The following programme contains strong language and adult humour.
Please be aware that this programme features some discriminatory content.
(SCOFFING AND SHUFFLING)
Mm-mm...
I'm gonna swap this water out. OK.
What the fuck happened?
Go ahead, enjoy your breakfast, don't worry.
Don't mind me.
Enjoy my breakfast?!
Jesus Christ!
I have eggs or cereal every morning.
That's what keeps me a little overweight!
(LAUGHING)
Here, Pat, take this for a sec.
Hold onto it forever.
I think we're ready!
(FUN MUSIC)
You see, sir, we're not gunfighters...
We're movie stars!
He has this glint in his eye
that makes you feel that there's a big brain in there
and it's ready to say something really funny
or sarcastic or edgy!
Listen, it's Glory, right?
You're a really nice girl and I'm a nice guy
and you're very pretty.
What do you say? Would you like to take a shower?
He didn't really have a lot of boundaries.
He was very, very free.
Drink this... And it's off to bed.
You should've been a doctor.
OK, we'll play whatever you like!
His random lines just pop into my head all the time!
You take drugs, Danny? Every day! Good!
We always had this chemistry... That was just always there.
Would you like something to drink?
Helen, you want something? No, no, thank you.
Uh, I'll have a Coke.
Do you want that in the can?
No, I'll have it right here!
And now, for those of our viewers who may be Holsteins or Herefords...
Our top story tonight...
(MOOING)
I immediately fell in love with that bumbling idiot doing Weekend Update!
I'm talking about Chevy, not the character he played!
I give you the Griswold family Christmas tree!
(WHIPPING AND SHATTERING)
I spent most days in between scenes in his trailer with him
and his makeup artist Lee
listening to the filthiest jokes I have ever heard in my life!
Little kid in the fourth grade who says,
"Hey, Dad, I've got the biggest dick in the fourth grade!
Is that 'cause I'm Black?"
"No, son, it's 'cause you're 19!"
I could see, you know, right away,
this guy is simultaneously talented and VERY dangerous!
He has this charisma...
The asshole who you love!
Can I say 'asshole'?
(LAUGHING)
A lot of people will, unfortunately!
Chevy Chase, has he worn out his welcome in the entertainment world?
Yeah, he might've been nasty to other people but he...
He and I were like that!
I was always kinda hopin' in my heart,
it was like, "They don't get this guy!"
And when I met him I understood perfectly
that everything I'd ever read was probably true!
Maybe you wanna come at me for a while.
I will, Chevy... No, no, come on, let's do it now!
No, come on, let's talk about my married life!
I want you... No, come on, man! What about my shirt? Like it?
Look, they're coming back! Quiet down!
I'm talking, OK?
You like my shirt?
Fuck you, fuckhead, OK? How's that? Put that on tape!
I don't think he consciously wants to be an asshole.
I think what the asshole version of him...
Is somebody who is desperate for something he either lost
or doesn't have
or just getting old...
I'm just trying to figure you out.
No shit!
It's not gonna be easy for you!
Why is it not gonna be easy?
Uh, you're not bright enough!
How's that?
Whoa!
Well, you asked!
I know you're not gonna put that on the air and I hope not
but my answer is I'm complex and I'm deep
and I can be hurt easily
and I react spontaneously to people who want to figure me out,
as it were.
Uh, as somebody who will hold up my guard.
I'm not gonna let anybody figure me out, per se.
# STEELY DAN: My Old School
# I remember the 35 sweet goodbyes
I first met Chevy in the dining commons at Bard.
I noticed that there was this buffoon at the table
that would do very peculiar things.
Reach for the salt and knock over a water onto somebody's lap.
# To find you with the workin' girls in the county jail
Chevy often fell down flights of stairs
and it wasn't by accident!
# To my old school! #
Don Fagen and Walter Becker,
we had a group in college called the Very Bad Jazz Band.
I was a drummer at the time.
As we emerged from college, it was called Steely Dan.
I really knew jazz.
And I know what a great drummer is, you know,
and I said, "Go get a good drummer!"
And I left!
Blythe Danner, that was my first real love,
was Blythe.
She's a great woman
and, uh, I'll always think highly of her.
Blythe and Chevy had different paths post-college.
Blythe is a very skilled actress
and Blythe's career took off almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Chevy did not take off immediately.
The man's name was Cornelius Crane Chase.
Now, that kind of implies money.
But he sure had no money when I knew him.
I grew up in New York City in a wine family.
My father started a store called Sherry Lehmann.
My father loved Chevy.
When Chevy applied to Sherry Lehmann,
his application...
He just makes fun of the questions.
"Have you committed any crimes?"
"No, because crime doesn't pay."
# ROD STEWART: Every Picture Tells A Story
I drove a specific truck,
delivering wines from Sherry Lehmann Wines and Liquors.
My brother Peter has been friends with Chevy
since they went to Bard College together.
# Daddy said, "Son, you'd better see the world!"
I remember when he would visit,
if I spent eight hours with him I would be laughing for eight hours!
Our great-grandfather passed away
and left an inheritance of, you know...
I mean, eight grand.
And Chevy took the whole amount
and went and bought a used Rolls-Royce.
Played big-wig in that.
He met a girl named Susan
and they did get married.
And that lasted for a while.
You've been married three times.
Jacqueline was the first.
I thought there was someone before? Oh, that's right... Susan!
How could I forget?
'Cause I want to?
No, Susan and I were married for about four years.
# Woo!
# Was knocked down by a human stampede
# Got arrested for incitin' a peaceful riot
(HONKING)
New York was filthy, dirty
and there wasn't much prosperity
in the mere fact that we could live on Madison Avenue
and Chevy on Lexington.
It's just impossible now.
His apartment was just horrible.
There were cockroaches everywhere.
# Gettin' enough...
At that age, somehow we felt like we owned New York!
# Oh, my dear, I'd better get out of here
# 'Fore the Vatican don't give no sanction
# I wasn't ready for that, no, no... #
One day, I was walking home
and I bumped into Chris Guest.
He said, "We're forming a humour and music group...
And the National Lampoon Lemmings is producing it.
Wondered if you knew anyone funny who could also perform with an instrument?"
So, I said,
"Well, obviously, we went to Bard College together,
the three of us,
Chevy is an obvious choice."
And he said, "Yeah, why don't you tell him to come and try out?
But he's not my favourite person..."
He was well-liked by many people
but others didn't get his sense of humour
and thought he was an asshole.
And so, I went back to Chevy's
and I told him and Chevy said, "I don't know."
Susan said, "Get out of the bed and go do something!
You're so lazy!"
I used to say to Chevy,
"You're not using your God-given talents!"
So, Chevy went down and tried out
and, next thing you know,
National Lampoon Lemmings was formed
and he was part of the troupe.
# Whoa, Colorado's callin' me
Hey, dude! (LAUGHTER)
# From her glaciers and her canyons
# And her Badlands... #
I went every night because it was so funny!
The first half of it was skits,
the second-half was a lampooning of the Woodstock Concert.
# Lonely at the bottom of the barrel!
Chevy played piano, guitar, drums.
# I got into arts and crafts, lady got into leather
It was funny as heck to me.
Our mother went, like, once and didn't go back!
# Oh... #
(APPLAUSE)
No... Look at this baby!
Look at that!
Say hi!
This is gonna be your audience later!
(SMOOCHES)
Oh, my goodness...
Isn't this the best cat?
My mother is very musical.
She was a concert pianist.
She didn't follow up on it...
But I could hear her once in a while
playing something like Debussy or Chopin or...
They had a beautiful touch.
Like, notes of, like, a string of pearls.
I started playing the piano 'cause it was there, basically.
Tinkling on it
and taught myself over the last 50 years.
I played by ear and I don't read music.
My brother and I would listen to jazz a lot
on a '78 record player.
That's what sort of got me doing it,
you know, playing jazz...
It's improvisation, which is very close to acting.
Mel Brooks once defined comedy as polite hostility.
Once you lose that,
once you limit yourself to saying...
"Well, that's not funny
or that can't be funny or you can't do jokes on that..."
Then you've limited yourself to the point where you're ineffective as a comedian.
Lorne Michaels,
when he's given the job to develop a show for Saturday nights,
he's got a blank slate.
I'd spent my twenties in a television studio,
so I was comfortable in that environment.
We were...
Just filled with possibility of what we could do and what we couldn't do.
When I met with Lorne, he described this new show.
It spun my head around.
He said it would be live, be 11:30 to 1:00 on Saturday night...
And I go, "What?! Who's gonna watch that?"
You know, angry people!
People who are not gettin' laid!
I got a call...
Lorne said, "Do you wanna start this show with me?"
If you could try to look at me instead of looking directly into camera...
It's hard for me.
Why?
Because I invented Weekend Update so I COULD look in the camera!
Tell me about that.
(LAUGHS)
The fuck, man?
What the fuckin' shit, man?
(LAUGHTER)
I wanted him to be a writer
but he really wanted to be in the cast
and I had room for only six people.
We had our final reading of the first script
with all of us around a big table
and I did some reading.
He was funny in what I would describe as the right kind of way
and he had a level of confidence.
I think he saw that, given the cast,
that I could be the handsome one!
Live from New York, it's Saturday night!
I had heard of Chevy's reputation,
what a spectacular physical comedian he was,
how funny, how gifted...
Just masterful physical comedy.
What's wrong with expressing our patriotism?
I'm proud to diaper my baby with the stars and stripes
or to stroll on the boardwalk wearing an Old Glory leisure suit!
Chevy winds up being the last one officially hired
and, interesting point, does not sign a contract.
..so I can be reminded again and again and again...
Gives him a sense of freedom.
If you sign that contract, you're not going anywhere else.
I refer to saliva disbursement difficulties
or, as we are sometimes called, 'droolers'.
We at the Droolers Anti-Defamation League
are working to correct the negative image of droolers
propagated by the media.
When I saw Saturday Night Live,
it absolutely blew my doors off
and I set out to sign everyone on the show!
No, New Shimmer is a dessert topping!
It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping!
It's a floor wax, I'm tellin' you!
It's a dessert topping, you cow!
Hey, hey, hey, calm down, you two!
New Shimmer's a floor wax AND a dessert topping!
Automatically, he's markedly different.
Chevy doesn't really care about being liked.
You're doing very well so far. Everybody loves the show.
The song was great.
And, uh, all I can say is relax and take your shirt off.
(LAUGHTER)
All too soon, he's giving notes to his other cast members.
Danny came up to my office, he said, "You gotta talk to Chase."
And I said, "What?"
He said, "He gave me notes on my Scottish accent!"
That's not a great recipe for being one of the gang!
Carol Burnett was the big show at the time.
Won Emmy after Emmy.
Chevy or Lorne would say, "If you come up with an idea..."
The understanding was,
"OK, Carol Burnett would do it this way, how are we gonna do it?"
It's just a word association, I'll throw you out a few words.
Anything that comes to your mind, just throw back at me, OK?
Just kind of an arbitrary thing, like if I said dog you'd say...
Tree. Tree.
These little asides about drugs and sex and race
and, you know, he sort of personified that...
That dangerous quality Saturday Night Live had at the time.
Negro.
Whitey.
Tar baby...
What'd you say?
Lorne had said from the very beginning,
"Let's just make each other laugh
and if we do that we'll put it on television."
It was exciting and it was, uh, terrifying!
Spear-chucker! White trash!
Jungle bunny! Honky!
Spade! Honky-honky!
Nigger! Dead honky!
He became a writer for me.
I never asked him to do it.
He came in to say, "Hey, I'm gonna write for your ass!"
And now as a public service to those of our viewers
who have difficulty with their hearing,
our top story tonight...
OUR TOP STORY!
President Ford is finally over that stubborn week-long cold.
..STUBBORN WEEK-LONG COLD!
The news for the hard of hearing is a piece that he came up with which only he and I did.
And now Weekend Update with Chevy Chase.
No...
I love it when you make noise!
Remember when... Gotta go!
Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not!
His delivery, "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not!"
You know, the arrogance of the WASP-y upper class,
it worked perfectly for the acerbic tone of Update.
Originally, he had a funny name for his character
and I went, "No, just say your real name."
Two weeks late, that could be emotion!
Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it, OK?
OK, goodbye, Barbara... Margaret, I'm sorry!
Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase and you're not!
Lorne used to describe the ratings,
that it would start and then would get a bump at Weekend Update.
The president is seen here wearing a corsage
given to him at an artificial limb-maker's convention.
Chevy had this runway in Weekend Update.
They created an environment where he could be himself.
That's when he starts to really make a much larger impression.
There was something that was so much...
Just fun about all the things that he would do
and he was fearless.
Oh, hi!
I'm Ronald Reagan!
Oh, sure, I play the organ too!
Saturday Night Live
was sort of an extension of '60s counter-culture
and recreational drugs...
What can you say, they were...
They were absolutely everywhere at that time!
We started making money and...
Tuesday became the late night on the show to write the scripts
because read-through was on Wednesday
and to help stay up
as we made money people were doing drugs.
(RINGS)
Hello?
Everybody was taking cocaine on the show.
You have a disposable income you never had and...
The drug cocaine is not a friend of any personality, I don't think!
You know, Gilda called it the devil's dandruff!
I tried every powder and pill going. We all did back then.
I didn't much like the coke, though.
The person that they worried about the most was Chevy.
He was doing a lot of drugs.
Handling a lot of fame really fast, while on drugs
when you don't have the strongest emotional foundation,
that's a lot to stay balanced,
to stay upright on your surfboard in such choppy surf!
He was the one that people went nuts over.
Gilda once told me that she went to Florida
and her mother said, "Do you, like, really know him?"
Feeling famous wasn't a big deal to me.
I didn't care one way or the other, really.
Let's start again so you say it in a complete sentence.
You bitch!
OK...
I was on a bus.
I looked up and there was a picture of me
on the cover of New York Magazine
and I realised that's it, I'm famous
then I just looked around at everybody like this...
We go to the Emmy Awards and...
The nominees are...
We were at the grownups table now.
It was Carol Burnett. There's the old guard.
And here were these bunch of hooligans, you know, dressed in tuxedos.
And the winner is...
Chevy Chase!
NBC's Saturday Night!
(WARM MUSIC PLAYS)
At the Emmys, we all won for writing
and I won for best show
and it was...
Wow, you know?
Uh, impossible not to get carried away!
Needless to say, this is, uh...
Totally expected on my part.
(LAUGHTER)
Uh...
Jacqueline, she was beautiful.
I would show her picture to Lorne and say...
"Well, you know!"
Lorne would say, "You don't love her!"
"What do you mean? Look at her!"
He fell in love with Jacqueline.
That was a tactical error on many levels.
Jacqueline wouldn't move to New York City
and I wanted to be with her.
There was those rumours that, you know,
he was given an ultimatum by Jacqueline.
OK, quiet on the floor, please!
He said, "My girlfriend wants to live in LA."
It spoke to people thinking he was disingenuous.
You guys all went to LA for his wedding?
Yeah, and I remember being on the plane,
everyone...
There was a lottery, we wrote down dates we thought...
You know, the divorce would happen, OK?
So, it was like, "Yeah, yeah, this is gonna last!"
God...
Um... (LAUGHS)
I was just off.
I don't think I really understood what I wanted.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
A birdy told Gilda and Gilda told me.
That's how I found out that Chevy was leaving the show.
It was shocking...
We... We'd just started!
We were just at the Emmys where all the grownups are first finding out what...
Who we are and what we're doing!
Why now?
I never had any plans ever.
Uh, I had agents who had plans.
So, uh...
And at the time I was hot
so it wasn't too tough for the agents to see that.
I said, "We're just beginning here.
I think you're at the centre of it."
But we were never gonna fight.
Neither of us would've done that.
The forces pulling him was money, power, and all of that
and when Hollywood wants you they're pretty good at it.
He used to say, "Jackie doesn't like me when I'm performing.
I turn into somebody.
My ego comes out and she doesn't like it.
She would rather I just be a writer."
In hindsight,
I felt it was a mistake to...
Leave SNL.
It really was the kind of show
that I was a part of making with Lorne
and it's the kind of thing I wanted to do.
This is a weekly pull.
Chevy gets fan mail weekly.
And it's kind of a massive amount, so this is sort of...
A little bit.
This is half of a weekly amount.
This looks good, it's "priorytet"!
That means it's from Poland. Let's see what we got.
I hope there are no animal parts in there!
"I would like to write you a big thank you for all the excellent roles
and the endless emotions that I experienced."
Thank you.
"One of the films which I am emotionally attached to is Foul Play.
If you could find a moment to sign photos, it would be priceless for me."
Sometimes you get mail from dogs, actual animals!
Joy Heath!
"Please shoot my husband!" Oh...
We met about four or five years ago.
I was brought on to bring him to some state,
it might've been Chicago or Wisconsin or something like that
and we started travelling and then we just hang out, our families got along.
They get along really well, we started doing things together with my children, his children.
We just bonded. Yeah.
I don't know how we became so close but we're here, we enjoy it.
It was your homosexual proclivities but...
One time I didn't have a shirt on, it wasn't my fault.
"I'm a great admirer and fan of yours.
I love your performances in National Lampoon Vacation and Community.
Thank you for being one of my biggest role models."
"My fiance and I would be ecstatic if you attended our wedding!"
OK...
Here's one from 'Spud'.
Spud Toomer. Boy...
"I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my letter,
I truly enjoy being part of your career
and admire everything you accomplished."
He wants you to sign these.
Should I write 'to Spud Toomer'?
Yeah. "Wonderful prose!"
Wonderful prose!
I was doing the fan mail and I opened it up
and it says,
"Chevy, just wanna wish you a happy 80th birthday.
Miss you so much. Love to see you soon."
And then it said, "Bill Clinton. Love ya."
And I was like, "Holy cow, man!
You just got a birthday card from Bill Clinton!" Yeah!
You know, I really regard Bill as one of our greatest presidents.
Really bright, intelligent guy.
Not terribly humorous.
"Hello, Chevy, how are you?
Thanks for calling.
Hillary's on my head right now.
She's sitting on my head. She's stark naked.
I'll call you later."
This is the way I am at my age!
Just a child! Yep!
An angry child!
(CHUCKLES)
Hello...
You... What are you doing here?
Two years after a premiere of a show where no one knows him...
Now co-starring with Goldie Hawn.
I didn't really know him. I knew he was funny.
Excuse me...
And then I went up to the office to meet him
and I opened the door and there comes this 6'4 guy.
He's handsome. He's got presence.
I mean, aside from being funny,
but I mean he really was kind of adorable!
And I was wearing sort of a purse,
it was crocheted but it was shapeless
but it did look like an udder of a cow.
He literally took his hand and lifted it on my purse
and he said, "Cough!"
That's a funny group for Turk to belong to.
Hey, I play detective, you play lady in distress.
Hey, wait a minute, it's my ass they're after!
I'm sorry... You're right.
It is your ass they're after
and it's my job to see it that I get there first!
(LAUGHS)
I could honestly go on about how amazing a chemistry we had.
We really were aligned in our timing
and we could feel each other.
(APPLAUSE)
Chevy has a great starting vehicle.
It's not that things are easy for him,
but that, who Chevy is, in his gumption and confidence,
it plays well out in Hollywood.
He's off and running.
I was a single parent.
I had two children, Katie and Oliver.
We went out together.
We were both presenting something at an event
and then we came back together
and Oliver, he had fallen asleep in front of the television set,
and he went over to him...
And he picked him up and he carried him to bed.
And he came down the stairs and he looked at me, he said,
"Go up, he's waiting for you."
And I went upstairs and I sat with Oliver for a while
and then I came downstairs.
And he was playing the piano, softly...
And he looked up at me and he said...
"I can't believe you're doing all this alone."
He cared.
And that's the other part of the wild man.
The man who fell over everything.
The guy who had faux pas.
The really funny, wacky, crazy guy.
Also has a deep heart...
# BOB SEGER AND SILVER BULLET BAND: Hollywood Nights
Chevy Chase, one of the most successful alumni of Saturday Night Live,
is back up on the big screen.
This your place, Carl?
Yeah, what do you think? It's really... It's really awful!
Oh, sit down, come on!
No, I don't wanna stick to anything in here!
Caddyshack is probably the biggest showcase
for all the things that are Chevy Chase.
He's sexy, he's debonair, he's cool, he's funny...
It's all there!
Ty, what'd you shoot today? Oh, I don't keep score, judge!
Oh, well, how do you measure yourself with other golfers?
By height!
As a kid, I studied him.
He would throw away the gold and push the silver, right?
Like, he would say something that is like that's funny
and then under the breath quickly throw away something,
THAT'S the A-plus joke!
I'm gonna end up workin' in a lumber yard the rest of my life.
What's wrong with lumber? I own two lumber yards!
Notice you don't spent too much time there. Not sure where they are.
Caddyshack is one of the greatest comedies ever made, bar none
and you can't do it without him.
# And those Hollywood nights
# In those Hollywood Hills
# She was lookin' so right
# In her diamonds and frills
# Oh, those big city nights #
He was cerebral, he was funny
and he was handsome too!
# Who's the mooseiest moose we know?
# Marty Moose!
# Marty Moose! Marty Moose! Marty Moose! #
Hyuck! That's me! (LAUGHS)
The National Lampoon's Vacation came out.
My parents were like, "Oh, my God, this happened!"
Like, "This happened to us!"
Sorry, folks, we're closed for two weeks
to clean and repair America's favourite family fun park!
Sorry!
Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck!
I think dads everywhere understood Clark Griswold.
At first, I didn't wanna take this vacation...
And now I'm glad I did.
It's given me a chance to spend a lot more time with you and...
Audrey. Audrey, yeah.
National Lampoon's Vacation with Chevy Chase
took in $49.4 million at the box office.
Chevy had massive, massive movie star hits.
Ah-ah-ah-ah, new car, I'll take it!
Waitress!
He's got it all, ladies and gentlemen, Chevy Chase!
Here is Chevy Chase!
(CHEERING)
He gave me a Cartier clock
and on the back of it it was engraved...
"Keep getting me the six million!"
(LAUGHING)
Chevy Chase!
(CHEERING AND LAUGHTER)
May I help you, doctor?
Oh, it's me, Dr Rosenpenis.
I'm just here to check out... Doctor who?
..the family's file.
Dr Rosen-Rosen, I'm here to...
Could you give that name again? It's Dr Rosen.
I wanna... Doctor who?
Doctor Rosen, where's the record room?
In my early days, if you watch Van Wilder,
I'm just doing a Chevy Chase impression!
Where am I? You're in the records room.
Can I get you something?
Uh, yeah, do you have The Beatles' White Album?
I've seen Fletch, I don't know, 75 times?
Oh, I just got out of the shower!
Yeah... Can I borrow your towel for a sec?
My car just hit a water buffalo!
(LAUGHS)
For me, the height of Chevy's filmmaking
was National Lampoon Christmas Vacation!
I just can't get enough of that movie.
There are plenty of shopping days left until adulteries...
Adulthood... Which is to say Christmas!
Chevy made movies that you wanna see over and over again.
What is your objective? My objective?
Well, I object to taking a girl out, you know,
and buying her dinner and then she won't put out for you!
I'm Lucky Day! I'm Ned Nederlander!
And I'm Dusty Bottoms and together we're...
ALL: The Three Amigos!
(ALL COUGH)
# Hollywood nights!
The thing about fame is that it doesn't really change you,
it's that everything around you changes!
If you were at Yankee Stadium with Chevy,
everyone at Yankee Stadium would know he was there!
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
Good evening and welcome to the 59th Annual Academy Awards Show.
My name is Chevy Chase,
I feel privileged to be your host this evening.
I'm really a replacement...
I'm sorry to have to tell you that Jim and Tammy Baker couldn't make it tonight!
(LAUGHTER)
There's nothing like when Chevy Chase is coming into a restaurant.
I've never seen...
You know, wow, the people's heads snap around!
Chevy is a bona fide movie star!
# Those Hollywood nights
# Above all the lights
# Hollywood nights... #
I met Chevy when I was 23.
So, I was two years out of college.
It was my second job... Working on a Chevy Chase movie.
The last thing I wanted was to fall in love...
Yeah.
Um...
Chevy's calling! (LAUGHS)
Take it!
Hi, honey!
Hi, don't forget to mention how much we make love everyday!
(LAUGHS)
OK, I'm on camera so they might have captured that!
Three times on weekends! Goodbye!
OK! Love you, honey!
I was working on a movie called Under the Rainbow.
Jayni was the production coordinator in it.
My trailer was pulled right up
near to where the production unit was
and I could hear her voice
and I'd think, "What a beautiful voice."
But I never looked to see who it was.
Finally, I sort of did this,
you know, where you look in the door...
And I saw her and she was gorgeous.
We were shooting at Union Station, Downtown LA.
It was the end of the day and he came up and said,
"Would you go with me to the premiere of my movie tonight?
Goldie is in Paris
and Jessica Lange..."
Or some other actress...
"Has the flu."
And I looked up, I said, "Not if I'm third choice!"
And he looked very crestfallen.
Oh...
Wasn't my job to give him his call time
but I offered to call him with it.
And he came on all out of breath and I said,
"Do you still want me to come with you tonight?"
And he said, "Really?"
We went and that was the beginning of my falling in love with him.
# Thanks for droppin' by
# I never thought to ask you why! #
Through one machination or another, I managed to get her on my side.
We had a very small wedding in the backyard.
Including the caterers, 40 people.
She's the great love of my life.
She's only three feet tall...
No!
We were married
and it's only a year since he saw that last tape
and look what's happened...
This is Cydney! It's Cydney!
The way he took care of me when I was pregnant
and at all the birthings of the girls
and seeing him as a daddy
and how happy it made him...
Hi, peewees! Hi, Dad!
They go through their ups and downs.
I mean, it's not perfect
but they really hold on to one another
and they really love each other.
She's beautiful and smart as a whip!
I don't have much to say about her that isn't good.
No, I know, but it's just nice after hearing about Jacqueline
and what have you...
(BURPS)
Oh, I'm sorry! Your mistake?
That you found someone and that you're...
You know, you have three beautiful daughters.
Yeah, no, I don't think a lot of people have the happiness I have.
Marriages are breaking up,
kids do bad things,
all that stuff that is family stuff, it's tough.
Not just in America,
but even worse in, let's say, Russia
because...
It must be nice to be a Russian family, huh?
Pass the fork!
(INAUDIBLE)
Thank you.
Come on. Oh, thanks.
Fan of yours! (HONKING)
Oh, a chair!
Hi! Hello!
What's his name? That's Rubet!
She will be 11 in July.
Oh, cool. Yeah.
I have a couple of 17-year-olds... Really?
And, uh, a 23-year-old.
We have everything!
Cats, dogs... We have a pelican!
Really? No!
(LAUGHS)
Do I have a picture of my dog? Yeah!
That's my granddaughter. Cute.
She's only seven months.
Seven months, wow. She speaks French.
Really? No!
I just keep lyin' to you! I keep buyin' it!
Well, I'll have a steak!
No, I'm kidding!
We came in to get some flowers. They're for my wife.
I have you on file, so if you wanna know, like, what you got last time...
Oh, yeah, yeah! Let's look! Yeah, let me take a look.
Oh...
Beautiful!
They're actually tulips. They're not peonies. These are tulips.
They look like peonies. Yeah, those are tulips.
That's your licence. What?
Yeah, I want you to drive my car over here.
Oh, yeah?
What did I just give you my licence for?
This is what I meant! Perfect, thank you!
These are for Jayni, my wife!
(COUGHING) I love her!
(CRUNCHING)
If she doesn't love 'em, you tell me,
but I guarantee she'll love 'em.
Do you want me to sign something? No, you're good.
What do you mean? I don't know what they cost! They're 400.
Four hundred dollars? Yeah!
What?!
For a little thing of flowers?! That's a big thing!
I can give you a little thing! I bet you can!
Yeah!
OK, never mind...
Oh, they really are pretty.
Yeah, these are particularly special.
We don't have these in regularly, you can't always get those.
Peonies? No, those are actually tulips!
I know, I know, I was kidding you!
By the way, that's why I drive! Yeah!
For people like you! Thank you!
We spent a lot of time together in the late '70s
and early '80s.
He was uniquely funny and pretty crazy!
When we were in Hawaii,
he had somebody ship in many ounces of coke
in a special shaving cream can
which you could twist in a certain way
and get to the coke.
(LAUGHING)
Every so often
we'd have some cocaine flown in from the...
From the mainland!
"Mail's here!"
Anyway... (LAUGHING)
When I would visit Chevy in LA,
I remember going to one restaurant and it was a circular table
and I think there were about...
Maybe six to eight of us around the table
and the only person I knew was Chevy
but in the centre of the table there was, like, a lazy Susan...
It was out of a pyramid...
That pyramid was cocaine!
(AS DONALD DUCK) Oh, boy!
Oh, boy!
Nobody knows...
(SNORTING)
Modern Problems,
there's such a thin line between what's going on in the movie and in his life!
YESSS!
(LAUGHS) I LIKE IT!
The night before we were starting to shoot Modern Problems,
Chevy just calls up, he's like, "I'm not doing the movie! You have to fix the script!"
Alan Greisman, Ken Shapiro and I go up to Chevy's house.
We start to go over the script page by page
and Chevy pours coke on the table and starts sniffing it!
'Cause there you're supposed to be having a rational discussion
about a movie that you're gonna do
and he's just snorting coke like there's no tomorrow!
We're sitting there kind of...
Not really wanting some
but maybe, you know...
But he's not offering us any, OK?
So, we're in that space, OK...
Who does cocaine alone in front of other people?
So, by the time we're three-quarters of the way through the critique,
he says, "You know what... I disagree with myself!"
So, rationality was not high on the agenda!
Chevy had a weird relationship with the director Ken Shapiro.
Kenny wanted me to play a dream that I was a plane,
landing.
He put landing lights on my arms.
They flipped the switch and he was uh-uh-uh-uh-uh...
And they thought he was joking
so they let it go longer than they coulda, shoulda...
All of a sudden, he, like, passes out.
So, the EMTs come, OK?
And they do these questions, "How many fingers am I holding up?
Do you know what day it is? What's your name?"
And he goes, "Don't you know who I am?"
I mean, and my memory of that is that...
Oh, come now!
I'm not saying he didn't feel something
but he certainly didn't get electrocuted or a full dose of something!
Chevy, you don't want to work with him
because he can be so unpleasant and so gratuitously mean.
And I don't think he knows that he is.
I think it's just... It's an instinct.
Sometimes, you know, he was his own worst enemy.
He would do things that were emotional
or out off insecurity that he shouldn't have done.
Would you ever try to talk to him about it?
Yeah, I was very open with him about it.
And, um, to his credit he would listen.
Whether he would take the advice or not remained to be seen.
On the surface,
Chevy looks like the guy that everything went perfect for.
It wasn't really the case, you know?
There was... There was some darkness.
Did anyone tell you about the Terry Sweeney incident?
I was there for it, yeah.
It's Saturday Night Live...
(CHEERING)
..with host Chevy Chase!
When Chevy came back to host,
I don't think anyone is prepared for the Chevy that shows up.
I always felt like... It was beneath him to do this.
I've gotten to know the cast very well,
it's a great new cast,
I hope you saw last week's show.
If you didn't, this week you meet them.
They're a wonderful group of 28 kids...
Uh...
That's not true, there are only about seven.
He was really tough on the furniture that week,
particularly Terry Sweeney,
who was the first openly gay cast member of SNL.
Uh, President Kennedy? Very good job!
He had this wonderfully warm icebreaker with Terry Sweeney,
which was, "You're gay, right?"
And Terry said, "Yes, what would you like me to do for you?"
And Chevy said, "You can start by licking my balls!"
And then, of course, it went downhill from there.
I think Chevy was just being Chevy.
He would say things that were funny
but he assumed that you were comedy people and you could speak that way.
You know, we would say terrible things
because that's what would make us laugh.
It wasn't... We didn't tell anecdotes, you know?
You said to Terry Sweeney,
"Oh, you're the gay guy!
Why don't we do something where we say you have AIDS
and then every week we weigh you!"
(LAUGHS)
That's the worst!
Ron, how are you? Uh, Nancy!
Just terrific, Jerry!
How's Betty? Oh, she's fine!
Terry Sweeney, I mean, he was very funny,
this guy...
I don't think he's alive anymore, Terry Sweeney.
I hope he isn't 'cause I don't want you talking to him about this!
He's alive! Is he?
Yeah, and I think... How do you know?
'Cause I looked him up on Google!
I mean, is he alive? He's alive!
Oh! He's aliveeeee!
The gay guy!
Oh, God...
No, um, I think...
I think... And this is...
But the idea of weighing him, come on, that's...
That's clearly me...! (LAUGHING)
No, yeah, I think his recollection is different!
Oh, what's his...
He was very hurt by... Oh!
Yeah, so...
Well, when did you talk to him? I haven't talked to him!
Then how do you know he was hurt? I've heard it from other people!
Other people have told you that I hurt his feelings? It's like in books!
I have to be going now!
I'll leave you two leaders alone to talk.
I'm gonna take Lucky for a walk.
I think you hurt his feelings and... What book is this?
Should I read this? Yeah, read it out!
Come over here so he can hear you.
Oh, this is great, thanks...
This'll make my day!
"Chevy turned to me and he said,
'Oh, you're the gay guy, right?'
And he said, 'I've got an idea for a sketch for you.
How about we say you have AIDS and we weigh you every week.'
It was out of place so then he ended up having to apologise
and actually come into my office.
He was really furious he had to apologise to me.
He was just beside himself and it was just awful."
None of that's true. I would remember that.
You would? Yeah!
That... That I was angry that I had to apologise to him?
Good God, Chevy, what's wrong with you?
I mean, of course I... That's just not true!
My memory is that he's lying is my memory!
He's not telling the truth!
That isn't me. That's not how I am.
And if I am that way,
my life has changed
'cause I have to live with that now for the rest of my fuckin' life
'cause you guys got a book out and read it to me!
I'd like to thank... (FRANTIC SPEAKING)
Goodnight!
Within the next week it was all over the place.
And you know, people who left that week saying,
"I never wanna see the guy again."
Look, there are certain people who've got reputations that you don't want.
Um...
(LAUGHS) Chevy...
The old Chevy could make you laugh putting you down
and there was a little bit of a wink there
so you were in on the joke...
But now it just comes off as mean.
It's kind of the elephant in the room.
Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead.
The elephant in the room, yeah.
That there are two camps.
There are the people who love you
and the people who don't like you.
OK, I don't know what to say about the people who don't like me except fuck 'em!
What can you say, actually, about something like that?
I can't say they're misunderstanding me
because maybe they're not by their standard.
Uh, I just prefer to be liked... Not disliked.
Like all of us!
Our doctor,
the ear, nose and throat guy,
called me and asked me to come in
and he needed to talk to me
and he explained to me that Chevy was addicted to cocaine.
Cocaine one-upped him.
He was no longer in control
and for a guy who loves being in control
I think it was a very, very dark, dangerous journey.
He's had many times where he was doing just fine
and then something happens
and that's...
You know, it's a disease of relapse
and, you know, it's never a wonder...
(LAUGHS) ..that an addict uses!
It's a miracle if an addict doesn't!
So, we did an intervention.
He said, "I know I need to stop.
And I know I need help."
Well, comedian Chevy Chase will be off the job for a while.
A spokesman says that the reason is a drug problem.
The first time I ever heard of the Betty Ford Clinic
was in relation to Chevy Chase going there
and my mother having to be like,
"Well, that's where rich people go when they've had too much to drink."
He went to Betty Ford
but after a week he called me and begged me to come pick him up.
Doctors released comedian Chevy Chase
from the Betty Ford Drug Rehabilitation Centre over the weekend.
According to a spokeswoman, his system is cleaned of drugs.
You know, the actual addiction or the...
The things he's gone through, I've come to see it as an illness.
The fact that he has overcome that, that's another thing he's overcome.
There's good news and bad news
because if you go through rehab and you're successful
then you're moving on with a healthier life.
The problem is that all the crutches,
all the vehicles that you used to get through certain situations,
they're all gone.
And it turns out that that inner core, that raw nature
can be incredibly mean!
He made these huge movies,
he was one of the biggest stars going...
And then he made a couple of ones that weren't...
Didn't do that great.
Because he was who he is,
even on the way to the top he was not a good guy.
But I can't imagine how he was on the way to the bottom.
I mean, basically, I'll just yell
and I'll just yell, "Hey, you guys, hey!"
Keep it goin'. Yeah.
Speed, mark!
And light!
Hey, help!
Up here!
Now over to number two!
Help!
Bang away!
Chevy Chase, I wanted to quit the business after working with him!
Really? What was the movie? Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
Um, it...
He was a producer on this thing!
So, you're directing, and he's, like,
got this attitude?
Oh, yeah, it... It was bad!
Was it one of those things where they had to shut things down? No, no, it was not that way.
I took it all in and just internalised it.
But that was my...
Uh, that was my...
Worst... Worst!
It's a great movie, I'm very happy with it.
You play an invisible man. I play the invisible man.
I sincerely think that this is by far and away the best picture I've made,
which is, according to some critics,
the equivalent of a mutt saying, "I just had a beautiful dump!"
"Memoirs of an Invisible Man is a mediocre movie
that can't make up its mind what it wants to be.
Chase is fine when the going gets funny.
Unfortunately, when he's called upon to act he turns amateurish."
I'm gonna say something that I probably shouldn't
but I never got the sense Chevy was as serious about his career
as his career was serious.
We had clients that were so focused on building and what role went next
and, um...
He didn't think that way.
I don't think he took himself as seriously as he was taken.
How did the talk show come about?
You know, it's funny,
I knew you'd ask me this question.
I hated the idea.
Bruce Bodner was Chevy's lawyer morphed into his manager.
Bruce was very influential on his life.
He really had Chevy's ear.
Thought it was a good idea, those of us around him didn't.
There's a lot to be done as Chevy Chase starts his quest
for a chunk of the late-night talk show audience!
The pressure is, can I do it?
And the anticipation is, can I do it?
You did a talk show!
What was that like? Short!
(LAUGHING) Thanks for asking!
I never took anybody's advice about how to do a talk show.
I didn't...
I can do it, I kept thinking!
He came to me and said, "Do you wanna work on it?"
Um, and I was like, yeah!
If there's anything I could change it's that period of time...
That kind of took us to Memoirs of an Invisible Man
and the talk show.
The closer we got to the airdate,
the more we started to feel like this ship is not upright!
So, I have a pain in my...
My chest right in here
and some numbness going down my arm.
Otherwise, I'm kind of nervous!
I don't think it was well thought-through.
They just had this idea, "Oh, he's funny, he's a big star!
We'll put him on TV and it'll work!"
(CHEERING)
And now...
He's still not ready for prime time!
Chevy Chase!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
It wasn't Chevy's forte...
Chevy was not a guy who could do stand-up comedy!
President Clinton is appearing on Nightline tonight
to discuss his healthcare plan further.
If you're watching him...
Or excuse me if you're watching me instead of him, I'm flattered
but I think maybe you should see a doctor
because that's just a sign of how really sick you are!
(DRUMS SMASH)
I think the show needed a different kind of produce,
the person they got had a long history of television producing
but it was really old-time TV comedy.
Uh, I feel like a hundred dollars!
You know, I don't want... I want you out!
I remember being on set and...
It felt like I wanted him to relax!
He felt nervous to me!
It was hideous!
I just didn't really have a sense of what you do on a talk show.
It's basically a true story and it...
It's based on sort of the dilemma of a kid
who's brought up with a father who really cares about him
but he's also very close to a member of kind of the mob,
I mean...
Roll the clip! (LAUGHTER)
That's a hard thing to do every night for an hour!
It's almost impossible, if you wanna know the truth!
You have to know something about everything.
You have to be well-read.
You have to understand current events.
You have to know who your guest is
and there are five of them a night.
I don't know how people like Letterman and others do it.
I... It's beyond me.
You can say it's interesting to have different people with different...
Yeah, yeah, right. We're all the same, pretty much.
It's not that interesting.
The reviews were universally terrible
and Chevy literally would come into the writers' room and say,
"You guys are doing a great job!
It is not your fault, it's my fault!"
There was a 50th birthday party for Chevy
with a lot of big stars.
It was a huge disappointment
when we learned at the end of the party
that the show had been pulled by Fox.
It was my job to tell him the show was cancelled and I did it.
I remember Mike Ovitz saying...
"Do you wanna do another couple of weeks or what?"
I said, "A couple of weeks?"
"Yeah, I think we're finished!"
You know, and that was it...
It was kind of a weird environment after his talk show.
I know my dad has been depressed. I knew that at a young age.
And that was sort of hard for me
because, you know...
I would go in and, like, tug on his shirt
and he'd say, like, "Not now, honey."
Huh? Where are we? What's the date?
April 19th 1994.
Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, DC.
I'm your host and I'd be happy to take your order.
One thing that was interesting about our household
is that my parents were pretty open with some of the things going on that were deeper,
depending on our ages.
My parents were communicating enough to say there's something called depression
and it is hard for people to get out of bed.
Hi!
Why are you doing this?
He would get in bed and not get out.
I didn't understand why...
My father and mother,
they divorced when I was around four
and not many years later he married again
and so did my mother.
John Cederquist, he married my mother.
He was a psychoanalyst.
He was not like my father.
Humourless.
Humourless...
He was the father figure, as our stepfather,
for most of the time growing up.
My father had a flash anger
and he could lash out with a single blow
and no talk before or after.
He did not take to anything that he perceived as insolence.
Chevy was insolent.
The first time we stayed together,
the first time I went to wake him up he shuddered...
And he explained,
"Well, my mother would wake me up slapping me."
From the time he was a little guy, wham!
Our mother was a bag of cats.
Certainly on the schizoid spectrum.
I felt like, uh, this was an out-of-control woman
who I look back on and I say, "I feel sorry for her."
She had her own issues. Bad ones.
But she was physically abusive to me.
Oftentimes, in abusive households,
there's one child who's the target of the abuse.
And unfortunately, he... He was that.
I would hear stories from Chevy about some of the terrible things that would happen to him
as a young man.
Things like being locked in the closet.
There was a cellar and he was sent down there
because of really messing up at school.
My marks stank
but they stank because whereas others would concentrate on their homework
I didn't have a chance at that.
I was always worried about one thing or another
that had to do with my own health.
Ned and I were eating breakfast
and Cederquist came down and started slapping me across the back of the head.
And I stood up and made it clear
I didn't think was a time for corporal punishment...
And John Cederquist sat down and I sat down.
I knew at that time that Ned was there for me.
Uh, that was a big moment for us.
So, at what point...
Or was there a point where you walked away from your mother and stepfather
and never saw them again?
(SIGHS)
(SCOFFS)
Sorry?
It shaped him.
He used comedy, he used humour
as a way to, um...
You know, mask what was going on inside.
And that's continued. It continues to this day.
I mean, he will joke around from morning to night
and you won't know what's going on.
That's his instinct, is...
"I wanna bring humour to this situation!"
'Cause that's how he always dealt with the problems in his life.
Chevy, do you have your lighter close-by?
I have my lighter very close-by!
Are you ready?
I'm ready 'cause I wanna put all these away!
Oh, wait, that's chewing gum!
Do you know about his past?
Do you know that he was abused as a child?
Um, I don't know that he was abused as a child
but I am sort of sad to say that I would have guessed that...
Because of, you know...
Um, what he's doing is a coping mechanism.
No problem...
Funny people generally have a lot of sad things in their background.
A lot of tragedy. That's where the comedy comes from.
What it really boils down to is being able to behave in a very natural way
in a very unnatural environment.
And I think, often, the...
That... That skill is honed...
Um, in a... In an unhappy home.
(LAUGHTER)
Uh-oh, I've got it...!
(GASPING AND LAUGHTER)
(TENDER MUSIC)
We've lost a huge evergreen over here.
Huge tree.
What do you think of this?
I went through, like, six or seven years of real depression.
I just couldn't quite figure out what it was...
When you're in it, uh, you're just not feelin' too good.
(ELETRIC PIANO PLAYING)
I found that, the better I got on the piano,
the more he would come downstairs
so I played my tuchis off!
He loved it and he was inspired by it
and inspired me and loved hearing it
and would love to show me stuff!
It brought him out of the bedroom!
(GIGGLING)
This is our house now!
Well, it's most of it!
Moving us out of LA
was my way of making sure that we were living more in reality.
That was the best thing, I think, for all of us.
To get out of that environment.
I needed to get him here.
This was... He grew up here!
I've always had Jayni.
It's pretty hard to be depressed too long with a happy woman.
(LAUGHS) Chevy!
Where's your chess set? Right back there, buddy.
You wanna play now? Or just this?
Just that first, we'll do the chess after.
Here...
That's the face right there!
(LAUGHS) How's this?
Look at that face! No!
All right, ready?
(BOTH LAUGHING)
All right, try again!
Why are you makin' that same face?!
What?
It looks like you're takin' a shit!
It looks like I'm takin' a shit? Yeah, look at it!
Sorry, everybody!
(LAUGHING)
My apologies!
OK, from now on let's be serious!
Seriously!
(LAUGHS)
He likes to tease.
Remember the 12-year-old boy that pulls the girl's hair? Right? That's him!
"All the best!"
(LAUGHS)
We were at a restaurant
and he seemed to be talking to his veal chop...
He had one finger, he says, "Come on!"
He would say, "Come on, come on, come on!"
And then with his other hand he picked it up, fwah,
"There, that's good!"
If I were you, I wouldn't do that!
(LAUGHING)
Chevy will do...
If you're sitting at a table he'll be sitting there
and then he'll start to do this...
He does this, where...
He bounces along and you see this figure bounce
and it's just...
Always buckles me over when he... When he does that!
Huge fan, Mr Chase, huge fan! Thank you! I appreciate that!
Thank you!
Would you like a signed picture?
Do you have one available? I might... I might have one!
We were at the AFI Tribute to Gregory Peck.
Way, way in the corner,
Mary Hart was interviewing someone live
and Chevy said,
"I wonder if I can hit her with this roll."
And he whipped it as far as he could
and it hit her right in the head in the middle of a thing and he had to sit down like a kid!
I was at an event
and this young caterer came up with a tray full of, like,
chocolate mousse, shots of chocolate mousse.
"Would you guys like some chocolate mousse?"
Chevy looked at it, he stuck his finger in one, took it out and went...
"No, thank you!"
So, I'm up 100 to, uh...
Twelve? Yes!
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
We're not rolling, are we rolling? Yes!
This whole time?
What was the question? So, Community...
What? (LAUGHING)
OK, I did Community, Jayni says I was great in it!
What is community college?
Well, you've heard all kinds of things...
You've heard it's loser college or old people...
I sort of thought I was in retirement
a little bit back with my wife and the kids
back at the farm in New York
but, you know...
When I saw the...
The pilot script, I said, "Oh, I gotta play that guy!"
My dad got this pilot.
He said yes to it
because he loved the writing!
Thought Dan Harmon was quite a genius!
I was here in LA, acting, pretty much just living on couches.
My mom said, "Don't really wanna move to LA.
Is there any way you would live with your father?
I'll give you a place to stay."
And I was like, "Oh, my God, yes! I'll do it!"
I became a little LA.
I got some sage...
Wanted to empty the house of...
Whatever the heck was there.
The next morning, I found a note in the bag
with the sage.
It just said, "Smoked it, didn't like it.
Love you, Dad."
And I'm thinking, "Did he?"
(THEME PLAYS)
I was a Chevy Chase fan from Saturday Night Live.
The beginning.
He's a classical sketch performer.
I was hired to do Community
and I had heard, you know, that he could be challenging...
Would you stop tuning that guitar?
You are 105 years old!
EXCUSE ME...
But it's springtime and I thought I might woo a few chicks!
On the first day I was working with Chevy,
he's throwing a big pause in the middle of this sentence
that cannot have a pause...
And I'm like, "Can we do it again without that pause?"
And he's puttin' the pause in and puttin' the pause it
and he keeps puttin' the pause in
and I'm like,
"If you pull that pause out I think it's gonna be funnier!"
And he goes, "Oh, I see...
Are YOU telling ME how to do comedy?"
And I said, "I am...
In this case, I am.
And it kills me, but yes, I am."
And he goes, "Fine, fuck it!"
And so, he did it without the pause
and he goes, "You're right, that was better!"
He and I would argue about how he was delivering a line
and it would get heated
and the next day he'd come in and be rubbing my belly
and telling me Richard Pryor stories!
I loved it!
Like, I mean, you know...
I complimented him on the movie Foul Play
and he goes, "It's a terrible film!"
I'm like, "No, Chevy, it's a great film!"
And he goes, "You don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about!"
"I do know what the fuck I'm talkin' about!"
"You wanna see a good movie? Rosemary's Baby!"
And I'm like, "OK, that's also a good movie!"
It seems... Bleugh!
It seems...
(SNORTS) Thought it was my line, I'm sorry!
There was a little bit of negativity around Chevy
and the rest of the cast
and so there was a desire to shoot him out every day...
And so, the very first shots of the day,
I would get him to say all his lines
and we would argue
and then, uh...
And I'm like, "All right, Chevy, we're done." And he would leave.
Once he left, everyone's like, "Hey!"
Troy, get up here and double-bounce me!
That's not how we do things here!
Get up here and double-bounce me or I'll tell everybody about this place!
Harmon then was like...
Listening to his cast and he goes,
"Don't worry, I broke Pierce's legs for you!"
(BOTH SCREAMING)
Father...
MY LEGS! ARGH!
Two casts and a wheelchair.
So, you just stick him in one place
and just shoot him out for the whole episode.
He's just fuckin' in that chair!
For the first time,
it was very clear to him that he was the old fart.
His castmates, they were so much younger
and they were just living a very different life.
Here's the thing, the first script back,
which Chevy loves, right?
What's that? Have you seen it? I have not seen it!
This is the respect I didn't get!
It's in his email!
Which is in New York! His email's in New York!
They were cracking up because they'd asked him, "Do you do email?
Do you have email?"
And he said, "Oh, yeah... But that's in New York!"
The cast, by the way, minus Chevy, is so nice!
(LAUGHTER)
He said you're nice! You're nice!
But that's fine...
Chevy was unprotected.
And any time I spoke to anyone no one really did anything.
That was when I realised that I was getting a six pack of organic red wine
and after about four days it was gone.
I pointed it out to Chevy probably five different times
and he would roll it back
and then he didn't like me pointing it out to him.
Because the...
The beast of addiction starts taking over.
He was not an alcoholic all those years
but alcoholism is a whole different level.
It really takes over.
And that was hard for him to stop.
Chevy was functional.
I didn't realise it right away.
Caley did.
She finally said, "Mom, I think he's drinking on set!"
Look at awesome Jeffrey Winger!
Too awesome for old Pierce
with your hip shirts and your...
Your gelled hair!
It was out in the open that Chevy Chase was a little difficult on Community.
And I'm being nice... (LAUGHS)
People were talking about it,
enough that Dan did that thing at the wrap party.
My dad was super-excited to bring me and my mom to the wrap party.
We walk in, Dan had had some drinks...
He starts railing on Chevy on the microphone.
He had gotten the whole cast and crew to yell,
"Fuck you, Chevy! Fuck you, Chevy!"
I'm there, he's showing his daughter 'this is the show I did'
and we walk into 'fuck you, Chevy'.
That's rough and mean...
I don't get talked to like that by anybody,
certainly not in front of my wife and daughter,
you (BLEEP), alcoholic fat (BLEEP)!
You're not funny. You're OK..."
He was pissed and left an angry, pissed but also kinda funny voicemail to Dan.
"You can suck my (BLEEP)..."
Dan was going through a time as well
and he ended up putting my dad's voicemail public.
So, they went back and forth, I don't know...
There was like this little mini-war with them.
Dan was fired from the show.
They made up and then my dad said, "I won't come back without Dan!"
It was crazy!
We have to teach Jeffrey how to fight.
I know a few moves.
Troy, I assume you're handy with a switchblade.
Abed, you get back to the family tent,
try to find a chicken for Jeff to chase.
As the seasons went on,
Chevy had a lot...
A lot of concerns with his role and how they were portraying him.
A little angry, a little mean.
They were writing his character more and more bigoted.
And he was getting upset about it.
I was there directing the night Chevy Chase got fired
from Community.
And that's why Pierce should host the reception!
He speaks their language!
Finally, somebody's making some sense!
I've got a Blackface Senor Wences bit I've been workshopping.
Perfect!
Harmon write this...
A Blackface hand puppet routine.
What you talkin' about, honky?
Character is a little tone-deaf on this thing!
I haven't introduced you to my Asian wife yet!
Uh-oh!
Now, had it been Chevy in his heyday,
he would have been totally fine, right?
He said something to Yvette...
I know that there was a history between those two around race
and she got up and stormed out of there...
Chevy storms off.
So, the producer is like, we need Yvette in this scene, right?
I'm like, "Yeah! She's in the next scene!"
"She won't come out unless Chevy apologises to her!"
I'm like, "Oh...!"
(LAUGHING)
He's like...
He comes back...
Comes back on the set
and he's like...
He goes, "Hey, man... I didn't say anything!"
And I'm like, "No, I know, I know!"
He goes, "Me and Richard Pryor...
I used to call Richard Pryor the N word!
He used to call me the honky!
And we loved each other!"
And I'm like, "I know, man! I love that bit!"
I said, "But you know... Can we just have a little apology?"
He goes, "For what?"
And I'm like... I was just...
"I don't know, like, we're just... Can we just make the goddamn show?
Can we make the goddamn show?"
Somebody has leaked that there was a racial incident to The Hollywood Reporter
at 2:00 in the fuckin' morning.
There were 50, 75 extras there,
so, you're like, "Oh, my God, this is so...
This shouldn't have happened!" Right?
And he comes storming onto the set and he goes,
"Who fucked me over?!"
And I'm like...
And he goes,
"One of you motherfuckers said to The Hollywood Reporter my career is ruined!
I'm ruined!"
Like that... It's a full meltdown!
"Fuck all of you!"
And I'm like...
"All right, let's shoot the scene!"
Look, either he leaves the group or I do!
(LAUGHS) You just dug your own grave!
He never ended up coming back after that.
Hey... What's up?
They kicked me out of the group!
Chevy Chase reportedly used the N word
after complaining about some of the lines the show Community had given him.
Some of the lines made him so upset
that he said that pretty soon they would have him call the black characters the N word
but he actually said the N word.
When you read that stuff,
'Chevy's been a jerk', are those unfounded cheap shots?
I don't give a crap.
I am who I am.
And I like who I am. I don't care.
And it's part of me that I don't care.
I would say 90% of my experience
with journalism around my dad is negative.
This is like the core of it... Yeah, of course.
You want the truth, the reality.
I want the truth but it's kind of like...
What adds to the complication, he doesn't remember certain things.
Oh, well, I mean, he's 80-something
and has basically come back from the dead, so...
Tell me about that, like...
Oh, my God! He had heart failure!
Have they talked about that at all?
Urgh... It's so hard to talk about!
Um...
Something was wrong
and he couldn't explain to me what was wrong,
so, go to the ER...
His heart stops.
During those years he was drinking,
he got cardiomyopathy, when the heart muscles get weaker
and they can't pump as much blood out with each beat.
They decided to put him into a coma
for maybe eight days.
That's pretty rough on the body.
It was so scary when he was in the hospital.
We were all there, it was during COVID.
The doctor had warned us we might not get him back,
we don't know how present he'll be.
You know, this...
"Prepare yourselves for the worst."
He woke up, all he could do was use his voice,
'ah, ah' and it was just his waking up...
It was like a new birth.
And the nurse came in, to, like, switch some stuff up
And she said, "I'm gonna have to put this in here."
And he said, "That's what she said!"
When he came out of it,
it took a while for him to re-orient himself.
So, I feel like his memory gaps
come from that incident.
So, how's that problem you're having with an erection?
(LAUGHING)
This is the worst...
Queen of diamonds. Check.
OK, tell you what, who's richer?
(BOTH LAUGHING)
And let me just say this...
Yeah?
They have ways now of keeping you hard!
(LAUGHS)
According to the doctors,
my memory would be shot from it
and that's what's happened here, so...
You had a lot of cognitive disability
and we started playing cards.
That's right.
We played a lot of cards and a lot more cards
and then you started gettin' your head back together
and then my boys would come play.
Then we went to chess. Then we went to chess.
That's when I started really winning. Won every once in a while.
Heart failure is what it is... I'm fine now.
It's just that it affects your memory
very, uh...
And the doctors have told me that, so...
You know, I have to be reminded of things.
Five, king, seven...
In the early days of SNL,
I would remember trying to tell, like,
my parents' friends or some...
You know, about this show that I write for.
They hadn't heard of it but I would then find myself saying,
"You know, the Chevy Chase show, the show Chevy Chase is on!"
THAT they knew!
Tonight we are live at 30 Rockefeller Plaza
in the very place where Saturday Night Live started 50 years ago!
Comedy icons, your favourite entertainers
are all here!
Did you think we would be here 50 years later?
Uh, you mean, like, dead or here?
He was there at the moment Saturday Night Live was born.
It was a really powerful collaboration
and we both went for that ride.
If it hadn't been for me this show would've gone on the dumper that year!
No...
That's all you're gonna show now, right, you devils!
He's very proud of his days at SNL.
Just speaks so highly of the people he was working with.
Loves Lorne dearly... He really does.
Would you ever come back? Of course!
Yeah, I'd love coming back!
They told Chevy up until that day that there were two bits,
they were going back and forth...
And then all of a sudden, "No, there's no bit."
There were a couple of versions of Update
and we went back and forth on that.
There was also a caution from somebody I don't wanna name
that Chevy, you know, wasn't as focused.
The night of the 8H show that everybody watched on Sunday night,
he wasn't in that show.
I don't know what the dynamics were,
I don't know why that was decided.
I honestly don't know.
There's 50 years of casts...
Billy Crystal, no bigger star than Billy...
He didn't say a word that night.
You know, just too many people to fill.
Live from New York it's Saturday Night!
He should have opened the show with 'it's Saturday night'!
That's it...
They didn't even need to use him more
but...
come on, guys! That was it!
(CHEERING)
And live from New York it's Saturday Night!
(CHEERING)
You gotta think about the people who grew up watching that show
and watching him.
It was a bit of a slap in the face.
Well, it was kind of...
Upsetting, actually.
Uh, and this'll probably be the first time I'm saying it
but I expected that I would've been on the stage too
with all the other actors.
When Garrett and Laraine went on the stage there...
I was curious as to why I didn't.
No one asked me to.
Why was I left aside?
Cornelius Crane Chase...
Who we've all come to know as Connie!
(LAUGHTER)
Let's face it, Weekend Update simply would not exist without him!
So, it would be wrong
to have him listed anywhere but number four!
(LAUGHTER)
Why was Bill Murray there? Why was I not?
Jane Curtin and...
I don't have an answer for that. ..and Danny Aykroyd.
I did bring it up once... (COUGHS)
..in a text to Lorne and then took it back.
I said, "OK, I take it back, it's silly."
But it's not that silly...
Uh, it was...
Somebody's made a bad mistake there.
I don't know who it was but somebody made a mistake.
They should've had me on that stage.
It hurt.
If you wanna know what it takes to make a show like this last for 50 years,
it's these people right around me...
The first cast!
Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin,
Garrett Morris and Chevy Chase!
Afterwards, when I saw him,
everybody was happy to see each other
and there's Chevy lookin' like he was lookin' for his place...
And I say, you know, "Chevy...
None of this would be happening without you.
You don't do Weekend Update to start this at the beginning,
all of us are somewhere else tonight."
(SOFT MUSIC)
(CHATTER FLOWING)
There is a nip in the air, though.
Can I take something out for you?
(LAUGHTER)
All right, Pat... Hey, buddy.
I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I'm here too.
Should this be buttoned up here? Stand up.
Huh? Let me see.
Where's Jayni? I don't know... Let go of it.
You said this is good, I don't really...
Well, try buttonin' it.
OK, I am! What do you mean, try?
I'm buttoning it!
So, every December is our Super Bowl
and this is what we prepare for all year.
So, it's OK, then, do you think, if I go out like this?
We've been going out on the road November, late November
and all of December
doing these big theatre screenings of Christmas Vacation
where Chevy and I go out and do the answer Q&A afterwards.
And that all started happening because there are so many people
that live and breathe Christmas Vacation!
You have food on your pants, honey. A lot of food.
They're gonna see that... There's breakfast!
Please! Lunch, dinner...
What are you...
No one's notice the mustard and eggs on my pants!
What's that? I'm drying it!
I think I'm gonna enjoy this! (LAUGHS)
You know Bill? Mister Chase, nice to meet you.
Hi, Bill. Thanks for being here.
Thank you very much. He owns the theatre.
What? He owns the theatre!
That's great!
I gotta ask you one question... OK?
When you made Caddyshack... Can't answer that! (LAUGHTER)
(MUSIC FADES)
(SIGHS) I did it...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Please help me welcome Mr Chevy Chase!
What?!
Thank you!
Oh, my gosh... Thank you!
You know, when you're makin' movies you don't get to see this.
You just get to see the camera, the director
and some nice ass...
No, I'm kidding!
And, uh...
You're my real fans and I really appreciate this!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Thank you!
Thank you so much!
It's fun...
It's fun because when you make movies or even television
you don't get the kind of honest reaction from your fans
as you do there in the theatre.
I'm always moved, I get goose bumps!
Jayni, this question is for you.
How is Chevy similar to Clark?
Oh...
Well, we both look the same!
(LAUGHTER)
A lot of the persona was at being effortless.
It wasn't.
You represent a generation
and another generation grows up, they look at your stuff,
they worship you
and then you show up in their work.
You can't not remember someone like him fondly.
Listen, 5:39...
Any encounter with him, you don't know what's gonna come out next.
It's exciting and dangerous and really, really fun.
Kate L wanted to know, did you break your finger while shooting the movie?
If what?
Did you break your finger while shooting the movie?
I thought you said sphincter!
His legacy really is how he made people laugh,
how you tickle that part of your heart
and I don't think people forget that.
If acting didn't work out,
what would you have wanted to do for a career?
Well, I've always enjoyed surgery!
Surgery!
(LAUGHTER)
Would you work with him again?
(SIGHS) Yeah... Yeah, I would!
(LAUGHING)
I'd work with Chevy! I mean, are you kidding me?
It's Chevy Chase! Yeah, I'd work with him again!
And I want to look him straight in the eye
and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life,
snake-licking...
..dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing,
brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless,
fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed
sack of monkey shit he is!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
I feel fulfilled...
By my standard, I'm still a movie star!
(WARM MUSIC)
(CONTINUES)
Oh, my goodness...
Again, my apologies, I...
For what?
Just for being who I am!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Chevy Chase!
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(FADES)
# PAUL SIMON: You Can Call Me Al
# A man walks down the street
# He says why am I soft in the middle now?
# Why am I soft in the middle, the rest of my life is so hard
# I need a photo opportunity
# I want a shot at redemption
# Don't wanna end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard
# Bone digger, bone digger
# Dogs in the moonlight
# Far away in my well-lit door
# Mr Beer Belly, Mr Beer Belly
# Get these mutts away from me, you know
# I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
# Uh, if you would be my bodyguard I can be your long-lost pal
# I can call you Betty
# And Betty, when you call me you can call me Al... #
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