HBO’s Pee-wee as Himself premieres Friday, May 23, with both parts airing back-to-back from 8:00 to 11:20 PM ET/PT and streaming the same night on Max.

Directed by Matt Wolf (The Stroll), the two-part documentary is built around 40+ hours of interviews with Paul Reubens, completed before his death in 2023. For the first time, the man behind Pee-wee Herman speaks candidly — and sometimes combatively — about the character that defined him, the media scandal that nearly erased him, and the long road back.

The Setup

Part biography. Part confession.
Reubens set the terms: correct the record, tell the truth, and show the life that never made it into the press.

Using:

• 40+ hours of new interviews
• 1,000 hours of archival footage
• Tens of thousands of never-seen photos

The film dives into his influences, circus roots, Groundlings years, and the origins of Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
It also doesn’t dodge the 1991 arrest, the fallout, or the long public exile that followed.

What to Expect

Part One (8:00–9:40 PM ET/PT)

• Growing up in Sarasota, Florida
• TV obsessions: Howdy Doody, Captain Kangaroo, I Love Lucy
• CalArts, performance art, The Groundlings
• Pee-wee goes from cult to global
• Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and the cost of character commitment

Part Two (9:40–11:20 PM ET/PT)

• Pee-wee’s Playhouse becomes a cultural flashpoint
• Behind-the-scenes of casting, design, and creation
• 1991 media takedown and fallout
• Later-life resurrection on Broadway, in film, and finally as himself
• Reubens’ last public message — joy over scandal

Who Shows Up

Interviews include:

• Tim Burton
• Judd Apatow
• Natasha Lyonne
• Laurence Fishburne
• S. Epatha Merkerson
• Wayne White
• Debi Mazar
• David Arquette
• Cassandra Peterson
• And many more from the Playhouse and beyond

Why It Matters

For decades, Reubens blurred the line between man and character.
This is the first time he lets that line vanish — on his terms.

Produced by Elara and First Love Films. Executive produced by Reubens, Matt Wolf, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Benny and Josh Safdie, and others.
Running time: 3 hours, split across two chapters.