section_path: Reception and legacy
section_name: Reception and legacy
paragraph_text: Reception and legacy
  
  Reubens had not always thought of his character as one for children prior to the mid-1980s, when he became more selective of what should and should not be associated with Pee-wee. He was a heavy smoker and hired security to make sure that children never saw him with a cigarette while in costume. He refused to endorse candy bars and other unhealthy food; he said in 1999 that he had proposed "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal", but the sugar-free product was not released due to a negative reaction in a blind taste test.
  
  Pee-wee was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by 1989, and successfully built a Pee-wee franchise, with toys, clothes, and other items generating more than $25 million at its peak in 1988. Reubens also published a book as Pee-wee in 1989 called Travels with Pee-Wee. CBS aired reruns of Playhouse until July 1991, when Reubens was arrested, pulling from their schedule the last two remaining reruns. Fox Family Channel briefly aired reruns of the Playhouse in 1998. In early July 2006, Cartoon Network began running a teaser promo during its Adult Swim lineup. A later press release and many other promos confirmed that the show's 45 original episodes would air nightly from Monday to Thursday starting on that date. Playhouse attracted 1.5 million viewers nightly. In 2007, TV Guide named Playhouse one of the top 10 TV cult classics of all time. Several children's television personas cite Pee-wee Herman as an inspiration, including Steve Burns of Blue's Clues and Stephen Hillenburg of SpongeBob SquarePants. In November 2004, all 45 episodes of the Playhouse, plus six episodes that had never before been released on home video, were released on DVD split between two box set collections. On July 3, 2013, Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired the rights to the entire series from Reubens, which was released on Blu-ray on October 21, 2014. In addition, the entire series was digitally remastered from the original 35mm film elements and original audio tracks.
  
  Pee-wee's tight-fitting Glen plaid suits have made him a "style icon", with fashion houses and designers like Christopher Bailey, Ennio Capasa, Miuccia Prada, Viktor & Rolf, and Thom Browne creating tightly cut suits with high armholes and short trousers that have been compared to Pee-wee's.
  
  Reubens discussed plans for a museum, which would contain many of the Playhouse sets and props he owned.
  
  A two-part documentary series on Reubens's life, Pee-wee as Himself, was released on HBO and Max on May 23, 2025. Reubens took part in the filming of the documentary prior to his death in 2023.
  
  Reubens reportedly completed writing his autobiography before his death which his estate hopes to publish posthumously.
  
  Reubens had not always thought of his character as one for children prior to the mid-1980s, when he became more selective of what should and should not be associated with Pee-wee. He was a heavy smoker and hired security to make sure that children never saw him with a cigarette while in costume. He refused to endorse candy bars and other unhealthy food; he said in 1999 that he had proposed "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal", but the sugar-free product was not released due to a negative reaction in a blind taste test.
  
  Pee-wee was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by 1989, and successfully built a Pee-wee franchise, with toys, clothes, and other items generating more than $25 million at its peak in 1988. Reubens also published a book as Pee-wee in 1989 called Travels with Pee-Wee. CBS aired reruns of Playhouse until July 1991, when Reubens was arrested, pulling from their schedule the last two remaining reruns. Fox Family Channel briefly aired reruns of the Playhouse in 1998. In early July 2006, Cartoon Network began running a teaser promo during its Adult Swim lineup. A later press release and many other promos confirmed that the show's 45 original episodes would air nightly from Monday to Thursday starting on that date. Playhouse attracted 1.5 million viewers nightly. In 2007, TV Guide named Playhouse one of the top 10 TV cult classics of all time. Several children's television personas cite Pee-wee Herman as an inspiration, including Steve Burns of Blue's Clues and Stephen Hillenburg of SpongeBob SquarePants. In November 2004, all 45 episodes of the Playhouse, plus six episodes that had never before been released on home video, were released on DVD split between two box set collections. On July 3, 2013, Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired the rights to the entire series from Reubens, which was released on Blu-ray on October 21, 2014. In addition, the entire series was digitally remastered from the original 35mm film elements and original audio tracks.
  
  Pee-wee's tight-fitting Glen plaid suits have made him a "style icon", with fashion houses and designers like Christopher Bailey, Ennio Capasa, Miuccia Prada, Viktor & Rolf, and Thom Browne creating tightly cut suits with high armholes and short trousers that have been compared to Pee-wee's.
  
  Reubens discussed plans for a museum, which would contain many of the Playhouse sets and props he owned.
  
  A two-part documentary series on Reubens's life, Pee-wee as Himself, was released on HBO and Max on May 23, 2025. Reubens took part in the filming of the documentary prior to his death in 2023.
  
  Reubens reportedly completed writing his autobiography before his death which his estate hopes to publish posthumously.