Paul Reubens had a small part as a waiter in "The Blues Brothers". The character of "Pee-wee Herman" originated during a 1978 improvisation exercise with The Groundlings, where Reubens came up with the idea of a man who wanted to be a comic but was so inept at telling jokes that it was obvious to the audience that he would never make it. Fellow Groundling Phil Hartman would afterwards help Reubens develop the character while another Groundling, John Paragon, would help write the show. Despite having been compared to other famous characters, such as Hergé's Tintin and Collodi's Pinocchio, Reubens says that
Paul Reubens By 1999, Reubens had given several interviews as himself and made public appearances while promoting the movie "Mystery Men", the first being on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in 1999. He also starred in Dwight Yoakam's Western "South of Heaven, West of Hell", playing as a rapist and killer. In 2001, Reubens had his first extended television role since "Playhouse", as the host of the short-lived ABC game show "You Don't Know Jack", based on the game of the same name. It was cancelled after six episodes due to low ratings. Reubens played a flamboyant hairdresser turned drug dealer