The Pee-Wee Herman Show
Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live for the 1980-1981 season (along with future stars Jim Carrey, John Goodman, Dom Irrera, and Robert Townsend), but wasn't accepted into the cast. Instead, he started a stage show with the Herman character. Originally, Reubens imbued "Pee-Wee" with a sexuality that was later toned down as the character made the transition from raucous night club to children's television (though sexual innuendo was still readily apparent, especially with the "Cowboy Curtis" and "Miss Yvonne" segments; Curtis was played by actor Laurence Fishburne and Miss Yvonne was played by Lynne Marie Stewart). His stage show was immortalized by HBO when The Pee-Wee Herman Show was aired in 1981.
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. 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.
In 1980, Reubens landed a small role in the film The Blues Brothers. He also appeared in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie in 1980 and Nice Dreams in 1981, and Meatballs Part II in 1984 with Misty Rowe.
Source:
Wikipedia