1990s and Comeback in Blow
During the 1990s, Reubens kept a low profile, dedicating himself to write and collect a variety of things, "everything from fake food, to lamps", although he did do some dubbing and took small parts in films such as 1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Tim Burton's Batman Returns (Reubens portrayed the Penguin's father) and 1996's Matilda and Dunston Checks In. In 1993, he dubbed for Lock in another one of Burton's productions, The Nightmare Before Christmas. (Reubens would later dub Lock for the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge in 2004.) During the mid-1990s Reubens landed a recurring role on the hit TV series Murphy Brown. The role earned him positive reviews and his first and only non-Pee-wee Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He appeared six times on the show between 1995–1997. The show brought Reubens a new interest in acting and he embarked in his first big project since Playhouse, a pilot for NBC entitled Meet the Muckles, a show that would be based on You Can't Take It with You. The show got stuck in development hell, and was later dropped, when Reubens' ideas grew too elaborate and expensive, although Philip Rosenthal blamed NBC's negative on Reubens being on the "blacklist".
His several appearances on TV's Murphy Brown opened the door for Reubens' come-back. By 1999, he gave several interviews as himself and made public appearances while promoting 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 as a rapist and cold-blooded killer. In 2001, Reubens had his first extended television role since Playhouse as the host of the short-lived ABC TV show You Don't Know Jack, based on the game of the same name. Reubens had doubts about the show, which was considered a risk, but eventually agreed to do it. The show was cancelled after six episodes due to low ratings.
Reubens' comeback seemed definitive when he played a flamboyant hairdresser turned drug dealer in Ted Demme's drama Blow, which starred Penélope Cruz and Johnny Depp. His performance was praised and he began receiving scripts for potential movie projects from various sources.
Reubens dated actress Debi Mazar in 1993 after he started attending film premieres with her. From 1994 until 1999 Reubens was rumored to be engaged to Mazar. Reubens has since credited Mazar with ending his depression from his arrest.
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