The Pee-wee Herman Show was originally a stage production created in the late 1970s by actor Paul Reubens. The show centered around the antics of Reubens' alter-ego Pee-wee Herman, a character he'd created in 1978 as a member of the Groundlings, an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California.

The show featured the writing and acting of Groundlings alums Phil Hartman and John Paragon , who would both reprise their characters on Pee-wee's Playhouse, which aired on CBS from 1986–1991. The Pee-wee Herman Show played for 5 sellout months at The Roxy Theatre in L.A. whereupon HBO filmed it and aired it as a special on September 11, 1981.