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Devo lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh, who created the music for Paul Reubens’ series Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the 2016 movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, has paid tribute to the late actor and reflected upon how collaborating with Reubens “changed the trajectory” of his career in an interview with Yahoo Music.

“He always had a good personality and a good heart,” Mothersbaugh said about his longtime friend. “It’s just shocking and sad that he’s gone.” The Devo co-founder had no idea that Reubens had been privately battling cancer, adding, “We’d even been talking about working on an animated version of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Mothersbaugh and Reubens met at the comedy improv theater the Groundlings when Mothersbaugh was dating founding member Laraine Newman (who was also part of the original Saturday Night Live cast). It was there that Mothersbaugh witnessed Reubens creating his Pee-wee Herman character. They kept in touch and first collaborated...

Devo lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh, who created the music for Paul Reubens’ series Pee-wee’s Playhouse and the 2016 movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, has paid tribute to the late actor and reflected upon how collaborating with Reubens “changed the trajectory” of his career in an interview with Yahoo Music.

“He always had a good personality and a good heart,” Mothersbaugh said about his longtime friend. “It’s just shocking and sad that he’s gone.” The Devo co-founder had no idea that Reubens had been privately battling cancer, adding, “We’d even been talking about working on an animated version of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Mothersbaugh and Reubens met at the comedy improv theater the Groundlings when Mothersbaugh was dating founding member Laraine Newman (who was also part of the original Saturday Night Live cast). It was there that Mothersbaugh witnessed Reubens creating his Pee-wee Herman character. They kept in touch and first collaborated...

Bill Nye the Science Guy is about to educate and inform a lot more people the fun way again. Netflix is giving him a brand new talk show series set for Spring 2017. Bill Nye the Science Guy was a half-hour science program that aired on PBS and other networks from 1993-1998. It was a successor to things like Watch Mr. Wizard, Mr. Wizard's World, and Beakman's World. The show was great for a lot of reasons, the most important of course being that it got people engaged with learning science. The second, for me at least, was that it was hosted by a "geek" who was "cool." That might sound funny but as a kid who hid her geekiness, it was nice to see someone not just getting attention for theirs but paid for it. IndieWire reported this morning that the new series with Nye will be a talk show...

Apparently, TV scientists stick together like H2 and O (covalent bond joke!) ... 'cause TMZ has learned Beakman (from "Beakman's World") is rooting for Bill Nye on "Dancing with the Stars."... sorta. We spoke with Paul Zaloom a.k.a. Beakman  ... who tell us he's fired up for his fellow oddball science educator saying, "I hope Bill reps for scientists and shows everyone we can shake our booties too!"Now for the "sorta" part ... Beakman says...

0:00 - Intro 2:40 - Review: Dark Shadows 31:30 - Headlines: Edgar Wright Teases Ant-Man Movie, Jody Hill to Direct a Dukes of Hazzard Reboot?, Kurt Russell Drops Out of Django Unchained, Argo Trailer, Gangster Squad Trailer 49:25 - Other Stuff We Watched: Saturday Night Live, Kicking It, English Premiere League Soccer, Demons, Demons II, Haywire, Assault on a Queen, The Asphyx, Platform Moon, Face Off, The Silent Partner, Shark Night, Road to Perdition, Ed Wood, Veep, The Pitch, Celebrity Apprentice 1:40:00 - Junk Mail: Too Negative, Director's Voices + Beakman's World vs. Bill Nye the Science Guy, Tony Stark Meets the General, Cult / Character Actors in Blockbusters, Darren Aronofsky's Noah, Being Approached by Film Junk Fans, Nothing But Trouble, Spielberg vs. Kubrick vs. Nolan vs. Tarantino 2:07:30 - This Week's DVD Releases 2:09:30 - Outro

Film Junk Podcast Episode #368: Dark Shadows by Filmjunk on...

Character actor and puppeteer Mark Ritts has lost his battle with kidney cancer at the age of 63. Ritts, best known as the costumed Lester the Rat in cult show Beakman's World, died today at his home in La Canada Flintridge, CA. The star would answer readers' questions on the 1990s show and assist Beakman with experiments. He also appeared on PBS kids series (more)...

American character actor and puppeteer Mark Ritts has lost his battle with kidney cancer. He was 63.

Ritts was best-known for his roles on U.S. TV science show Beakman's World as Lester the Rat and puppet penguin Herb. He died on Monday at his home in La Canada Flintridge, California.

In character, he appeared on the 1990's show in skits, answered readers' questions and helped series star Beakman with experiments.

Ritts also hosted PBS children's show Storytime, as the voice of a seven-year-old boy puppet named Kino.

In addition to his work in children’s television, he also produced films and live events for corporations.

He is survived by his wife, actress Teresa Parente, sons, Daniel and James, and a daughter, Gabriella.