Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: , ,

Saturday Night Live: Chase "Hurt" by Not Being in Any SNL50 Sketches

Saturday Night Live alum Chevy Chase (I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not) on being snubbed for sketches during SNL50 and why he felt "hurt."

Published
by
|
Last updated
|
Comments

No one can ever take away what Chevy Chase has done, helping to build the legacy of NBC's Saturday Night Live as part of its inaugural cast in 1975 and leaving the cast the following season. While his tenure was too brief, he never forgot where he came from, with cameos in seasons 3, 22, 27, 33, and 38, but admitted to Entertainment Weekly that it was a "mistake to leave SNL." He's also participated in reunions and documentaries, including SNL 50, but one head-scratching moment is his absence from any of the sketches. Shedding some light on his omission and promoting his CNN documentary, I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not, the title inspired by his sign-off line on the variety show's Weekend Update.

A close-up photograph of Chevy Chase, who is wearing round glasses and a white baseball cap with a logo, smiling slightly. This image was taken at the premiere of 'The Last Movie Star' at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES – FEB 22: Chevy Chase at the "The Last Movie Star" Premiere at the Egyptian Theater on February 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. Photo by Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.

Saturday Night Live: Chevy Chase on His Absence from SNL50 Sketches

When asked about why Chase felt he wasn't featured in any sketches in the SNL50 special, "Well, it was kind of upsetting actually," he told People. "This is probably 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 [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn't. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?" Morris and Newman were part of the initial cast alongside Chase.

As far as the Weekend Update segment, "Why was Bill Murray there and why was I not? I don't have an answer for that," he said. Murray was one of the co-anchors for Chase's successor, Jane Curtin, who was also part of the initial cast. "I did bring it up once in a text to Lorne and then took it back," Chase said. "I said, 'Okay, I take it back, silly.' But it's not that silly. 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."

SNL Original Cast Jane Curtin Didn't Pay
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Ratner, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase in SNL. Image courtesy of NBC

SNL creator Lorne Michaels said, "There were a couple versions of ['Weekend Update'] and we went back and forth on that. There was also a caution from somebody that I don't want to name that Chevy, you know, wasn't as focused." For more, including comments from Chevy and his wife, Jayni Chase, about the buildup, you can check out the whole interview. I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not premieres on January 1st on CNN.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Tom ChangAbout Tom Chang

I’ve been following pop culture for over 30 years with eclectic interests in gaming, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and TV reading Starlog, Mad & Fangoria. As a writer for over 15 years, Star Wars was my first franchise love.
twitterfacebookinstagramwebsite
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.