Sick, Did Somebody Say Sick?

Series Name
Season 4, Episode 4
Air date	October 7, 1989
Written by	John Paragon
Directed by	John Paragon & Paul Reubens
Episode Guide
previous Love that Story	next Miss Yvonne's Visit

Sick, Did Somebody Say Sick is the 4th episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse season 4.

Episode Plot

The episode begins when Pee-wee discovers that he is all out of food. While he goes grocery shopping, Randy decides to take over the Playhouse and make it Randy's Playhouse.

Randy, retrieving the secret word from Conky without Pee-wee's permission, shows us that today's secret word is "go", but as part of his takeover, he changes the secret word game rules so that whenever someone says "go" for the rest of the show, instead of screaming really loud, everyone must bark like a dog, as "suggested" by a very angry (yet rather unintelligent) Roosevelt. He tries it on Pterri. He races him to his nest without saying "go" first. He then jumps on Chairry (like the Playhouse Gang did in The Gang's All Here), who irritatedly says she doesn't like "Randy's Playhouse". He then plays Connect Randy's Dots in Magic Screen, who forms the dots into a jail cell. He yells for help, but Magic Screen won't let him out until Pee-wee returns.

Right after Randy breaks out, Pee-wee returns. Randy "signs off" his show, and when he says "I gotta go," everyone barks, causing Pee-wee to stop Randy from escaping, asking him what's going on and why everyone's barking like a dog. While Randy stutters trying to explain, Roosevelt arrives and barks at Pee-wee, who translates what Randy did. First, he was teasing everybody, he unplugged Conky and got the secret word, and now everyone has to bark whenever they hear it. Pee-wee scolds Randy for ruining the whole show ("Way to go!"). Randy says that he was just playing and didn't mean any harm. Sternly, Pee-wee orders Randy to apologize sincerely and formally for what he did. After apologizing and promising to never take over the Playhouse again, Pee-wee lets him go.

After the commercial break, Pee-wee shows us the groceries he bought from the store; when he takes out the french bread, Chandelier says the the smell reminds her of her old home in Paris, France. She really misses it, so Pee-wee wishes that he and Chandelier could visit Paris. Jambi tries to grant the wish as usual, but his "magic circle" is all wiggly and faded before it could come in contact with Pee-wee. He at first thinks it's Paris, when he's reminded by Globey that he's still in the Playhouse. Jambi tries again, but still fails. Pee-wee asks Jambi if he's feeling okay. Jambi thinks he feels alright, but what follows is a claymation footage of Jambi making silly faces and flashing purple. Pee-wee calls Dr. Jinga Janga on the Picturephone.

Pee-wee calls Jambi to come out, only to see him very weak and sick, his life energy completely drained. His face is green and covered with yellow spots. Dr. Jinga Janga tells Pee-wee that Jambi is suffering from Mecca Lecca Hi Mecca Heinyitis, a form of burnout, and Pee-wee should show Jambi that he cares for him regardless of whether he grants wishes or not. This works out well and Jambi gets better after slurping from a bowl of chicken noodle soup, which The King of Cartoons brought over for him.

Characters

• Pee Wee Herman
• The Food from the Refrigerator
• Randy
• Conky
• Mr. Kite (cameo)
• Floory (cameo)
• Roosevelt
• Pterri
• Chairry
• Dog Chair
• Magic Screen
• Ants
• Fish
• Chandelier
• Globey
• Jambi
• Dr. Jinga Janga (single appearance)
• Clocky
• Penny
• Flowers
• King of Cartoons
• Queen of Cartoons (mentioned)
• Mr. Window (barking only)
• Dirty Dog (barking only, cameo)
• Cool Cat (barking only, cameo)
• Chicky Baby (barking only, cameo)

Trivia

• The King of Cartoons visits in this episode. The Queen is mentioned.
• The title of this episode is a play on Jambi's catchphrase.
• The late Bernard Fox played Dr. Jinga Janga, a parody of his character of Dr. Bombay from Bewitched.
• In the second half of this episode, Pee-wee quotes the classic Humphrey Bogart line from Casablanca—"We'll always have Paris.".
• Penny is shown in this episode.
• Had Jambi completely granted Pee-wee's wish to travel to Paris in France, the entire "vacation" would have been a la Magic Screen's Connect the Dots game (stock footage against a green screen background), as a real trip to Paris would have been extremely expensive.
• Randy does the secret word instructions, forcibly getting the word from Conky, and changes the rules so that when it is heard, everyone has to bark instead of scream, as "suggested" by an angry Roosevelt. (He was actually barking something along the lines of "You won't get away with this.")
• This episode reveals that the real reason why Jambi grants people only one wish per show is because his power is finite; too many wishes granted causes him to lose his power and suffer a form of burnout.
• Roosevelt said Randy teased everyone, though he didn't really, he was bad to Pterri and Chairry.
• The Picturephone has a keypad to dial phone numbers on, and there is a phone book.
• This episode marks the only time Pee-Wee was on hold during a call on the Picturephone. Dr. Jinga-Janga had Pee-Wee on hold 2 times during the time when Pee-Wee called Dr. Jinga-Janga.
• The scene where Jambi flashes purple in Claymation resembles the same color as Lady Genie in the Season 1 finale episode Party.
• The Queen of Cartoons is mentioned by the King of Cartoons in this episode, but for the final time.
• This was the only episode where everyone was forbidden from screaming when the secret word was mentioned.
  • Randy obtains the secret word from Conky while Pee-wee is out buying groceries. He makes everyone bark instead of scream when the word is said.
  • The secret word is "go", but, during the Connect-the-Dots game, when Randy is in the prison cell and says "I'll go crazy in here ...," nobody barks. Also, nobody barks when Dr. Jinga-Janga says "Go right ahead" after Pee-wee asks if he can speak with him.
  • The secret word's past-tense is "went", but nobody barks when Randy asks "You know where Pee-wee went?"
  • The present participle of the secret word is "going" but no one barks when Pee Wee says "I would like to know what is going on..." or when Jambi says "Well, pack your bags, Pee-wee Herman, because you and Chandelier are going on a glorious, all-expenses-paid trip to Paris!"
• The secret word is said and barked at 12 times in this episode.
  • Even though Randy changed the rules that everyone must bark whenever they hear the secret word, some of the Playhouse characters are still depicted screaming, such as the Ants.
• The ocean liner in the Penny cartoon is called the S.S. Pee-wee.
• Unusual for an episode, no female human character (not even Miss Yvonne or Mrs. Rene) visits.
• When emptying his groceries, Pee-wee gets out two cartons of milk and a jug of lemonade, and recites the childish playground rhyme "Milk, milk, lemonade / Around the corner fudge is made."

Home Videos

• Volume 8

Notes

• Secret word: go (rules changed)
• Connect Randy's dots: jail cell (he didn't mean it)
• Snack: Chicken noodle soup for Jambi from the King
• Wish: Was to see Paris originally, but Pee-wee got his true wish that Jambi got better
• Featured Cartoon: To Spring (1936), this cartoon was previously featured in "Puppy in the Playhouse"

Quotes

• Randy: Phew. That was a close one. Hey, Chairry, didja get reupholstered? (notices Pee-wee next to him) Uh-oh.
• Pee-wee: Hello, Randy.
• Randy: That's all the time we have for Randy's Playhouse. See you later, boys and girls. I gotta go!
• (Everyone barks as "GO" flashes on screen)
• Pee-wee: (Grabs Randy to stop him from running off) Not so fast, Randy! I would like to know what is going on and why is everyone in the Playhouse barking like a dog?
• Randy: Well, you see...I...um...uh...
• Roosevelt: (barks)
• Pee-wee: What's that, Roosevelt?
• Roosevelt: (barks)
• Pee-wee: Randy's been teasing everybody?
• Roosevelt: (barks)
• Pee-wee: What? HE UNPLUGGED CONKY AND GOT THE SECRET WORD?!
• Randy: Stool pigeon!
• Roosevelt: (barks)
• Pee-wee: And now everyone has to bark whenever they hear it?!?
• Roosevelt: (barks)
• Pee-wee: (glares at Randy) Randy, you wrecked the whole show. Way to go!
• (Everyone barks again)
• Randy: I was just playing. I didn't mean any harm!
• Pee-wee: Randy, I believe you owe everyone in the Playhouse a sincere and formal apology.

--

• Jambi: (opens his box) Wish? Did somebody say wish?
• Pee-wee: I did, Jambi! I wish that Chandelier and I could travel to Paris.
• Jambi: Well, then pack your bags, Pee-wee Herman, because you and Chandelier are going on a glorious, all-expenses-paid trip to Paris!

--

• Pee-wee: Jambi? Jambi!
• Jambi: (opens his box again, but he is very sick) Wish? Did somebody say wish?
• Pee-wee : (shocked) Jambi! (The camera nears to Pee-wee who is very worried)

--

• Pee-wee: Oh, no! Not Mecca Lecca Hi Mecca Heinyitis! Please say it's anything than Mecca Lecca Hi Mecca Heinyitis! What is Mecca Lecca Hi Mecca Heinyitis?

--

• Jambi: I'm really sorry about your wish, Pee-wee. I know how much you wanted to see Paris.
• Pee-wee: I don't care if I'm not seeing Paris, Jambi. Why, we'll always have Paris. What I really care about is you. I want you to be my genie, whether you can grant me wishes or not.

--

• Jambi: Hey, Pee-wee! I'm all better now! Don't you want your wish?
• Pee-wee: I already got my wish, Jambi! You're all better!