"Who Is Pee Wee Herman?" 11-12-88 TV news report

"Who Is Pee Wee Herman?" 11-12-88 TV news report about Paul Reubens from around four months after the release of Big Top Pee Wee and about halfway through the run of Pee Wee's Playhouse. The Pee Wee franchise was at its earning peak, taking in more than $25 million, and Reubens would publish a book the following year, Travels with Pee-Wee. The BetaGems channel also has "Pee Wee Herman meets Carol Channing 5-20-87," "Paul Reubens: Did Homophobia Kill Pee Wee Herman? November 1991 The Edge TV report," "Little Richard meets Pee Wee Herman 1988," and "5-19-87 Pee Wee Herman intvws Frankie Avalon, Suzanne Somers."

BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded between from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.

In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.