Pee-Wee's Playhouse
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Series Name
Season 4, Episode 2
Pterri and Globey watches Pee-Wee sleep
Air date September 23, 1989
Written by John Paragon & Paul Reubens
Directed by John Paragon & Paul Reubens
Episode Guide
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Dr. Pee Wee and the Del Rubios
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Love that Story

Fire in the Playhouse is the 2nd episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse season 4.

Episode Plot[]

Pee-wee plays with the magic glasses when Miss Yvonne arrives and has him guess who it is. Thanks to Conky, Pee-wee shows us that today's secret word is "one". Pee-wee then does a trick with a penny. Miss Yvonne does interpretative dancing to the Puppet Band's story. Pee-wee meditates, only to soon fall asleep; he dreams he is a Superman-type superhero saving Miss Yvonne from being crushed by a barbell. Globey wakes up Pee-wee and announces that it's snack time. Pee-wee decides to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a snack, but he has no bread; so Miss Yvonne says she will make some. The King of Cartoons visits the playhouse; when he smells the bread baking in the oven, he smiles and says there is nothing he likes more than the smell of hot fresh bread. He then adds that it reminds him of when he was the Prince of Cartoons and would have some bread every morning for breakfast, baked by his mother the first Queen of Cartoons.

While he was telling Pee-wee and Miss Yvonne a story about when he was a little prince, Randy becomes impatient and wonders that's taking so long with the bread cooking. He thinks it will be done faster if he set the oven temperature higher. He turns it to 700 degrees, when Pterri warns him he's not supposed to touch the oven, otherwise the bread will get a terrible burn! After the cartoon is over, Pee-wee and Yvonne are playing golf, and Pee-wee scores a hole-in-one. Everyone screams, but Pterri screams in panic ("Pterri, that's enough screaming to the secret word!") when he sees smoke pouring out of the oven. A fire alarm bell rings loudly, and everyone in the Playhouse panics, thinking there's a fire.

The fire department indeed arrives and Fireman Frank reveals it wasn't a fire, just a lot of smoke, though it can be just as dangerous, and shows them the burnt bread; when Miss Yvonne reacts in shock at seeing the bread, Fireman Frank says "Too bad, I love homemade bread." Pee-wee asks Fireman Frank what could have made the bread burn and Frank replies that just about anything will burn at 700 degrees, Miss Yvonne explains to Fireman Frank that she set the oven to 350 degrees, but Frank believes that some naughty person turned the oven up to 700 degrees.

Randy appears, asking if the bread is ready. Pee-wee explains that the bread is burned from the oven being heated too much and asks who's responsible for this. Randy points out that he did this and apologizes. He's about to go get another bread, but Pee-wee says he cares more about the safety of everybody in the Playhouse rather than a trivial thing like bread. Fireman Frank gives Pee-wee and the viewers at home tips on safety in the event of a fire—fire drills, smoke detector installation and testing smoke detectors monthly, replacing dangerous frayed electrical cords, not overloading electrical sockets, getting rid of garbage, keeping flammable liquids properly stored in safe places away from heat, and never playing with matches.

When Fireman Frank gives Pee-wee with a card with the fire department's telephone number just in case he needs to call them again, Miss Yvonne gives her number in return as she flirts with him. Jealous, Pee-wee goes to the picturephone to put the fire department number inside before leaving the Playhouse on his scooter.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • Miss Yvonne and The King of Cartoons visit in this episode.
  • This is the obligatory "fire safety" episode that was very common in 1980s/1990s animated and live-action television.
  • Wheel of Fortune is parodied by the Food in Refrigerator in this episode. The show is instead called Wheel of Pizza. Gameplay is, for the most part, the same as the show it's spoofing; included is a puzzleboard made of ice cube trays. An asparagus with female features does Vanna's job turning the letters, but the letters appear as if the puzzleboard is being operated automatically as originally intended by Ed Flesh. The letters on the puzzleboard mistakenly spell out PEABUT NUTTER, so the ice cubes switch the B and N's places in the puzzle. Normally on Wheel, you first have to tell the host "I'd like to solve the puzzle" for this to occur.
    • A year before his death from cancer in 2023, Paul Reubens was a contestant on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, playing for charity.
  • When Pee-wee is guessing who is over, he guesses Mrs. Steve, even though she hasn't been seen since Season 1. Everyone else but Mrs. Rene, Tito, both Playhouse Gangs and Dixie are guessed.
  • Stephen Parr played Fireman Frank.
  • A Penny cartoon was shown in this episode.
  • When Pterri makes the wish, he accidentally calls Jambi "Zombie." He says Jambi's name correctly in Front Page Pee Wee.
  • Pee-wee and Miss Yvonne dance during the King of Cartoons arrival song, and almost kiss in Pee-wee's dream. Fans often pair them up as a romantic couple in fan fiction and fan art.
  • The secret word was said and screamed at 9 times.
  • Miss Yvonne is barefoot for the interpretive dance, marking the 4th time she's barefoot in the series.
  • While playing the penny game with Miss Yvonne, Pee-wee hums the music of the "Sabre Dance."
  • Since Pee-Wee Catches A Cold Pee-Wee Herman snores after the secret word but it sounded more intensive and aggressive.
  • The first episode not to feature Chandelier since her debut appearance.
  • The joke in which Miss Yvonne attempts to flirt with Fireman Frank and says, "I have a smoke detector in my bedroom... over my bed..." was censored in future appearances (dubbed over by Lynne Marie Stewart) due to parents' complaints at the time about the innuendo (even though other instances of innuendo on Playhouse are uncensored). It was changed to "I have a smoke detector in my kitchen... above my sink", making it less suggestive. However, the original line was restored when it was released on DVD.
  • Because the secret word for this episode is "one", the word whenever it is used a word addend of such compounds as "someone" or "anyone" is changed to "body", an example being Pee-wee's line "I care about the safety of everybody in the Playhouse."

Home Videos[]

Notes[]

  • Secret word: one
  • Connect-the-dots: none
  • Snack: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They are planned, but the bread is burnt by Randy.
  • Wish: Pterri wishes to know what Pee-wee was dreaming about.
  • This is the last time Mrs. Steve (not seen since the first season) is alluded to in the series.
  • Feature Cartoon: Stork Market (1949)

Transcript[]

See Transcript Here

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