Chevy Chase addresses his exclusion from ‘SNL 50: Anniversary Special’. In CNN Films’ upcoming documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” (via), the original “Saturday Night Live” cast member admitted he was “hurt” by not being included in the milestone anniversary celebration.
“Well, I was actually a little upset,” Chase said. “This is probably the first time I’ve said this, but I thought I would be on stage along with the other actors. When Garrett (Morris) and Laraine (Newman) got on stage there, I wondered why I didn’t go. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?”
Chase, the original anchor and co-creator of “Weekend Update,” also expressed confusion about the satirical news show’s “SNL 50’s” segment, saying, “Why was Bill Murray there and why wasn’t I? I don’t have an answer to that.”
“I brought it up once in a text message to Lorne, but then I backed off,” Chase said, referring to “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels. “I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to take it back, stupid.’ But it’s not that stupid. Somebody made a terrible mistake there. I don’t know who, but somebody made a mistake. They should have put me on that stage. It hurt.”
Chase attended the 50th anniversary special in February of this year. According to a CNN documentary, the commemorative show was originally planned to feature more of Chase, with the actor’s wife Janie Chase explaining, “People were talking about the Chevy having two bits going back and forth until that day.”
“And all of a sudden I said, ‘No, not at all,'” she added.
“There were several versions[of the Weekend Update]and we went back and forth on it,” Michaels said in a written statement. “There was also a warning from someone, who I don’t want to name, that Chevrolet wasn’t that focused.”
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Different” will premiere on CNN on January 1 at 8pm ET/PT.
