scene from one of the last few episodes of Playhouse, in which Pee-Wee encounters an adult party line on the Picturephone. Here, it's a commercial for a 1-900 number featuring the main character from two comic strips: Larry Whittington's Fritzi Ritz and Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy. 

It came about from, once again, Facebook--I am a member of a fan page dedicated to distorting and riffing on the Nancy comics. I was awake one night and the thought occurred to me: "Wouldn't it be funny if Pee-Wee stumbled upon a Christmas-themed adult party line with Fritzi talking directly to the viewer?" 

 

12/25/24: Christmas Bonus

 

My effort at replicating the original VHS cover art. It took me a year to find the exact font from the box, and it's called Ad Lib.

My version of a famous publicity shot from the Christmas Special.

12/25/24--END CREDITS

NOTES: The credits include a spoof acknowledgment for "The Pee-Wee's Playhouse Collector's Case" providing accommodations. No such collector's case exists; the illustration is from the Thermos lunchbox, and I put the Matchbox logo over the Thermos logo. It's a riff on the end credit for the Los Angeles Registry Hotel, which sadly went bankrupt shortly after the special aired.

"Don't Salt the Fries" is a cryptic phrase from the computer game System Shock, which I am a huge fan of.

12/24/25 third post

 

NOTES: I will die on the hill that Pee-Wee's Playhouse ought to have ended with the Christmas Special, and that the remainder of Seasons 4 and 5 are diminishing returns. Getting to ride with Santa is just such a perfect conclusion for the character of Pee-Wee Herman--one last childhood wish, finally fulfilled. That's why I emphasized that his withdrawing the long list is a grown-up decision: it's the first step in developing maturity and thinking outside of oneself. 

The paraphrase of Clement C. Moore takes care to include Rudolph. The yuletide roster is not complete without him.

Far from being a reference to E.T. or The Nightmare Before Christmas, the end panel owes much more to Chicago's CTA buses, which from November to January occasionally display a picture of Santa and his reindeer on the front marquee. It always brings a smile to my face.

12/24/24 second post

 

12/24/24

 

NOTES: 

Pee-Wee looks a little creepy with the lighting from above. Pee-Wee.EXE. 

I knew I was going to replicate that moment from the outset of this project, but can't remember if it was before or after the Pterri material, because I did this in the same way as with Pterri--with two shots, one from 3/4 and one from the side. Here, it was a simple matter of rendering the heads in about 50% transparency and then flipping the copies so that they'd face different angles. 

"Mr. Claus" is my way of demonstrating that he's taking this seriously. The "What more do you want?!" line is now a last little bit of weakening resistance. His tune changes instantly when he learns he's got to help Santa: running the words together without spaces or punctuation illustrates that he's blindsided and utterly elated.

There was never any question of a dark ending in which he opts for the Christmas list. That would have been a little too much--it would have involved Santa not being entirely clear on the consequences of the choice, and it always came across as him actively hoping that Pee-Wee would take the short-term option just to spring the trap on him.