How Paul Reubens Helped Phil Hartman Land His Spot On Saturday Night Live

At one time, Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman had a symbiotic friendship, as many in Hollywood do.

Speaking with Westword's Simon Abrams whilst promoting his 2016 movie "Pee-wee's Big Holiday," Reubens remained as dedicated to his iconic man-child character as ever, and refreshingly hailed Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" as "one of the most underrated American films ever made." Looking back on his career, the American writer-comedian reminisced on his many collaborations that seem out of left field, including that with the late, great Hartman.

A fellow member of the L.A.-based Groundlings comedy sketch troupe when Reubens joined in the 1970s, Hartman (who joined the improv team in 1975) quickly hit it off with him. When the beginnings of an obnoxious character, inept at stand-up comedy, began to germinate in Reubens' mind, it was Hartman who helped him develop the character into the bowtie-wearing nerdball Pee-wee Herman. The two would co-pen "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" together along with "The Big Picture" co-writer Michael Varhol, using Syd Field's revered "Screenplay" book as a writing guide. The film would go on to become a lasting hit beyond its 1985 release and, alongside the success of "Beetlejuice," provided the springboard from which director Tim Burton would leap onto Warner Bros.' "Batman."

Reubens told Abrams:

"Phil and I collaborated for years. I brought Phil and [fellow longtime collaborator] John Paragon with me to New York when I hosted 'Saturday Night Live.' That was Phil's introduction to Lorne Michaels. We worked together on a lot of stuff, along with a coffee group of some of the other Groundlings: Phil, me, John Paragon ... three men, and three women. We were going to go out and rule the world. That didn't work out very good. I think about Phil all the time."

A certain generation recalls Phil Hartman as a luminary of comedy whose light was snuffed before his time. He would create the gruff character of Captain Carl, first on stage with "The Pee-wee Herman Show" and then in the beloved TV series "Pee-wee's Playhouse," the latter for only the first season before he and Paul Reubens fell out over a creative credit dispute. On the Howard Stern radio show, Hartman divulged that "We [the contributors to the stage show] had a contract that said that we get three percent of whatever happens with the show," which Hartman claimed was not honored once CBS got ahold of it. Suddenly, folks like Hartman were out.

It was around that time that Hartman joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live," building off of that chance meeting with "SNL" creator and producer Lorne Michaels. From there, Hartman became a fan-favorite and a mainstay during his tenure from 1986 to 1994. He did great impressions –- his Bill Clinton was a highlight of the weekly comedy sketch show. Though for this writer's money, his greatest talents were on display when he was entirely straight-faced and working solo. It's for this reason that characters like the Anal-Retentive Chef remain the best display of his talents, aside from his voice work.

As /Film's Devin Meenan pointed out, Hartman was the voice behind two of the funniest characters on Matt Groening's satirical animated sitcom and 1990s staple "The Simpsons," first as grinning ambulance chaser Lionel Hutz, then as has-been leading man Troy McClure. Such was his talent that the character of Zapp Brannigan on Groening's "Futurama" was originally written for Hartman before his sudden death in 1998. The role was recast with Billy West, but Hartman's unwrinkled baritone would find its way into West's performance anyway, proving once again that Hartman was always the funniest presence on anything he touched.