HBO Doc About Pee-Wee Herman Actor Paul Reubens Gets Premiere Date

Pee-Wee Herman is set to tell all in a new docuseries on HBO.

Paul Reubens, the actor known for playing Pee-Wee Herman, will share his life story—warts and all—in the new two-part HBO doc Pee-Wee as Himself.

Both parts will air consecutively on HBO on Friday, May 23 at 8 PM EST.

The two episodes are directed by Matt Wolf (HBO’s The Stroll) and will offer a never-before-seen look at the private life of the actor.

The doc promises 1,000 hours of archival footage, thousands of photographs, and over 40 hours of exclusive interview footage from Reubens filmed just before his premature death in 2023.

The Pee-Wee Herman character was wildly popular in the 1980s, thanks to popular movies like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and the Emmy-winning children’s series Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

Famously, Reubens never gave interviews or appeared in public as himself, instead only choosing to appear as Pee-Wee so as not to break the illusion for his audience. That ended when Reubens was spotted at an adult theater in 1991, breaking his anonymity and condemning him to public pariah status for years.

The official synopsis from HBO is as follows: “Driven by a soul-baring interview with Paul Reubens, the man behind the iconic character Pee-wee Herman, PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF is the definitive portrait of the comedic performer, and a window into his never before discussed personal life. Determined to correct the record and tell the factual story of his life, Reubens excavates his kaleidoscopic influences, origins in the circus and avant-garde performance theater, and career choices, while reflecting on the reasoning behind, and the consequences of, severing his beloved alter ego from his authentic self.”

Pee-Wee as Himself premieres Friday, May 23 on HBO.