I noticed yesterday on IMDB that Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman) turned 54 this past weekend. And then I realized it’s been 20 years since “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” debuted on CBS. And although both facts are hard to believe, the more surprising fact is that Pee-Wee is scheduled to return in “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Movie” in 2007. That’s scary and funny. A few other surprising facts I learned on IMDB:

• When Reubens signed to do “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” in 1986, CBS agreed to pay him $325,000 per episode. That’s what an actor in a major sitcom would have made.
• Earlier in his career, Reubens made four appearances on “The Gong Show.”
• He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. (Can that really be true? IMDB says it is)
• During CBS’s five year’s of “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” Reubens never appeared for interviews as himself. He was always in character.

And you know the post-1991 Reubens story, so I’ll leave it at that. And I hate to admit it but if Large Marge is going to make an appearance in the 2007 flick, I might just go see it. Don’t tell anyone.