Chevy Chase opened up about how it felt to be left out of Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary celebration, and according to him, the omission stung.
Chase, 82, shares the story in the upcoming CNN documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, where he said he was “hurt” enough by his exclusion that he raised the issue directly with SNL creatorLorne Michaels.
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Chase, one of the show’s original cast members and the creator of “Weekend Update,” did not appear in any sketches during the SNL50 live special. His absence surprised many fans, especially as other early cast members like Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman took part in the night’s tributes.
“It was kind of upsetting, actually,” Chase said in the film, per LateNighter. “And this will probably be the first time I’m saying it.”
He explained that he expected to be part of the onstage reunion in some way.
“I expected that I would have been on that stage too, with all the other actors,” he said. “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?”
Chase’s wife, Jayni Chase, also appeared in the documentary and said he had been under the impression that a spot was being saved for him.
“They told Chevy up until that day that there were two bits and they were going back and forth,” she recalled. “And then all of a sudden, there’s no bit.”
Although SNL50 did reference Chase during “Weekend Update,” including a moment where Bill Murray ranked the segment’s all-time anchors, Chase admitted the cameo left him confused.
“Why was Bill Murray there? Why was I not? I don’t have an answer for that,” he said.
Michaels, 81, interviewed separately for the documentary, confirmed that producers explored several ideas that would have included Chase.
“There were a couple versions of Update, and we went back and forth on that,” Michaels explained. But he also added that someone behind the scenes raised concerns, noting “a caution from somebody that I don’t want to name,” alleging Chase “wasn’t as focused.”
Chase said he eventually texted Michaels about the decision before pulling the message back.
“I did bring it up once in a text to Lorne, and then took it back,” he said. “I said, ‘OK, I take it back. It’s silly.’ But it’s not that silly. Somebody made a bad mistake there… They should have had me on that stage. It hurt.”
Former SNL writer Alan Zweibel appeared in the film as well and said the omission didn’t sit right with him.
“You’ve got to think about the people who grew up watching that show and watching him,” he said. “It was a bit of a slap in the face.”
Martin Short, however, noted that the show simply couldn’t fit everyone into a single night.
“There’s 50 years of casts,” he said. “Billy Crystal — no bigger star than Billy — he didn’t say a word that night.”
Even so, Chase’s daughter Caley Chase said including her father would have taken virtually no time.
“He should have opened the show with ‘It’s Saturday Night!’” she said, referencing his signature delivery of the iconic line during Season 1. “They didn’t even need to use him more. But come on, guys! That was it.”
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Despite the lingering disappointment, Chase’s family said he still speaks warmly about his SNL years.
“He’s very proud of his days at SNL,” daughter Cydney Chase said. “[He] just speaks so highly of the people that he was working with. Loves Lorne dearly, he really does.”
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres January 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CNN.
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