Chattanooga Pulse

My brother and I have always been sort of cutting edge in our early adoption of pop culture fodder—some of which becomes hugely popular in the mainstream long after we’ve told countless deaf ears of its existence.

For example, we used to watch The Tracy Ullman Show back around 1987-88 primarily to see the cartoon short that always aired just after the third skit…called The Simpsons. Now its own show currently in its 20th season, The Simpsons need no further explanation—although Tracy Ullman might.

We were into all kinds of television shows which never made it past a few seasons—like Family Guy before it got cancelled the first time, Get A Life with Chris Elliott and Brian Doyle-Murray, and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, which featured cameo guest appearances by everyone from Michael Stipe and Iggy Pop to Steve Buscemi and Patty Hearst.

And there was one show that we never missed on Saturday mornings in the mid-to-late ’80s. This gem was based on the comedy of a guy we’d first seen as the only two people warming seats in the Northgate Mall movie theater on the opening night of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. I’m speaking of course, of Pee-wee Herman. His subsequent Saturday morning show, Pee-wee’s Playhouse was unlike anything we’d ever seen before—full of stupid clever stuff mainly aimed at adults—and we loved it.

The premise was basically Bullwinkle meets Captain Kangaroo on acid. Pee-wee lived in a wacky playhouse full of talking furniture and appliances. There was Chairy (a loveable armchair, with arms), Pterri (an immature puppet pterodactyl), Conky (a robot that provided the show’s “secret word” each week), Clocky (“do you know what time it is?”), Globey (a spinning globe with a French accent), Randy (a string puppet who was the playhouse bully) and many more.

In addition to interacting with those animated inanimate objects, Pee-wee was also constantly visited by his real-life friends like Jambi the Genie (John Paragon), Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Reba The Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), Captain Carl (Phil Hartman) and Cowboy Curtis (Lawrence Fishburne). Now, you may have noticed a few famous names on that list. Well they weren’t famous at the time. And neither were the show’s clay animators Peter Lord and Nick Park, until they went on to create Wallace & Gromit and movies like Chicken Run.

In fact, the show was developed and produced on a shoestring budget, and anyone wanting to take a chance at stardom—or just get some air time—seemed to want to participate in this incredibly creative outlet. Jimmy Smits and Sandra Bernhard both appeared as one-off characters. Even Rob Zombie worked on the show as a production assistant. But it was one of the show’s creative designers who should hit us all a little closer to home.

Wayne White served on the design team that dreamed up the actual playhouse and all of the talking furniture, puppets and special effects that helped the show win 22 Emmy awards during its run. But before that, White was simply a puppeteer working in Nashville, by way of Hixson, Tennessee.

That’s right, Hixson-High-graduate-done-good Wayne White moved on to New York and then Los Angeles to become one of the most revered puppeteers in modern times. In fact, most of his art is now owned by private collectors (i.e. rich and famous folk) if not on display in some of those city’s most prestigious museums.

Ironically, the one place that’s never seen even one sketch of White’s massive body of work is the Hunter Museum (believe it or not)—much to the dismay of his parents who still call Hixson home. But we can catch a glimpse into White’s world through a new book of his sketches and stories spitefully titled, Maybe now I’ll get the respect I so richly deserve. Featuring an extensive interview by designer Todd Oldham, it’s quite an amazing piece of art in and of itself.

If you’re interested in checking it out, or just shaking Wayne’s hand in person, then come to Winder Binder on Frazier Avenue Monday, October 12 at 6:30 p.m. to meet the man yourself. He’ll be there telling stories and signing books—surely with his proud parents close by.

And if you can’t make it there, but will be in L.A. sometime soon, check out White’s work in a new stage production of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, opening there later this year. In addition to starring Paul Reubens, it features the work of someone who we in the ‘noog should all be very proud of.

Chuck Crowder is a local writer and general man about town. His opinions are just that. Everything expressed is loosely based on fact, and crap he hears people talking about. Take what you just read with a grain of salt, but pepper it in your thoughts. And be sure to check out his wildly popular website  www.thenoog.com