Invoice Murray And Chevy Chase Bought Into A Bodily Combat Throughout SNL

The late-night sketch comedy collection “Saturday Night time Reside” is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2025. With 5 a long time of tv historical past behind “SNL,” it ought to come as no shock that there was loads of drama behind the scenes. Apart from all of the chaos depicted in Jason Reitman’s film “Saturday Night time,” depicting the night of the present’s premiere again in October 1975, the early seasons of “SNL” sparked a whole lot of stress backstage, particularly when the collection turned successful, and beforehand unknown comedians began turning into well-known.

Chevy Chase was the primary and largest benefactor of the success of “SNL” proper out of the gate, largely as a result of, because the host of the information satire Weekend Replace section, he was the one one saying his identify on the present regularly (“I am Chevy Chase, and you are not” was his sign-off on the desk). As has been recounted by many who labored at “SNL,” Chase’s newfound fame didn’t sit nicely with fellow forged member John Belushi, who resented Chase’s fast rise, particularly when he left the present to kick off a profession in motion pictures. This was not solely as a result of Belushi needed to develop into the star of the present himself (regardless of nearly refusing to signal an “SNL” contract at one level), but additionally as a result of it pushed everybody else to the facet in what was inherently an ensemble effort. The remainder of the forged and crew weren’t happy together with his angle within the aftermath both.

Chase left “SNL” throughout season 2, and season 3 introduced in Invoice Murray, who was always known as “the brand new Chevy,” a lot to the chagrin of each comedians. So there was already some built-in stress when Chase returned to “SNL” to host the eleventh episode of the third season in February 1978. That stress was fomented by none apart from John Belushi, although Chase’s fame after leaving the present did not do him any favors. The end result was a combat that erupted between Murray and Chase simply earlier than the present went to air.

Within the e book “Reside from New York” by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, an oral historical past of “SNL,” Chase admitted that his first mistake was assuming that he would do Weekend Replace, even supposing forged member Jane Curtin had taken over the desk since his departure from the present. Chase stated, “That was considerably selfish of me as a result of Jane had been doing all of it yr.”

Based on Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad’s e book “Saturday Night time,” Chase was extra direct and impolite in his expectations. The e book particulars a gathering within the workplace of “SNL” creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels through which Chase is quoted as saying, “Jane, let’s face it, you possibly can’t be on the display with me on the identical time.”

This did not sit nicely with Invoice Murray. As Chase recalled in “Reside from New York,” “John had additionally, as I later discovered, been spreading some fairly apocryphal tales about me out of his jealousy and anger or no matter to Billy Murray, who was protecting of Jane and in addition, usually talking, a feisty fellow and I am certain Billy needed to take me down, .”

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Why did it fall on Invoice Murray to take Chase down a peg or two? In “Reside from New York,” Murray defined:

“That was as a result of I used to be the brand new man, and it was kind of prefer it was my job to do this. It could have been too petty for another person to do it. It is nearly like I used to be goaded into that, , I believe everyone hoped for it. I did sense that. I believe they resented Chevy for leaving, for one factor. They resented him for taking an enormous piece of the success and leaving and making his personal profession go.

Everyone else was from the improvisational world the place you did not make it about you. You have been an ensemble. You have been an organization. So when he left, there was resentment about that. It was a shock. On the identical time, Chevy was the large potato within the stew. He acquired essentially the most sketches. He had essentially the most affect, he acquired essentially the most publicity, all of these issues. In order that they did not miss that a part of it. However there was nonetheless a hangover feeling that he should not have left till everyone had that.”

In fact, it wasn’t simply the “SNL” forged’s resentment of Chase that created the problem. Together with Chase’s fame got here much more conceitedness, and he already had an enormous head to start with. Murray famous as a lot when recalling the combat in “Reside from New York,” the place he stated, “I keep in mind simply kind of a basic animosity that they felt, and he did come again as a star. Whenever you develop into well-known, you have acquired like a yr or two the place you act like an actual a**gap. You’ll be able to’t assist your self. It occurs to everyone. You have acquired like 2 years to tug it collectively or it is everlasting.”

Chase was nonetheless in that early stage of fame — many would most likely argue that he by no means shook that immodest ego — however he was at the very least keen to confess as a lot whereas recounting the scuffle with Murray. In “Reside from New York,” Chase mirrored:

“I believe Billy was making an attempt to take me down a rung, and I used to be most likely up a rung. I used to be most likely somewhat too stuffed with myself, . I spotted once I left that perhaps I hadn’t been such a terrific man. Perhaps we weren’t so shut. Perhaps I might been considerably of an a**gap. I left with self-doubts, and as time went on, it was somewhat simpler to do it through the years as a result of, , it was water underneath the bridge, but it surely did change my notion as a result of my notion had been all alongside that that first yr was actually a good close-knit household and that I simply occurred to emerge due to one thing somebody had written and since folks have been responding to me as the primary breakaway star.”

Throughout the week main as much as the present, Murray and Chase had already been poking and prodding one another. The e book “Saturday Night time” recounts a number of the barbs they threw at one another all through writing and rehearsal. At one level, Murray interrupted a gathering to air some grievances from the forged and crew about his presence in the course of the present’s first season. However maybe the deepest reduce was Murray taking goal at Chase’s publicized relationship points by saying, “Go f*** your spouse. I hear she wants it.” Chase, maintaining his cool, fired again with a jab at Murray’s appears, making a remark about Neil Armstrong landed on his face, a pointed insult at boxcar scars on the comic’s face.

All the things got here to a head on the night time of the stay present, and simply earlier than Chase was alleged to hit the stage as President Gerald Ford for the present’s chilly open, he went into Murray’s room for a showdown.

Nevertheless, whereas each Murray and Chase took swings at one another, neither of them appeared to have landed a punch, as a substitute solely shouting and rough-housing one another a bit. Throughout the scuffle, it was really John Belushi who ended up taking a few hits, as he was hanging out in Murray’s dressing room on the time. In reality, Chase recalled one telling element that incriminates Belushi’s place in all this, “John was just like the Cheshire Cat, sitting there like, ‘Mission completed.'”

Director John Landis (“The Blues Brothers”) occurred to be at “SNL” throughout this kerfuffle, and he relayed his reminiscence of the incident in “Reside from New York,” saying, “Chevy and Billy have been having an enormous screaming combat within the hallway, and [writers] Michael O’Donoghue and Tom Davis have been holding them again, and John and Danny [Aykroyd] jumped in as a result of Chevy and Billy have been actually going to return to blows.” However maybe the funniest element he recalled was that Murray took the time to name Chase a “medium expertise,” which is such a selected, considerate, and hilarious insult.

In fact, Chase and Murray had a present to do. In “Reside from New York,” Chase perhaps patted himself on the again an excessive amount of when it got here to staying on monitor going straight to stay tv:

“This occurred, however I’ve acquired a present to do. Others may need withered. I had a sure tensile power about me from childhood with an older brother who had already kicked the crap out of me by way of a lot of my youthful life, and there’d been various occasions once I was in violent conditions, so it wasn’t as if I used to be merely some man who had by no means seen the opposite facet of the tracks. I had. And so I suppose I merely weathered it. In different phrases, somewhat than be crammed with the adrenaline that offers you the shakes and does not assist you to focus on what you are doing, that merely handed, and it might be as a result of I used to be in form and I performed a whole lot of soccer and had been in conditions the place I might relax readily after one thing like that occurred.”

All proper, we get it, Chevy.

Whereas this feud between Chase and Murray would final for years, they’d ultimately squad their beef throughout manufacturing on the traditional comedy “Caddyshack.” Director Harold Ramis, who would later have his personal beef with Invoice Murray following “Groundhog Day,” forged each Chase and Murray in his “slobs vs. snobs” golf film. In reality, their well-known scene collectively (seen beneath) is the rationale the 2 actors have been in a position to put their variations behind them.

In Chris Nashawaty’s e book “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” Murray stated he discovered the collaboration simple:

“I might by no means actually achieved something with Chevy. We would all the time had kind of a… humorous relationship. However it was like, ‘O.Okay., I favored that while you did that. Let’s simply maintain going.’ We saved going, and it was humorous as a result of Ty Webb’s not removed from who Chevy is. So he was fairly comfy in his area. And I used to be comfy as Carl. So he might be free to snort at me. And if Ty laughed, Carl thought it meant, ‘Hey, he is my buddy!’ It is a actually enjoyable, self-aware instance of regardless of the heck Harold maintains the film is about – standing.”

Chase agrees, as he stated in a self-congratulatory means that solely somebody like him can say, “We acquired over every part. The strain was short-lived. I’ve nothing however admiration and affection for Invoice. He nonetheless generally is a surly character, to say the least. However finally, he is an excellent man. Regardless that I am the primary star within the film underneath the title, I am going to all the time consider Caddyshack as Billy’s film.” It is arduous to disagree, particularly when Invoice Murray improvised one of many funniest scenes within the film.

The excellent news is that they are nonetheless on good phrases, at the very least so far as we all know. Throughout an look on “The Howard Stern Present” again in September 2008, Chase mirrored on their battle and stated, “We have by no means been shut, however we have been very pleasant, we play golf collectively. […] I believe we have made an effort through the years to get to know one another higher and to place that stuff behind.”