I was living in Los Angeles in 1986 when Pee-wee’s Playhouse premiered on Saturday mornings on CBS. What a welcome sea change in children’s television. It was as if Prince and Cindy Lauper made a TV series with Captain Kangaroo.
Best of all, every week, the secret word was “FUN.” The series was this incredible combination of innocence and mischief — like childhood itself, a box of crayons with every possible colour.
Like all great TV shows, it was made by a remarkable convergence of talent, with up and coming stars among the actors, animators, musicians and designers. Phil Hartman (Captain Carl), Lawrence Fishburne (Cowboy Curtis), S. Epatha Merkerson (Reba the Mail Lady), Natasha Lyronne (as one of the Playhouse Gang kids), Mark Mothersbaugh (from Devo), Danny Elfman, Gary Panter, Nick Park — even Lauper herself, who sang the theme song under a different name.
At the centre of it all was Paul Reubens, and this remarkable two-part documentary, Pee-wee as Himself, is an intriguing cross examination. It shows that behind that arrested child-man was a remarkably sensitive artist, driven to suceed until he actually was arrested. Reubens confesses to having a lifelong obsession with being the centre of attention, and boy did he get it.
Director Matt Wolf conducted 40 hours of conversations with Reubens. Wolf’s subject was in many ways a hostile witness, not at all happy with being told he couldn’t direct this documentary about himself, that he lacked “perspective.” The entire documentary then is a bit of a cat and mouse game, with Reubens letting Wolf know that this whole process was not “fun.”
Still, as a skilled performance artist, he does this in a very fun way for viewers. Reubens is a far more compelling character than Pee-wee, revealing a side to his personality that must have charmed those in his inner circle. Wary, charismatic, direct, indirect, he is ever fascinating.
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Here is the topper: he also knew he was dying. Reubens kept his cancer diagnosis hidden for six years. He talks about death during the documentary, not directly, but philosphically, and muses about how having the opportunity to set the record straight before you die is a beautiful thing. He passed away at 70 in 2023 fighting acute myelogenous leukemia and metastatic lung cancer.
Wolf was just getting to the most sorrowful parts of the examination — Reubens’ 1991 arrest for indecent exposure after masturbating inside a Florida porn cinema — when his subject stopped attending the recording sessions. We do get to hear, in a very dramatic final scene, Reubens final thoughts, recorded a day before his death.
Throughout the interviews, he talks about being closeted, about past relationships and how they contributed to the Pee-wee character, about his relationships with friends and family. He talks about being influenced by everything from Rocky and Bullwinkle to Howdy Doody to The Mickey Mouse Club. In other words, the classics. Those five seasons of Playhouse distilled past wonders and warmed the hearts of plenty of parents, but their kids also got a blend of diversity and acceptance, along with imagination, that would be hard to imagine today.
A sister, a loyal, live-in housekeeper and others fill in some blanks. We hear how director Tim Burton, whose own big break was directing the film that started it all, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” (1985), came through with movie roles after Reuben’s arrest for public exposure.
A fractured partnership with fellow Groundling member Hartman is revealed through an archived interview. Would that Hartman had had the the same opportunity to reveal himself more before his own tragic death in 1998. Reuben’s also was close friends with actress Debbie Mazur, who had the best time being her buddy’s beard.
Reubens made two comebacks from career-wrecking public embarrassments, including a trumped up obscenity charge that began with more sinister child pornography allegations. Imagine this happening to Mr. Rogers or Mr. Dressup; there would be no coming back. Reubens never fully recovered from these charges, but it is remarkable to see him survive with some level of dignity and definance instead of taking shelter in playing the victim.
If, like me, you loved Pee-wee’s Playhouse, you’ll enjoy visiting old friends such as Chairy, Globie, Jambi, Pterry and Magic Screen. You’ll scream and yell real loud as celebs such as Cher, Dolly Parton and Grace Jones visit the Playhouse for the Christmas special.
Even if you didn’t get Pee-wee, or just cringed at his “I know-you-are-but-what-am-I” juvenile antics, you will really warm up to Reubens. In a world that has only grown darker and more cynical, he is what we all really need right now: fun.
