Original subtitles

The following programme contains strong language and adult humour.

Please be aware that this programme features some discriminatory content.

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!

Here, Pat, take this for a sec.

Hold onto it forever.

I think we're ready!

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...

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!

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'?

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.

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."

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

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!

♪ 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... ♪

No... Look at this baby!

Look at that!

Say hi!

This is gonna be your audience later!

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.

The fuck, man?

What the fuckin' shit, man?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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...

I was just off.

I don't think I really understood what I wanted.

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!

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!

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.

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...

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!

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!

He gave me a Cartier clock

and on the back of it it was engraved...

"Keep getting me the six million!"

Chevy Chase!

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!

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...

The Three Amigos!

♪ 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!

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!

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!

Take it!

Hi, honey!

Hi, don't forget to mention how much we make love everyday!

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...

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!

Thank you.

Come on. Oh, thanks.

Fan of yours!

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!

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!

I love her!

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.

Every so often

we'd have some cocaine flown in from the...

From the mainland!

"Mail's here!"

Anyway...

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!

Oh, boy!

Nobody knows...

Modern Problems,

there's such a thin line between what's going on in the movie and in his life!

YESSS!

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...

..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!"

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!

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...!

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...

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...

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...

..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!

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!"

And now...

He's still not ready for prime time!

Chevy Chase!

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!

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!

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?

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.

Uh-oh, I've got it...!

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.

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!

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.

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!

How's this?

Look at that face! No!

All right, ready?

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!

My apologies!

OK, from now on let's be serious!

Seriously!

He likes to tease.

Remember the 12-year-old boy that pulls the girl's hair? Right? That's him!

"All the best!"

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!

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!

We're not rolling, are we rolling? Yes!

This whole time?

What was the question? So, Community...

What?

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?"

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...

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!"

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!

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...

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, alcoholic fat!

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..."

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...!"

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!

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?

This is the worst...

Queen of diamonds. Check.

OK, tell you what, who's richer?

And let me just say this...

Yeah?

They have ways now of keeping you hard!

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!

And live from New York it's Saturday Night!

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!

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!

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...

..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."

There is a nip in the air, though.

Can I take something out for you?

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!

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!

I did it...

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!

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!

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!

Would you work with him again?

Yeah... Yeah, I would!

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!

I feel fulfilled...

By my standard, I'm still a movie star!

Oh, my goodness...

Again, my apologies, I...

For what?

Just for being who I am!

Chevy Chase!

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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