When it hit the airwaves in 1986, Pee-wee's Playhouse was a rare mainstream triumph for a bunch of weirdo subculture types. The late Paul Reubens developed his Pee-wee Herman character on the LA improv-comedy scene in the '70s, turned it into a stage show, appeared in a Cheech & Chong movie, and fully got the chance to go nuts in the classic 1985 cinematic vehicle Pee-wee's Big Adventure , which happened to be Tim Burton's directorial debut. When the film was a success, HBO produced an actual children's television show for this fake children's entertainer, and he made it into a lively, bugged-out hallucination. Rob Zombie was a set decorator. Laurence Fishburne was the recurring character Cowboy Curtis. It was really something. On Sunday night, many of those weirdo subculture types gathered at the opening night of LA's Netflix Is A Joke Festival, paying tribute to Pee-wee's Playhouse on its 40th anniversary.…