The Chevy Chase Show

Probably the worst,most uncomfortable show I've ever watched but yet I kept coming back because I couldn't believe I was actually watching such an unbelievable disaster. Love the old Chevy but talk show host was not for him. Chevy had absolutely no idea what to do or say at any point. I remember being completely boxed back in my early 20's and coming home and watching this with my jaw down to the floor in absolute amazement. Definitely check out the episode where Goldie Hawn sings Happy Birthday to Chevy. I could feel myself sweating because I was so uncomfortable for him. So bad, so very very bad.

When I was in 8th Grade, Chevy Chase was a hero of mine in 1976. Despite all the hype and support of the fledging FOX Network, "The Chevy Chase Show" revealed Chevy Chase as a petty man who had become what he once mocked.

The Goldie Hawn interview is a legend of bad taste. I remember Dan Aykroyd being a guest on the show. At least Aykroyd provided some dignity to his old co star. Aykroyd sang "Rubber Biscuit." Chase kept saying, "Boy we used to have a good time." And at point, Chevy Chase went from cool to Merv Griffin!

Given his public meltdowns as of late, we have come to see that Chevy Chase's source of comedy was not cleverness, but self loathing. Like his old SNL writer, mean spirited humor does not appeal to individuals beyond the 8th Grade.

After reading so many bad reviews of this short-lived talk show, and hearing many bad reports of the show by ordinary viewers, I finally decided to watch the first episode (via YouTube) to see for myself if the show was really that awful. Yes, it was just as bad as it has been made out to be. While Chevy Chase is funny in movies and sketches on television, the position of being a talk show host does not fit him in the least bit. From the start, he is clearly nervous and befuddled about his position, and watching him desperately struggle gives you the feeling of seeing a drowning man in front of you and being unable to help him. The written humor sections of the show by Chase and other writers is just as bad, though the poor delivery certainly didn't help things. It's amazing that the FOX television network didn't first shoot a pilot to see if Chase could handle this new position being offered to him - it would have saved a lot of money (and embarrassment) in the long run.

I wish episodes were re-run or available on tape because nobody who hasn't seen it can understand how truly awful it was.

Why it ever came into being is a mystery because the host hadn't been funny in years and, even in his heyday, his talents were extremely limited.

He rode into public prominence on the whirlwind that was the original SNL, and in many ways, symbolized the show, although his talents paled next to those of his castmates. But his smug irreverence touched a nerve in those post-Watergate, the-systems-sucks-so-let's-have-a-few-laughs days. He was the first to leave SNL and certainly proved the axiom about striking when the iron is hot by churning out a few humorous, money-making films before reaching his level of incompetence and cannonballing into a series of unfunny comedies and endless "Vacation" remakes.

A good movie could be made about the original SNL cast and what became of them; Gilda and Belushi aside, I think the saddest case is Aykroyd, who may have been the funniest of the original crew and has now deteriorated into appearing in the type of vehicles he used to lampoon with laser-like precision.

BTW, Bill Murray, for you youngsters, was NOT an original SNL cast member.

I remember this show very well and wished very much for it to succeed. Chevy is likable and talented... but NOT as an interviewer. He was terrible. He simply was totally uncomfortable being in the position of having the full responsibility of being the host and improvising in the moment, and he appeared to have no idea how to have fun with guests and ask the simplest of questions: his mind would go blank and he just sat there at a loss, apparently terrified. It was a shame. He had Tom Scott's great band, and when the show folded -- after 5 weeks? -- there goes the band, there goes the opportunity, and there goes the audience. The show was genuinely that bad. Ya have to be able to take your mind off yourself if you're going to be able to interview people effectively, and unfortunately he had no clue how to do this. Perhaps the timing was bad and he just wasn't reading to go on the air as himself rather than as a character. Still, he was likable and I was sorry that he couldn't make a go of it. Even Goldie Hawn as a guest was unable to bring out the best in Chevy Chase as an interviewer. Those 5 weeks must have been pure agony. Toward the end of the show's run, I know it was for the audience, and it was truly merciful that the show was finally pulled.