Best cult TV on DVD: ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' and ''Popular''
Unrated, 18hrs., 23 mins., 1986-1990 (Image)
You don't need to know the secret word to appreciate Pee-wee Herman, Reubens' stridently nerdy man-child. Innocent enough for kids, whacked-out enough to enrapture adults, these two sets of his late-'80s variety show present Saturday-morning TV at its surrealistic peak. The program showcased emerging talent like a pre-SNL Phil Hartman, a pre-Laurence Larry Fishburne, a pre-Wallace & Gromit Nick Park, and, of course, Lynne Stewart's increasingly trampy Miss Yvonne. With its bent sensibility and splashy visuals, Playhouse offered up a delightfully cynical celebration of boyhood. EXTRAS Eight never-aired episodes include Sandra Bernhard as a flirtatious phone operator and the exuberant high-heel ''Tequila'' dance made famous in Pee-wee's Big Adventure. —Bob Cannon
