By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Staff

Children are like sponges.  What you’re surrounded by as a child influences who you become as an adult. The little boy playing with GI Joe toys may later be a soldier, or the little girl with Barbies may grow up to be Miss America. I, however, was attracted to far less stereotypical forms of entertainment as a kid. I liked making movies, building Lego skyscrapers and experimenting with arts and crafts. So when it was time to plop in front of the TV for a snack and a video I only had one preference: Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

If you’re not familiar with Pee-Wee’s Playhouse that’s a damn shame. I cite it as one of the main factors in my development as a creatively driven, albeit questionably functional adult. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse taught me to think outside the box, to question the things around me that were regarded as firmly unchangeable. In Pee-Wee’s zany world of Puppetland, everything from flowers to pet fish to armchairs had their own voices and personalities. Even the food in Pee-Wee’s refrigerator had something to say. From the first episode I watched, I learned that anything was possible in this strange, pleasantly immature world, and the man in charge was Pee-Wee Herman, who was essentially an overgrown kid himself.

A wonderful fusion of classic children’s television and psychedelia, the show would always aim to bestow valuable lessons of health, friendship, fire safety, etc., but would do so via the wildly unusual residents of the playhouse. On a normal day, Pee-Wee would chat with his globe, named Globey, who was well versed in geography and then leap into a fully interactive magic screen to learn about shapes and colors.

Most of all, the primary objective of every episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was for the boys and girls at home to have fun. Similar to Sesame Street, in the beginning of each episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse there would be a secret word. But instead of learning the definition of the word or using it in a sentence, children were told that if anyone uttered the secret word all they had to do was “scream real loud.” A show that encouraged youngsters to be as rambunctious as possible? No wonder I was such a fan.

Today, the next generation of artists and weirdos have technicolor programs like Adventure Time and Yo Gabba Gabba to watch at snack time, and I still watch Pee-Wee from time to time to get in touch with my inner child.

In fact, a few years ago there was a Pee-Wee’s Playhouse revival on Broadway, and I was there in the third row with bells on. I jumped up to a standing ovation when the spiritual guide of my childhood first took the stage. There he was in all of his bow-tied glory: Pee-Wee Herman.

For a moment he stood there basking in the applause, and I could tell he was as excited to be there as I was. My teenage heart swelled with feelings of childhood nostalgia. For that moment I was a kid again, and for the first time I really was in Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

Spotlight Playlist: The Psychedelic Playhouse

1. Theme from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse

2. White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

3. I  Can See It In Your Face by Pretty Lights

4. Post Acid by Wavves

5. In my Room by The Beach Boys

Twitter: @SpotlightColumn