Now You See Me, Now You Don't
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| “Now You See Me, Now You Don't” | |
|---|---|
| Pee-wee's Playhouse episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 4 |
| Written by | Michael Varhol Paul Reubens John Paragon George McGrath Max Robert |
| Directed by | Stephen R. Johnson |
| Production no. | 104 |
| Original airdate | October 4, 1986 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Rainy Day" | "Just Another Day" |
Pee-wee puts on a magic show and as the grand finale, he makes himself disappear! But when he can't make himself reappear, it's up to Jambi the Genie to set things right.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Fun With Toys
Pee-wee checks up on his toy shelf behind Chairry. He watches a weird flying creature (a snake body, a clown head and airplane wings) tries to fly and finally does so, with help from the Frankenstein-headed doll. It finally flies around happily.
[edit] Playing Fetch With Pterri
Then Pterri flies into the playhouse with a piece of foil in his beak. He drops the foil and Pee-wee picks it up. Pee-wee thanks him. Pterri says he found it wrapped around a baked potato, which he got from a restaurant, of course. Pee-wee promptly goes and places the foil on his ever-enlarging foil ball.
When he returns, Pterri pants at him like a dog. Pee-wee says that he must want to play with his "toy". He picks up a frisbee and throws it, Pterri catching it. One time, Pee-wee moves his arm as though he throws the frisbee, but really doesn't. He finally aims it out Mr. Window, warning him to think fast. The window opens up, allowing Pee-wee to throw the frisbee and Pterri to fly out after it. "Good throw, Pee-wee," Mr. Window says. "It's going really far. That should keep him busy for a while." He then asks what today's secret word is and Pee-wee says he'll ask Conky.
[edit] Secret Word
So Pee-wee unplugs Conky from the wall and flips the switch on him, bringing him to life. "Ready to assist you, Pee-wee," the robot says. Pee-wee asks what the secret word is. A strip of paper pops out of Conky's midsection and Pee-wee rips it off and reads the secret word on it: LITTLE. Pee-wee asks the audience what to do whenever anyone says the secret word for the rest of the day. Everyone says, "Scream!" Pee-wee that that's right and that whenever anyone says the secret word for the rest of the day, they should scream real loud.
He then gets Mr. Window to say the secret word, everyone screams.
[edit] Snack Time: Salad Bar
Pee-wee then decides to have snack time. He strolls over to the kitchen, where the counter has been converted into a sort of salad bar. He first opens the refrigerator to get a plate. He notices the food attending a concert by The Crinkle Cuts, a bunch of crinkle-cut fries. He removes his plate from the fridge and pulls it out. He says that he keeps his salad plates in the fridge to keep them cold.
He says to the audience that if they don't have a salad bar at home, just ask someone to cut up some salad junk like Pee-wee did. He then starts to add to his plate. First, he places on the leafy stuff, lettuce. Next, he puts on some shredded carrot pieces. He chomps on one carrot and says, "I'm a bunny!" Next, he adds zucchini, celery and broccoli, in that order. He then adds some cauliflower, but first says, "Ah! What's this? Looks like a brain!" Then he adds some onions (even pretending to cry), sweet peppers, radishes and the beans: green, garbanzo and pinto. Then he ends up at the mushrooms, but first he makes sure they aren't the poisoned kind. He eats one and then pretends to gag, before saying, "Just kidding!" He then discover a hairy-type vegetable. He says, "Looks like hair, smells like hair." He then tastes it and says, "It is hair! Just kidding, it's sprouts!" He finally garnishes the salad with some tomatoes before finally finishing. "Voila! A garden salad, fun to make and fun to eat!" he says happily.
He then goes to sit down on Chairry to eat his salad, but when he tastes it, it's rather dry. It turns he forgot the salad dressing. So Conky brings some dressing to him. He puts it on the salad and eats heartily. "Mmm, salady!" he says.
[edit] A Package
Later, Magic Screen appears and says that it's time for some fun with it. Pee-wee appears inside the screen. He throws out his connecting dots and they form a tree. A cat (whom Pee-wee names Snooky) scurries up the tree to avoid a passing dog. Snooky is caught in the tree. Pee-wee can't save his cat because it's caught in the tree. He can't climb the tree because he's not tall enough. So grabs a ladder, leans it against the tree and climbs up on it. He finally saves the cat and takes it back down the ladder. Then suddenly a bear appears and growls at Pee-wee, scaring out of Magic Screen. He lands on Chairry, as always.
Mr. Window then announces for Reba the Mail Lady's arrival. She enters with something for Pee-wee. This time it's not pen-pal letters. Instead, it's a package. She makes him sign a LOT of paperwork before she hands it over to him. She then leaves. Pee-wee eagerly unwraps the package and looks into it. It's Pee-wee's magic set. Then Dixie appears. He shows her his magic set. She tells him that magic takes lots of practice, just like playing the trumpet. She then plays her fanfare for the King of Cartoons' arrival. He enters and shows the cartoon.
[edit] Magic Show
After the cartoon ends, a magic show at the playhouse is about to commence. The show is starring "The Amazing Pee-wee Herman". Cowboy Curtis enters the playhouse for the show. Conky ushers him to a seat. Most of the other characters are there, too. Miss Yvonne has had her hair done special just for the show. Then Tito appears on the makeshift stage for the show. He says his announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, puppets, machines and everyone and everything else, big and little..." He stops for a minute to allow everyone to scream at the secret word, then adds, "Prepare to be stupid..." But then he is interrupted by Pee-wee whispering, "Stupefied!" Tito then finishes with, "Prepare to be stupefied. For the first time anywhere, presenting the Amazing Pee-wee Herman!" He then leaves.
Pee-wee comes out on stage, covered in a blanket, floating in mid-air. But then he removes the blanket, revealing the levitating legs and feet to be just stilts with shoes on them. Everyone laughs. Pee-wee then proceeds with the show. First, he points to his right sleeve and says, "Nothing up here..." Then he points to his left sleeve and says, "Nothing up here..." Finally he points to his head and says, "...and nothing up here." Everyone laughs again.
Pee-wee then removes a wand and waves it over an empty vase. "Presto!" he says. He waves his wand and a boquet of flowers magically appear in the vase. He removes the flowers and tosses it to the audience. Everyone laughs and applauds.
Finally, Pee-wee performs the grand finale: he will make himself disappear. Everyone watches tensely. He begins: "Alakazam! Alakazoo! Alakahocuspocus!" He waves his wand and immediately vanishes before everyone's disbelieving eyes. Everyone wonders where he went.
[edit] Invisible
Pee-wee has fun being invisible and demonstrates it by spinning Globey really fast. Then Mr. Window tells Pee-wee that Mrs. Steve is coming. Pee-wee says, "Let's pretend I'm not here." One of the fish in the fish tank says to the other fish, "That seems easy enough to do." "Yeah," the other fish replies. "He's not here!"
Mrs. Steve enters the playhouse and looks around to see if Pee-wee is there. When she doesn't see him, she comments that she now has a golden opportunity to... snoop around. She wanders through the playhouse and discovers an enormous chocolate cake on the kitchen counter. She decides to help herself to it. She picks up a knife and proceeds to slice the cake, but she discovers that the cake is floating in mid-air. Actually, the audience should know that it's the invisible Pee-wee holding it. The cake then lands back on the counter (or rather, Pee-wee sets it down). Mrs. Steve then finishes cutting one piece of the cake off. She puts that piece aside. She then sits down to eat the rest of the cake, but as she sits down, Pee-wee removes the cake from the counter and places on the stool on which Mrs. Steve is sitting down. She sits down on the cake, but doesn't know that. She just leaves, not knowing where it is. She has the cake on the end of her dress, but she doesn't seem to notice. Everyone laughs when they see the cake on her dress. "I guess she got her cake in the end," Conky comments.
Pee-wee starts to eat the one piece of cake and comments on it: "Mmm... chocolatey!" He then hears Knucklehead saying, "Knock-knock." Pee-wee answers him and says, "Who's there?" Knucklehead, who, of course, doesn't see Pee-wee, says, "Who is there?" "Pee-wee," Pee-wee replies. "Pee-wee who?" "Pee-wee Herman, the invisible man. Boo!" This scares Knucklehead away. Knucklehead's reaction sends Pee-wee stumbling backwards across the playhouse and landing in Chairry. She comments that he still weighs the same, even though he is invisible.
Then Miss Yvonne comes into the playhouse, looking for Pee-wee. "Here we go again!" one of the fish says. "This should be fun!" the other fish says. Miss Yvonne tries to sit on Chairry, but she jumps back up 'cause she feels Pee-Wee's lap although invisible, which Pee-Wee yells "Ow!" and figure that Pee-Wee's around, but invisible and has fun confusing Miss Yvonne with where he is. She angrily decides that she can't talk to anyone she can't see, so she leaves, but not before Pee-wee tries to playfully look under her dress. Pee-Wee says "I see London, I see France!" And then Miss Yvonne storms out the door furiously.
[edit] Trying To Return
Globey laughs at Pee-wee's antics. Then Randy floats down and lands next to Globey, who tells him that Pee-we is having fun being invisible. But Randy isn't so certain. He says he feels sorry for Pee-wee, because it's hard to be noticed when invisible. He says Pee-wee wouldn't be able to get his picture taken or answer the Picturephone. Then he adds that maybe he won't be able to come back. "What do you mean?" Globey asks. "What if he stays invisible forever?" Randy asks. "I heard that, Randy, and I'm not gonna be invisible forever," Pee-wee says defensively. "I can make myself visible whenever I want!" Randy tells him to prove it. So Pee-wee decides to do so. He picks up his magic book and reads aloud: "To become visible again, just send $9.95 to the magic company. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. OH NO!" Pee-wee, sounding traumatized, then drops the book. A Penny Cartoon is then shown.
When the Penny cartoon ends, Pee-wee is heard pacing about in front of Conky and Magic Screen. He asks if he will ever become visible again. They do some calculations, according to which Pee-wee will unfortunately be invisible forever! Pee-wee wails, "No, no, no, NO!!"
Pee-wee then goes over by Jambi's box and starts crying. Jambi opens the doors of his box and asks who is crying. Pee-wee says it's him. "Oh, the 'Amazing' Pee-wee, huh?" says Jambi. "You still invisible?" Pee-wee says yes. "I suppose you want me to make you visible again?" the genie continues. "How'd you guess?" Pee-wee replies. Jambi says that he doesn't know if he can. He explains that it's not a good idea to mix different magics; it could be dangerous. Pee-wee decides to take the risk anyway. So Jambi says, "Spirits of magic, lend me your ear. We want to see Pee-wee reappear." He then asks the playhouse crew and the audience to join in with the usual incantation, since this will be difficult: Mekka-lekka-hi-mekka-mekka-hiney-ho. Everyone repeats the incantation and then he says, "Mekka-lekka-hi-mekka-channey-ho." Everyone repeats that, too. They keep chanting until Pee-wee starts to physically reappear. "It's working!" Jambi says. Then suddenly, Pee-wee's body fully appears - but his head is missing! "What about my head?" Pee-wee asks. Jambi says, "I told you it would be dangerous."
Pee-wee then hears the doorbell ring. He goes to answer it, because he thinks maybe whoever is at the door can help. But it's just the Salesman. He's about to say his usual line, but is scared away by the man without the head. "Please fix my head, Jambi!" Pee-wee pleads. So Jambi says, "One head, comin' up." He grants Pee-wee's wish of restoring his head and he's finally back to normal. Pee-wee then goes over to the bathroom mirror just to make sure he's fully there. He is. "Nice to see you again, pal!" he says to his reflection. He thanks Jambi and then goes over to his scooter's hiding place.
Pee-wee flips up the iron on the ironing board. The hidden door rises, releasing his red scooter. He mounts the scooter. He says his good-bye to the audience and then asks the playhouse denizens if they missed him. "Yeah, a little," says Conky. Everyone screams. Pee-wee then 'scoots' out, and the supposedly locked door swings open, and he flies out of the playhouse. The end credits roll.
[edit] Trivia
- This is the only episode in which Knucklehead's knock-knock joke backfires on him.
- Pee-Wee says his salad "tastes a little dry," but nobody screams.
- When Pee-wee appears with out a head look at the background; its the background from when the rainbow appeared in "Rainy Day"
