Months before Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50th anniversary since it debuted in 1975, creator Lorne Michaels looked back on the journey and how he got to where he is.
But in a new profile of Michaels, Saturday Night Live star Chevy Chase appeared to have a different opinion about the 80-year-old and just how much of the sketch show’s success is because of him.
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To take a deep look at Michaels’ career, The New Yorker shared a profile about the TV creator and his star project, Saturday Night Live. At one point, the publication spoke with Chase as well, asking him about his time as an original cast member of SNL.
In the middle of the second season, Chase left SNL behind for Hollywood movie roles, with one of his most well-known roles, in Caddyshack, following only a few years later in 1980. But Chase seemed to blame Michaels for his SNL departure.
He told the publication that getting him to stay on the show, “wouldn’t have f–king 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 then declared that he thought he had the bigger impact on SNL‘s success that the show’s creator: “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.”
As for what Michaels thought, he declared, “People don’t like to collaborate past the point of fame,” remarking on how he knew Chase was likely to leave the show soon after his success in Season 1.
“The show would take a hit, but we’d still be O.K.,” said Michaels. Chase also appeared to clash with some guest hosts and cast members, including comedian Richard Pryor.
Chase and Michaels were reportedly very close when the sketch show started, but as the SNL creator said, “People burn out in relationships.”
The 81-year-old comedy star went on to star in hits like Vacation and Three Amigos, among others, while SNL is still going strong almost half a century later.
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