Kate Pierson Sings Pee-wee’s Playhouse Theme At Netflix’s 40th Anniversary Tribute Concert

When it hit the airwaves in 1986, Pee-wee's Playhouse was a rare mainstream triumph for a bunch of weirdo subculture types. The late Paul Reubens developed his Pee-wee Herman character on the LA improv-comedy scene in the '70s, turned it into a stage show, appeared in a Cheech & Chong movie, and fully got the chance to go nuts in the classic 1985 cinematic vehicle Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which happened to be Tim Burton's directorial debut. When the film was a success, HBO produced an actual children's television show for this fake children's entertainer, and he made it into a lively, bugged-out hallucination. Rob Zombie was a set decorator. Laurence Fishburne was the recurring character Cowboy Curtis. It was really something.

On Sunday night, many of those weirdo subculture types gathered at the opening night of LA's Netflix Is A Joke Festival, paying tribute to Pee-wee's Playhouse on its 40th anniversary. That show had a ridiculous theme song that was performed by Reubens' fellow human cartoon character Cyndi Lauper, under an alias. At last night's Netflix tribute, the B-52's' Kate Pierson, another of that era's most endearingly loony characters, took on the task of performing that song. Watch fan video below.

Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh co-wrote that theme song, and he credited his work on Pee-wee's Playhouse as the beginning of his deep career writing music for movies and TV. As Gold Derby reports, Mothersbaugh served as musical director for the Pee-wee's Playhouse tribute, which also included performances from Devo and the B-52's. Fred Armisen played drums in the house band. Danny Elfman, who scored Pee-wee's Big Adventure, put in a surprise appearance. (Elfman is currently facing a lawsuit for failing to pay several installments in a sexual harassment settlement, as well as another, from the same woman, for defamation after he denied her claims. A different sexual assault lawsuit against Elfman was dismissed in 2024.)

Other guests at the Pee-wee's Playhouse tribute included big fan Patton Oswalt, as well as a reunion of the onetime child actors who played Pee-wee's Playhouse Gang, including Natasha Lyonne. You can read Gold Derby's recap of the evening here.