TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Paul Reubens, the actor best known for his alter ego of Pee-wee Herman, died in 2023 after a private six-year battle with cancer. Near the end of his life, Reubens collaborated on a documentary, sitting for 40 hours of intimate interviews with director Matt Wolf. The result of that effort is the two-part HBO documentary "Pee-wee As Himself," which premieres Friday, May 23. TV critic David Bianculli has this review.
DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
When Paul Reubens speaks directly to the camera in "Pee-wee As Himself," framed tightly by the lens and looking frail but still feisty, it's as though he's delivering his last will and testament, and he says as much.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF")
PAUL REUBENS: This is such a dumb thing to say, but, you know, death is just so final, you know, that - to be able to, like, get your message in at the last minute or at some point is incredible.
BIANCULLI: So what is his message in this new documentary? On one level, Reubens sets out to explain his artistic process and the inspirations and motivations behind the character of Pee-wee Herman. On another level, he explores what he gained and lost by refusing to be seen or interviewed as himself for the whole time Pee-wee was starring in movies or television. And most delicately and intriguingly, Paul Reubens provides his point of view about things that rarely were discussed by him during his lifetime, from his private life and sexuality to his infamous arrest on charges of public indecency.
In covering all this ground, Reubens opens up his pack-rat archive of personal photos and home movies. Director Matt Wolf interviews other people as well, such as Laraine Newman, who worked with Reubens in the LA improv group The Groundlings, and directors Tim Burton and Judd Apatow and several actors who appeared in the long-running CBS children's series "Pee-wee's Playhouse," including Laurence Fishburne, Natasha Lyonne and S. Epatha Merkerson. By the time Reubens took his Pee-wee character to Saturday morning TV in 1986, he says he knew exactly what he wanted to do. And Merkerson says she appreciated it.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF")
REUBENS: I just felt right from the get-go something that I could do that could be very important and very subliminal would be to just make the show very inclusive and not comment on it in any way.
S EPATHA MERKERSON: "Captain Kangaroo," "Soupy Sales," "Howdy Doody," you know, in none of those shows did I see myself reflected. So that I had the opportunity to be a part of a show that young Black kids would see and go, oh, there's an image of me here, that means a lot to me.
BIANCULLI: The road to "Pee-wee's Playhouse," an utterly brilliant TV show, is relayed by Pee-wee's alter ego in bursts of quick but clear developmental insights - the shows he watched as a kid.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF")
REUBENS: I was absolutely transformed in such a strong way by so many things in early television. I wanted to jump into my TV and live in that world.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOWDY DOODY")
BUFFALO BOB SMITH: (As Buffalo Bob) Say, kids. What time is it?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Howdy Doody time.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF")
REUBENS: My favorite kid shows were absolutely, like, "Howdy Doody," "Captain Kangaroo" and "The Mickey Mouse Club."
BIANCULLI: His inspirations for the name Pee-wee Herman...
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF")
REUBENS: I had a little harmonica, a little tiny harmonica this big, that said peewee on it, and I thought, Pee Wee. And I knew this kid when I was little who was, like, this crazy, like, really loud, nutty kid. And his last name was Herman. And I thought, Pee-wee Herman sounds so weird that it sounds real. It just didn't sound like a made-up name at all, like Cary Grant or, like, Rock Hudson or, like, a made-up name. It sounded - Pee-wee Herman - like if you were making up a name, wouldn't you make up a better name than that?
BIANCULLI: And noting the meteoric rise of Pee-wee from an improv bit at The Groundlings to the star of his own stage show, movie and TV series, his view of the effects of stardom on his own carefully cultivated privacy...
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REUBENS: If I was conflicted about sexuality, fame was so much more complicated. By the time I realized that you trade in anonymity and privacy for success, the ink had dried on my back with the devil.
BIANCULLI: All of that imploded in 1991, after an event reported by CBS anchor Dan Rather.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CBS NEWS")
DAN RATHER: In Sarasota, Florida, actor Paul Reubens, better known as TV's Pee-wee Herman, is free on bail after being charged with indecent exposure in an adult movie theater. CBS announced today that under the circumstances, the network is dropping scheduled reruns of the program "Pee-wee's Playhouse."
BIANCULLI: Paul Reubens addresses all of this frankly, taking great pains to explain his point of view. Yet, that's not the most compelling or illuminating part of this documentary. The part that reveals the most, especially about Paul Reubens as an artist and a person, is his constant tug-of-war with the documentary's director, Matt Wolf. At times, Reubens is goofing around during the interviews and being coy. Other times, he tells Wolf he doesn't trust him and would rather get his message out himself, without Wolf's editorial interference. "Pee-wee As Himself" makes clear that Paul Reubens was a control freak of sorts, and at the end, Reubens finally gets in the last word unfiltered. It's worth hearing, and for this HBO documentary, it's just the right coda.
MOSLEY: David Bianculli is a professor of television studies at Rowan University. He reviewed the new documentary "Pee-wee As Himself," premiering tomorrow on HBO. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE THEME")
CYNDI LAUPER: (Singing) Come on in and pull yourself up a chair.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Like Chairy.
LAUPER: (Singing) Let the fun begin. It's time to let down your hair. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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