Lorne Michaels and Chevy Chase in 2008.Photo:JIMI CELESTE/getty
JIMI CELESTE/getty
Chevy Chaseis revealing whatLorne Michaelscould have done to make him stay onSaturday Night Live.
As longtime viewers of the sketch comedy show may remember — long before itslandmark 50th season— Chase, 81, was a breakthrough cast member ofSNL’s first season. In 1975, Chase was the first host of Weekend Update, which helped him earntwo Primetime Emmy awardsin 1976.
Soon after, he shocked fans when he left early inSNL’s second season.
Chevy Chase during his ‘Saturday Night Live’ stint.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
Michaels, 80, said while profiled forThe New Yorkerahead of his biography —Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live—coming out on Feb. 18 that he never intended to make Chase stay on the show.
The show creator told the magazine that he saw the turnover as a natural occurrence and recalled telling his colleagues, “The show would take a hit, but we’d still be okay.”
While Chase returned to hostSNLeight times between 1978 and 1997, he believes there was a way he could have stayed on permanently.
It “wouldn’t have f—— taken much! All he had to do is tell me he loved me, basically. But his nature is to be above it in some fashion,” Chase toldThe New Yorker.
Chevy Chase in 2023.Thomas Cooper/Getty
Thomas Cooper/Getty
Although Chase told the outlet that he was a fan of Lorne early on, expressing that he “knew instantly that Lorne was a funny guy,” he attributed Michaels’ reluctance to show gratitude to him as a form of insecurity.
“Frankly, I always felt back then that I was smarter than him, that I was really the guy who got the show going, not Lorne,” Chase explained.
Lorne Michaels in 2024.Julien M. Hekimian/Getty
Julien M. Hekimian/Getty
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Chase would go on to find success through films likeCaddyshack(1980),National Lampoon’s Vacation(1983),National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation(1989) and NBC sitcomCommunity.
source: people.com
