-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 --