-So, one thing that's obviously
important is "Weekend Update."
You invented that.
-Mm-hmm.
-So, it might seem nat--
-Ooh, yeah, I'm sorry.
Yeah, go ahead.
-It might --
-I got it.
-Hello.
-Chevy Chase --
-Hello?
-Is one of the funniest,
most innovative
comedians I've ever seen.
-Ladies and gentlemen,
Chevy Chase.
-But the last time I saw him
wasn't a good night for him --
"SNL's" 40th anniversary,
in 2015.
The man who had always struck me
as so nimble,
so natural,
seemed completely out of sorts.
I wrote Chase after that,
and he invited me over.
We've met more than six times
in person over the last year.
All right, let's go, man.
He's a complicated person --
funny and sensitive
at one moment, unforgiving
and harsh at another.
And everything seems wrapped
into his relationship
with "SNL."
He still regrets leaving after
just one season in 1976.
-That's it.
Yeah?
-It might --
-Is the mic okay?
-The mic's good.
-Okay, good.
-DO you want Chevy wearing a bib
while he tells us
how he created "Weekend Update"?
-Well, I'll tell you what.
How's this?
I like this, the whole thing
of it spilling.
-You like the --
You did that on purpose.
-Should we just leave it?
-We could just leave it.
-Yeah, we could just leave it.
I mean, I think it was --
-I was shocked about how much --
by how much I wanted to be back,
and I never asked
if I could come back.
And by then,
I'd become a big deal,
and so I was at the level of
hosts of "Saturday Night Live."
But I missed it terribly.
And I didn't think much
about a movie career.
It just sort of happened
as I made "Foul Play"
with Goldie,
and that was it.
-Uh-oh, here we go.
My fault.
Very much my fault.
-Chase didn't just happen.
He became "SNL's"
first breakout star.
He was tall and good-looking,
a master improviser,
and a physical comedian
all in one.
-Whew.
Thank you, Doc.
You ever serve time.
-He balanced on
that sarcastic rope
between arrogant and adorable.
But as the '80s
turned to the '90s,
his movies started to fail.
Then, his gig as a late-night
talk-show host bombed.
Which brings us to NBC's sitcom
"Community,"
which began as a promising
comeback but ended in chaos.
-No, those are both for me.
-Chase battled with show creator
Dan Harmon.
He got into conflicts
with other cast members.
Things he said
that he thought were jokes --
things he said to Donald Glover,
for example --
would be perceived
as nasty slights,
even racially insensitive.
By the end, his reputation
had taken another hit,
and he was drinking.
That was a hit show.
That show had good reviews.
-I didn't know that.
I didn't care that
it was a hit show or not.
My efforts to become part
of that cast
were eschewed consistently,
partly because I didn't know
what [bleep] they had and partly
because I wasn't happy.
-Dan Harmon's coming.
-Dan Harmon is here, as well.
-Chevy's relationship
with Harmon bottomed out
during the third season
of "Community."
At the season wrap party,
Harmon grabbed the microphone
and started to mock Chevy
in front of everyone.
-"Everybody, on the count of 3,
just say --
go ahead and say,
'[bleep] you, Chevy.
'" And everybody
very much participated.
-Embarrassed and angry,
Chase returned home
and left a voicemail
that spelled out
exactly how he felt about Dan.
Okay, Chevy Chase voicemail
for Dan Harmon.
-Oh, God!
-Ready?
Here we go.
-Yeah.
This is gonna be embarrassing,
isn't it?
-I don't know.
I mean --
Harmon responded
by playing the recording
at a live theater gig he does.
This got recorded
and posted online.
Suddenly, the Chevy Chase haters
had another episode to quote.
-If you were here right now,
I'd [bleep] kick
your [bleep] teeth out.
You're not funny.
You're okay.
-So, Harmon plays that,
and suddenly, when Gawker --
remember?
-- Gawker writes, you know,
"Chevy Chase
is an [bleep]-hole,"
that now becomes part
of the record,
that you somehow misbehaved.
-You mean, they called me
an [bleep]-hole at Gawker?
I don't know.
I don't want to see it.
It'll just hurt.
I don't want to see it.
-I find it hard to believe
that you don't understand
that there's this perception
of you as being that way.
-It's jealousy.
I've said that to you before,
but you can't really say that.
"Did you just say
that if a writer is writing
anything negative,
it's jealousy?"
Yeah, I did.
What kind of jealousy?
I'm funnier than them?
Yeah, I guess, maybe.
I'm considered good-looking?
Yeah, there you have it.
-Hmm.
-"I'm Chevy.
Go [bleep] yourself."
-Sometimes I get the feeling
that your attitude
about what you're doing
and what you're not doing is,
"I don't really give a shit."
But sometimes I get a feeling
that you really want
to be working all the time
and to remind people,
"This is what I do."
-Absolutely.
I think what you just said,
you want to be working
all the time
so that people know what you do
well can apply to any performer.
-Why are we sitting here
in this lovely house,
but relatively isolated?
You're looking at a script
by a guy named S.
Michael Meyer that has written
three lines for you.
-I don't know.
What am I supposed to say?
I have -- I don't know,
because I don't know
how it works beyond
how it's worked for me,
how it's been for me.
So I don't know why are these --
why are so many other people
being given --
And often, I'll say,
"I could have done that."
I mean, try me.
You know?
I don't know what to tell you.
I'm gonna get some coffee
or something.
-Let's take a break, okay?
-Yeah, what the --
-We're going through
all your photos.
-Oh, my God.
-I was just looking
at all of your --
Sometimes Chase gets defensive
and angry, he's hurt.
See, no one wants to talk about
how he's still funny.
-When I had hair,
I was a good-looking guy.
-They're focused and obsessed
with his reputation
as a villain,
a toxic show-killer
who's impossible to work with.
It's taken its toll.
-Mourners are shown lining up
to see the premiere
of the movie "Earthquake."
-I've already done my life.
I can't change anything.
And I'm old.
I don't have to worry about
what I do anymore.
I know who I am.
People know who I am
who know me.
And I'm proud to be who I am.
Listen, I love
that you're doing this.
I love that I'm trying so hard
to look good.
And I love that I actually think
I am okay.
I'm okay.
-Yeah.
-That you can write
whatever you want.
Look, you've shown me
what other people
have written over the years.
It ain't too good, but, look,
I still did a lot of movies
and still can star
in a show if I want.
I still, you know --
I've gotten to a place
where it doesn't really matter
what people write or say,
'cause it's only an instant
of an instant of my life.
-Hmm.
Okay, fair enough.
You want to go outside?
-Yeah, I want to --
