Authentic SNL Star Admits Leaving The Comedy Present Was A Mistake

Chevy Chase was one of many first stars of Saturday Night time Stay, and he was one of many first solid members to depart the present in pursuit of a film profession.

Wanting again on his resolution 50 years later, Chase admits he ought to have thought twice earlier than abandoning TV for the massive display screen when he did. “It was a mistake to depart SNL,” Chase says within the trailer for I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, a brand new CNN documentary concerning the comic’s life (through EW).

Given the Nationwide Lampoon’s Trip and Fletch star’s sardonic tendencies, it’s laborious to inform from the clip how critical he’s being.

Historical past information that Chase exited SNL in the course of season 2 amid rising tensions between himself and his fellow solid members, John Belushi particularly. The tense environment was allegedly fueled by Chase’s breakout stardom, which fostered resentment among the many different Not Prepared for Prime Time Gamers.

Substance abuse might have additional contributed to deteriorating relations between numerous members of the unique SNL solid.

Chase later made it appear that these tensions weren’t the true cause he prematurely left the present, telling David Letterman again in 2007 that he stop SNL to maneuver to Los Angeles and be along with his fiancée on the time, Jacqueline Carlin.

Chase now saying it was a mistake to depart SNL requires additional context to totally perceive, and CNN’s documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not presumably will fill out the story with extra remarks from Chase when it premieres on January 1, 2026.

Along with Chase himself, the documentary boasts appearances by many different well-known stars, together with Chase’s fellow actors Goldie Hawn, Dan Aykroyd, and Martin Brief, and SNL creator Lorne Michaels.

Chase’s post-SNL profession received off to a sizzling begin with a Golden Globe nomination for his efficiency alongside Hawn in 1978’s Foul Play. He started a run of basic comedies with 1980’s Caddyshack, by which he starred alongside Invoice Murray, the person who changed him on SNL.

Chase went on to change into probably the most bankable stars of the ’80s because of motion pictures just like the aforementioned Nationwide Lampoon’s Trip and Fletch, together with Spies Like Us, which co-starred him with fellow authentic SNL participant Aykroyd, and Three Amigos, which teamed him with Steve Martin and the previously-mentioned Brief.

The Clark Griswold actor returned to host SNL a number of occasions over time, however was banned from the present after allegedly being abusive towards different solid members throughout his 1997 internet hosting look. Although he has not hosted once more since that ban was imposed, Chase has made small Saturday Night time Stay appearances over time, and was current for the present’s fortieth and fiftieth anniversary specials.