Monster in the Playhouse

Pee-Wee takes Roger home for dinner.

Episode Plot

Mrs. Steve warns the neighborhood of a green monster with one giant eye and two mouths that she saw; she is deathly afraid of it and now so is everyone else. Pee-wee doesn't believe it until the monster appears. The monster speaks a silly native language, making it difficult for everyone to understand. Pee-wee assumes the monster is hungry, so he makes the monster a snack (a submarine sandwich). Then he asks Jambi to help everyone understand what the monster is saying. Jambi grants the wish and the monster now speaks English; they learn that the monster's name is Roger and that he is in fact a friendly monster. Everyone has fun with Roger until his mother calls on the Picturephone and tells him to come home because she was worried about her son; he invites Pee-wee over for dinner afterwards and the man-child gladly accepts.

Quotes

• Roger: (now speaks English) "Hi, my name is Roger."
• Pee-Wee: "Hello, Roger. I am Pee-Wee. And this is Conky, Chairy, Globey, Pterri, Magic Screen, Mr. Window, and Randy."
• (Everyone says hi and is glad to meet Roger)
• Roger: "Why is everyone afraid of me?"
• Pee-Wee: "Because you're a monster."
• Globey: "And you're different."
• Roger: "I can't help the way I look." (everyone screams when he says "look") "Oh! I've said the secret word!"
• Pee-Wee: "How do you know?"
• Roger: "Everyone in Monsterland loves your show! Some of them used to be afraid of it."

--

• (Roger's mom calls Pee-wee on the Picturephone. She wants to talk to her son.)
• Pee-wee: Uh, Roger, it's for you. I think it's your mom.
• Roger: Hello? (listens to his mom's native language) Hi, mommy. Yes. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you were worried about me. I should have told you where I was going. (still listening, until he hears something important from his mom, which causes Roger to scream by himself, while a bunch of nonsense symbols flash on screen) Hahaha! She said the secret word! (hangs up) I gotta go home now, Pee-wee, but my family would be honored to have you for dinner?
• Pee-wee: (jokingly) You're gonna eat me for dinner?
• Roger: No, we're not going to eat you for dinner. We're having spaghetti.
• Pee-wee: I'd be happy to be your guest, Roger. I can give you a lift home on my scooter.

Trivia

• Reba, Mrs. Steve, and Tito visit in this episode.
• We learn a good moral lesson from this episode - Never judge a person only on their looks, but by their character and behavior. This is the same moral one would learn from the Power Rangers Time Force episode "Trip Takes a Stand", which features a similar monster character named Notacon.
• Only time that Conky gives the full Secret Word instructions.
• Roger breaks the fourth wall when he says that everyone in Monsterland loves Pee-Wee's Playhouse, referring to it as a TV show.
• This episode marked the last time that the golf windmill is seen. Roger was the last one to play golf.
• This is the first time that Conky reveals his own fears - darkness and monsters.
• This is the first time Reba says the secret word; here, she actually enjoys the game, but in Dr. Pee-wee and the Del Rubios she grows to be irritated by it. However, in Rebarella she enjoys it again.
• Dixie doesn't play the trumpet.
• Wayne White voiced Roger.
• This is the first episode not to feature connect-the-dots.
• Roger scares away the Salesman, who in turn scares Roger. The scene is from the "Now You See Me, Now You Don't" episode, where Pee-wee Scares the Salesman away, where Pee-wee had no head.
• This is the only time in the produced episodes of the series where someone else rides on the scooter with Pee-wee taking Roger home, as well as being seen with them during the closing credits. However, Pee-wee invited Chairry to ride on the scooter with him in Why Wasn't I Invited?.
• When Roger's mom says the secret word in her native language, Roger screams solely as some nonsensical symbols appear on the screen.
• This is Roger the Monster's first appearance. His last appearance was on Pajama Party.
• Roger talked Pee-wee gibberishly into making a sandwich for him, but did not complete the sentence.
• In the pen-pal letter from New York, it says that the Statue of Liberty is 150 feet tall. The statue's actual height is 305 feet, one inch. Also, during the year the show first aired, her 100th birthday was honored.
• Mrs. Steve ran out of the house to warn the other neighbors, yet at Pee-wee's next line you can barely see her behind the door.
• The secret word was said and screamed at 13 times.
• On the Volume 1 DVD from Shout Factory, closed captions finally spell out Roger's native language in the form of English subtitles.

Notes

• Secret word: look
• Connect-the-dots: None
• Snack: Giant sub sandwich for Roger
• Wish: For Roger to speak English.