Conky 2000

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Conky 2000, known affectionately as Conky, was an anthropomorphic robot, a friend of the Playhouse Gang on Pee-Wee's Playhouse, and was apparently pieced together by many parts of electronic nature. One of Conky's primary functions was to provide Pee-Wee with the Secret Word for the day. At the beginning of each episode, after Pee-Wee welcomed viewers to the Playhouse or played a game of some sort, he would invite them to "go and see what today's Secret Word is" with him. Pee-Wee would then activate Conky by unplugging him from the wall socket (presumably Conky was recharging while plugged in), the cord retracting into the robot like a tape measure. Pee-Wee would then flip a switch on one of Conky's rear panels.

Conky would then take movement, electronic sounds emanating from his audio speakers (which were part of a stereo "boom box", lending further evidence to his being pieced together from all sorts of electronic devices) as though he was "booting up". Upon activation, Conky would move around in an exaggerated fashion, often flailing his arms and spinning on his wheels. He would then exclaim with an electronic stutter (not much dissimilar to a CD skipping heavily before resuming normal play), "Conky 2000, ready to assist you, Pee-Wee!" Pee-Wee would then request the Secret Word, which would then appear from a slot on one of Conky's front panels on a slip of cash register sale receipt-like paper (in the later seasons, it was a piece of card stock).

[edit] Appearances

Conky appears in every episode of Playhouse, mainly to provide Pee-Wee with the Secret Word for the day. However, he has also been involved in several Playhouse storylines, including an episode in which he malfunctioned and Pee-Wee had to call the authorized Conky repairman. In another episode, while Pee-Wee was in another room in the Playhouse that wasn't shown on camera, the Playhouse Kids (and "Rusty") were seen rough-housing in the front room. Conky was one of the characters who tried to maintain order in the Playhouse, even though one of the children ran up and started playing with Conky's buttons and switches. It took Pee-Wee some moments to come back in, see what was going on, and a blow on his whistle (which was never seen again) which silenced the children immediately. After some reproval scolding, he orders the Playhouse Gang to leave. There was another plot that involved Conky, where at the very beginning an alien is shown telling Conky that the secret word will be "Zyzzybalubah". Pee-wee was convinced that Conky had made a mistake, and later in the show the Playhouse was abducted by this "Zyzzybalubah". In the first season, Conky was voiced by Gregory Harrison and in subsequent seasons, he was voiced by Kevin Carlson.