Join Pee-Wee and the gang for a full hour christmas special fun at Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
Featuring special guest stars like Little Richard, Joan Rivers, and many others....
Extra notes:
- Classic Cartoon: Christmas Comes But Once A Year
- Jambi's Wish: The playhouse Christmas decoration.
- Second Wish: For everyone at home to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
- Connect the dots: Santa's Sleigh.
This episode provides examples of:
- All-Star Cast: Appearances by Magic Johnson; Cher; Joan Rivers; Whoopi Goldberg; Dinah Shore; Charo; Little Richard; the Del Rubio sisters; Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello; k. d. lang; Zsa Zsa Gabor; Grace Jones; Oprah Winfrey; and the UCLA Men's Choir! (phew!)
- Calling the Old Man Out: Or young in this case with Pee-Wee. After Santa explains that Pee-Wee's Christmas list was so long that there was no gifts left available for the other children of the world, Pee-Wee shows no sympathy for Santa's plight until Miss Yvette, Annette, Curtis, and the others call him out on his callousness and selfishness, cueing Pee-Wee having a Heel Realization and agree to cough up his gifts for the greater good.Pee-Wee: I'm very sorry to hear that, Santa. Let me know how it all works out! (laughs)Everyone but Santa: Pee-Wee...!!(Pee-Wee gets an Oh, Crap! look at being scolded by his friends for his poor choice of words)
- Christmas Episode: Well said.
- Everyone Hates Fruitcakes: Zig-zagged; Throughout the special, Pee-Wee receives fruitcakes as gifts from his friends. At first, he pretends to like them, but at several points in the special, he says lines such as "It's not a fruitcake, is it?" and "No, no, no more fruitcake!". Towards the end of the special, when Cowboy Curtis gives him a fruitcake, but then sees Randy gave him one as well, he is about to take it back, thinking Pee-Wee doesn't need another. Pee-Wee tells him he does, and reveals to his friends what he did with all the fruitcakes; he used them to build a new room to the playhouse.
- Failures on Ice: Little Richard and ice-skates don't see things eye-to-eye.
- Leaving Food for Santa: Pee-Wee attempts to bribe Santa with a large platter of milk and cookies. Ultimately subverted when Santa reveals that Pee-Wee's Christmas list was so all-encompassing that Pee-Wee had to give back all of the presents so that the children of the world could have some!
- Doesn't help that when Santa explains his plight, Pee-Wee chooses to be a Jerkass about it until the others call him out on it.
- Running Gag:
- Pee-Wee receiving fruitcakes as gifts from his friends.
- Pee-Wee ordering Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello to work on their Christmas cards made from toothbrushes and potatoes.
- Dinah Shore's phone call to Pee-Wee, wherein she sings an extended version of The Twelve Days of Christmas.
- Secret Word: "Year".
