What Chevy Chase Regrets About His Time On Saturday Night Live

Early in the second season of Saturday Night Live, Chevy Chase decided to leave the show. He moved to Hollywood and almost immediately became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He made a lot of money and became incredibly famous, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have regrets. In fact, he was hit with a wave of them when he walked back into Studio 8H for a photography session with other legends to celebrate the show’s 40th Anniversary.

It brought back a lot of pleasant memories, but one thing that struck Chase was how few pictures he was in on the wall. Because he left so soon, he missed out on so many memories and so many moments the other castmembers like Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi got to have.

It was just great being back up there in 8H, wishing my picture were up on the wall more. I couldn’t find it… There were pictures of people I’d never seen before!”

On the face of it, the above quote is at least partially a joke, but beneath the smile, there actually does seem to be some regrets. Chevy Chase made a ton of great movies. Vacation, The Three Amigos and Caddyshack are among the most beloved comedies ever, but whenever, God forbid, he passes away, the obituaries will still likely cite him as Saturday Night Live cast member first. That’s how important the show is to the cultural landscape, and that’s how much people loved Chevy Chase, especially during his “Weekend Update” segments, which continue to this day.

You can watch Chase wax nostalgic about his time on the show in the touching interview on Today below…

You never know how long the special moments in life are going to last, and you never know whether the next thing will be better or worse. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take chances and alter courses, but it does mean you should enjoy the good moments for every second you’re living in them. After all, you may look back and talk about the same year of your life for forty years.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.