Pee-Wee Herman and Phil Hartman Beef a few thoughts

I just watched the Pee Wee Herman documentary.  The one thing that they didn’t delve into too much was the long and complicated relationship between Phil Harman and Paul Rubens.  Phil was there when Pee Wee was formed; he worked with Paul on the concepts for the stage show.  Phil was a main character on the stage show.  

The doc really doesn't dig deeper into their relationship too much. 

Phil was, in fact, one of the people who helped mold and shape the Pee Wee character.  He was there, helping Paul create the stage show The Pee-wee Herman Show.  He had a legitimate reason to share credit with Paul about creating the Pee Wee Herman universe.  He helped write the hit movie Big Adventure with Paul, despite Paul taking most of the credit for the movie.  Tim Burton and Hartman had a lot to do with that success.  I think their relationship completely fell off the cliff after the first season of Pee Wee’s Playhouse, given Phil was only in the first season.  Phil would move on to SNL, where he blew up and became a household name.  

I was doing some research and did some digging.  Hartman wasn’t as angry over their breakup as the documentary tried to portray.  I still think Phil Hartman felt Paul pushed him out of the Pee Wee lore and spotlight with his retconning everything.  Remember, Pee Wee sort of got jealous of Tim Burton’s fame after Big Adventure.  Paul made sure to make a sequel, kind of, without Burton’s input.  

Phil never made up with Paul due to Phil’s wife murdering him while he slept.  And, Paul really didn’t talk about it.  How did Paul really feel about Phil’s death?  

This relationship always interested me.