TVSquad

I'm not going to lie to you. I'm a bit of a Machead and I REALLY want an iPad. That's why I'm super jealous of Pee-Wee Herman who brought one to the Playhouse in this "Funny or Die" video, even though he already has a robot and a talking screen, both of which Apple are probably developing into overpriced electronic gadgetry so they can suck more money out of my cramped, ink stained hands.

And just for fun, when you hear the word "iPad" in the following video, scream real loud. Ready? Let's try it!

Now that Pee Wee Herman's big comeback is officially in full swing, more news is coming down the pike and today's secret word is "movie."

Pee Wee told the press he has a script for a movie (AHHHHHHHH!) based on his popular Saturday morning kids' show Pee Wee's Playhouse. He said the movie (AHHHHHHH!) would bring back all of the show's original characters and take them out of the playhouse and into the broader, fictional world of "Puppetland." It's also described as a family-friendly movie (AHHHHHHH!), although judging from the reaction my old man had to the show when I watched it as a kid, "family-friendly" might be a loose term for this movie (AHHHHHHH!).

A Pee Wee's Playhouse film has always been lurking around in development hell. An earlier version with Johnny Depp as the title character was being shopped around way back in 2007. If Pee-Wee's Playhouse became a mo.., er, feature film, would you watch it?

Pee Wee Herman is returning to the national consciousness with the stage show that made him famous, but could "TV" be the word of the day?

The Pee Wee Herman Show is kicking off with a huge, sold-out stage show, a new version of the original stage show that served as a launching pad for the Saturday morning TV (AHHHHHH!) show, Pee Wee's Playhouse. The show starts a run on Jan. 17, 2010 at Los Angeles' Club Nokia. The producers had to move the show to a bigger club so they could accommodate the large number of ticket holders who stormed the box office when seats went on sale.

Given the buzz and heavy interest in this new stage show and the character's return from the depths of popular culture, could a TV (AHHHHHHH!) version -- either for kids or adults -- be far behind?

I had a really hard time finding an image to include with this article. I went through every newspaper article that had "The Jay Leno Show" in the body of its text. I did searches on Google Images until Google got sick of me clogging their bandwidth. Even my editor Jane Boursaw couldn't use her super press connection powers to find one stinking shot of Jay blowing his nose in between sets from Friday's show.

Perhaps that's because Friday's late night appetizer on NBC wasn't really all that eventful. Don't take that to mean that it was totally dull, drab or boring, just a typical show for Jay and company.

And given some of the past episodes that sucked out loud, there's nothing wrong with being typical. Compared to the Pee Wee Herman debacle, it's a Devil's Tower sized step up.

Ever hear a joke that you're not sure you heard a punchline to yet? I'm not even sure tonight's Jay Leno Show had a setup.

Pee Wee Herman's triumphant return to Jay's show was an insufferable bore, beyond an opening joke about mistaking a wedding ring for an abstinence ring. It ended, and I literally said the words, "Why the hell did I just watch that?" Then I realized I'm being paid to watch TV for a living, and I quit bitching.

The comic character was there to promote his revival of The Pee Wee Herman Show stage play, but the whole interview had very few laughs and felt more like an introspective look at the man's childhood and aspirations to go into show business. The only problem is he's a fictional character and the stories didn't have much of a punchline, so it's hard to know if they were about Pee Wee Herman or the man playing Pee Wee Herman. Should I be laughing? Should I be interested? Should I care?

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Larry Seidlin is done being a regular judge, if he ever was one.
  
• It's almost time to vote for which town of Springfield will be home to the premiere of The Simpsons movie.
  
• Pee Wee Herman is trying to make a non-creepy comeback.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

Okay, just for a moment let's set aside the fact that Pee Wee Herman doing a serious commercial about using crack is really, really (unintentionally) funny, and focus on just how logical it was to use that character in the first place.

One assumes this commercial was made when Pee Wee's Playhouse was on the air, which means his main audience was grade school children and not so much the older hipsters who knew the more "adult" Pee Wee character Paul Reubens created while with the Groundlings.

It's live-action, which might upset some of the cartoon purists out there, but heck, at least it isn't Saved by the Bell. Starting on July 10, Adult Swim will be airing episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse, the hysterical multi-Emmy award-winning children's series featuring Paul Reuben as everyone's favorite idiot manchild. We've known for awhile now that Adult Swim was making plans to incorporate more live-action into its programming block, and while I would love to see more of an effort made to showcase original animated work, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this was pretty damn cool. Then again, yet another part of me worries that once the thrill of nostalgia wears off I'll be pining once again for something new and original. My brain might have to shut down if it continues to argue with itself in this manner.

Paul Reubens created the popular character in 1978, and the show debuted in 1986. Adult Swim's airing of the series will coincide with its 20th anniversary. The series will air Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. EST, and all forty-five original episodes will be shown, including the rare Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special.