Word: anderson
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Right off the bat, Anderson confirms the rumors, and not without a modicum of enthusiasm. He's more than happy to tell me that a Reubens show is in the works, and that the show will probably be a half-hour sitcom. At the earliest, it would be a 1997 -'98 mid-season replacement, he offers, but he can't say much beyond logistics. He explains that "the project is in its embryonic stages," and as much as he'd like to tell me more about it, at this point there's very little...
Still, I've got designs on more than details, so I embark on my carefully-prepared, no-nonsense pitch: Reubens' work has undergone a critical reappraisal in the last several years." I lecture Anderson, perhaps overdoing The Harvard Angle. "Praise and critical attention have been showered on his work from a number of unlikely sources, including The American Museum of the Moving Image. "Also, several serious papers (full of words like 'reify' and references to Lacan) have been published that connect the Pee Wee Herman phenomenon to recent trends in art. Finally, all this attention has spurred the re-release...
Given Pee Wee Herman's persisting popularity and the hordes of fans he has at Harvard (a fact which is convenient if not necessarily true). I ask, "might you be able to set me up for some interview time with Reubens?" Anderson is cordial, but he isn't buying. "Paul rarely does interviews," he explains. "Actually, he doesn't do them at all." Still, he's very sympathetic and even friendly--he promises to forward my interview request and urges me to call him if he doesn't get back to me soon enough...
...give him four business days to pop the question to Pee Wee and for Reubens to mull over his response. Then, bubbling over with anticipation, I give Anderson a Call late in the afternoon. But he's not in his office, I'm told. I call back four times over three days and remarkably, each time he's in a meeting, on the other line or not at his desk. On my fifth call, after I identify myself as a reporter for The Harvard Crimson, something clicks with the women on the other end of the line...
...have more questions for Anderson: How aggressively will Carsey-Werner be promoting the show? Is the decision to bill it as a mid-season replacement a sign of reluctance to throw support behind Reubens? Is there concern that Reubens will be a though sell to apprehensive network executives? The woman agrees that Anderson is in the best position to answer these questions, and she promises to have him return my call. Of course, he never does...