Pee-wee's Playhouse

At the start of season 2, the show moved from its New York City warehouse studio to facilities at the Hollywood Center Studios, creating changes in personnel and a change to the set that allowed the show to take advantage of the additional space.

The show changed production facilities again in 1989 during its fourth season, this time at the Culver Studios, also in Los Angeles.

The Pee-wee Herman character was developed by Reubens into a live stage show titled The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1980.

While enjoying continuous popularity with the show, Reubens teamed with young director Tim Burton in 1985 to make the comedy film Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

It became one of the year's surprise hits, costing a relatively modest $7 million to make but taking in $40 million at the box office.

After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal.