While there has been habitual talk about a “Community” movie, there is one original cast member you can likely rule out returning for it, and that would be “SNL” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation” star Chevy Chase. A new documentary from CNN Films about Chase called “I’m Chevy Chase & You’re Not” aims to shed light on the infamous comedian’s time on the Dan Harmon (moved on to massively successful AdultSwim cartoon series “Rick & Morty“) sitcom about a community college and his “asshole” persona among the industry.
Director Jay Chandrasekhar (member of the comedy troop Broken Lizard and of “Super Troopers” fame) was one of the few people from “Community” willing to be involved with the doc. He detailed (via People Magazine) one time when there had been a conflict between Chase and Yvette Nicole Brown, where Chase had used the n-word around her and others. His rationale? Believing that because he had casually used the slur with legendary comedian Richard Pryor (most notably in a job interview sketch at “SNL,” where the two exchanged slurs with each other), it gave him a free pass to do it with other black entertainers he came across or worked with.
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“I know that there was a history between [Chevy and Yvette] around race, and she got up and stormed out of there. Chevy storms off, so the producer is like, ‘We need Yvette in the scene, right?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, she’s in the next scene.’ And he goes, ‘Well, she won’t come out unless Chevy apologizes to her.’ [Chevy] goes, ‘You know, me and Richard Pryor, I used to call Richard Pryor the n-word, and he used to call me The Honky, and we loved each other.’ And I’m like, ‘I know, man, I love that bit.’ I said, ‘You know, can we just have a little apology?’ He goes, ‘For what?'” Chandrasekhar added when it had leaked that there had been a “racial incident,” Chevy came “storming onto the set, and he goes, ‘Who f***ed me over? My career is ruined! I’m ruined!’ Like, it’s a full meltdown. ‘F*** all of you!’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that.”
Even the new doc’s director, Marina Zenovich (“Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind”), admitted to Variety in an interview that nobody from “Community” wanted to participate in the project and even had her own reservations about working with Chevy after meeting him in person. Luckily, she was able to convince Chandrasekhar to speak with her to get some perspective on Chase’s time there.
“Every single person said no. I ran into (“Community” creator) Dan Harmon at a screening of “Deaf President Now!” and I got his number. I was so excited. I thought it was going to happen, but then he declined. I was so lucky to get Jay Chandrasekhar (“Community” director). He has such an amazing delivery, and he was willing to go there. If Jay had said no, I would have been screwed,” Zenovich said of the task of trying to get people to talk to her from the show.
It wasn’t just a one-time meltdown on set with Brown, as Donald Glover commented publicly on Chevy’s casual use of the n-word with him during a WGA Awards speech. Just as outrageous, there was an actual violent physical altercation on the “Community” set between Chase and co-star Joel McHale, which he recalled on appearances on the “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum” podcast (See video below). McHale shares a similar tone to his working relationship with Chevy, echoed by other cast and crew.
Chase, you might not know, was a professional musician (drummer) before joining the cast of “SNL,” and his former bandmates of The Leather Canary would go on to form the group Steely Dan.
“I’m Chevy Chase & You’re Not” is set to premiere this week on January 1st on CNN, with folks such as Mike Ovitz, Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D’Angelo, Goldie Hawn, Lorne Michaels, Ryan Reynolds, and Martin Short appearing in the doc (Christopher Guest and Steve Martin being among those who passed on being involved).
Donald Glover at the WGA Awards, dissing Chevy Chase not once but twice 🥳 pic.twitter.com/fD3braamh5
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