• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 28, 2025

A new two-part documentary on the life of Paul Reubens is welcome news.

The TV Blog has a clear bias when it comes to TV shows that are about television. There is a certain logic to it. What’s more appropriate for a TV column than a show about television?

The documentary, titled “Pee-wee As Himself,” comes Friday, May 23, to HBO and Max. 

The title refers to the documentary’s main source material -- an interview topping out at some 40 hours that Reubens agreed to do before his death in July 2023. He died from complications from leukemia and lung cancer at age 70.

According to HBO, for most of his life, Reubens chose to never be photographed or interviewed publicly as himself.

It was “an artistic choice to present Pee-wee Herman as a real person not to be confused with his creator,” said HBO in a press release earlier this week.

But according to Wikipedia, Reubens had been battling his illnesses for at least six years, and probably knew they would kill him. So he did this interview that covered his personal history.

Besides the interview, other material that was edited for the documentary’s three-hour and 20-minute length included 1,000 hours of archival footage and “tens of thousands of never-before-seen photographs from his personal collection,” HBO said.

The Pee-wee Herman character grew out of Reubens’ childhood, theater training and improv comedy. His TV influences included “Howdy Doody,” “Captain Kangaroo” and “I Love Lucy.”

His 1985 movie “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” (directed by Tim Burton) paved the way for his Saturday morning CBS show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” (1986-90). They were both works of creative genius.

The upcoming documentary, “Pee-wee As Himself” was a collaboration between Reubens and director Matt Wolf. The two “sparred” over creative control.

“Occasionally sparring with the documentary’s director over creative control, Reubens speaks candidly, and sometimes warily, about his personal and professional challenges,” HBO said.

Among those interviewed for the documentary are Reubens’ sister, Abby Rubenfeld; Tim Burton; Laraine Newman; Judd Apatow; and “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” cast members Laurence Fishburne (Cowboy Curtis), Lynne Stewart (Miss Yvonne), S. Epatha Merkerson (Reba the Mail Lady) and Natasha Lyonne, who was one of three children in The Playhouse Gang.