Jump to content

The Chevy Chase Show

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 66.32.13.91 (talk) at 05:56, 23 January 2010 (There's nothing relevant in the pages you're referring to and this is more accurate.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Chevy Chase Show
The Chevy Chase Show title card
Developed byCornelius Productions
Presented byChevy Chase
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes25
Production
Running time45-48 min
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseSeptember 7 –
October 1, 1993

The Chevy Chase Show was an American late night talk show hosted by actor, comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus Chevy Chase that aired in 1993 on Fox. The series is known for being one of the biggest failures in late-night television history, and was canceled after five weeks.

History

Creation and pre-production

Fox originally asked country musician Dolly Parton to host a new late night program — the network's first since 1987's ill-fated The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.[1] Parton turned the network down, and suggested Chevy Chase for the job.[2] Chase reportedly signed a $3 million deal with Fox.[3]

Just days before the show's premiere, the name of the venue where the show was recorded was changed from the Aquarius Theater to the Chevy Chase Theater, and Fox reportedly spent $1 million in renovations.[3]

Formula and trademarks

The Chevy Chase Show was one of several talk shows that various networks put on the air after Johnny Carson retired. The show premiered a week after the first Late Show with David Letterman and a week prior to the inaugural Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In keeping with the formula Carson and David Letterman had established, the show featured a house band that Chase called the best band in the world, the Tom Scott-led MBC Orchestra (Scott had been the band leader on The Pat Sajak Show). Chase himself produced the show through his company Cornelius Productions. The show's set featured a tank with live fish (visible during interviews), basketball hoops, and shelves of toys.[4]

The program's lead-in featured a clay-animated Chase stealing letters to spell the name of his show from notable Los Angeles landmarks, including Mann's Chinese Theater, the Capitol Records Building. As the credits rolled at the end of each episode, Chase was seen shooting basketball at an onstage backstop.

Reviews

Television critic Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the show an F letter grade, and criticized the show for having "the gall to rerun a taped comedy bit he'd aired in the first week of his show."[5] Tucker also noted that "the audience that fills Hollywood's new Chevy Chase Theatre has steadily turned into the worst-behaved crowd in late-night television; they hoot and yell and cheer over whatever pitiful chatter Chase is attempting to wring out of a luckless guest."[5] TIME panned the show: "Nervous and totally at sea, Chase tried everything, succeeded at nothing."[6] The magazine also criticized Chase for having "recycled old material shamelessly", taking pratfalls, and even pleading with the audience to stand up and dance in their seats.[6]

Cancellation

Advertisers had been promised that the show would bring between five and six million viewers nightly.[7][8] By contrast, Late Night with David Letterman guaranteed fewer than four million viewers to their advertisers.[8] The Chevy Chase Show's actual ratings were much lower, averaging fewer than three million viewers.[7] Fewer than two million people tuned in during the show's final weeks.[7]

Lucie Salhany, the then-chairwoman of Fox Broadcasting, announced on October 17, 1993 that the network had decided to cancel the show "in the best interests of both its affiliated stations and its star."[7] Salhany also spoke about his first episodes: "He was very nervous. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing to watch it.".[7][1] Chase issued a statement regarding the cancellation, in which he called the talk show format ""very constraining" and promoted his upcoming film, Cops and Robbersons.[7]

Although Fox dropped the show after four weeks, it ran for a week after the cancellation announcement. The entire last week was dedicated to making light of the show's "success". Within 48 hours of the final show, workmen had already dismantled and painted over the Chevy Chase Theater's sign.[3] The theater is now known as Nickelodeon on Sunset. Fox ran reruns of In Living Color in the former time slot of The Chevy Chase Show after the cancellation.

In a 2007 interview with TIME, Chase spoke of his doomed late night show, saying that it "was an entirely different concept than what was pushed on me. I would never do it again. What I wanted had a whole different feel to it, much darker and more improv. But we never got there."[9]

  • Featured as the title of the Chevy Chase themed blog "The Chevy Chase Show".[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b New York Times article: "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Chevy Chase's Ratings Deliver Frowns at Fox".
  2. ^ Entertainment Weekly article: "Err Time: Denise Richards is in good company -- look back at 10 major movie stars who flopped on TV".
  3. ^ a b c Entertainment Weekly article: "One Down".
  4. ^ New York Times article: "The Set Makes The Host"
  5. ^ a b Entertainment Weekly article: "TV Review - Lord of the Ring (1993)".
  6. ^ a b TIME article: "Late-Night Mugging".
  7. ^ a b c d e f New York Times article: "Chevy Chase's Show Canceled After 6 Weeks".
  8. ^ a b New York Times article: "Chevy Chase's Many Rivals: Jay, Dave and the Local News".
  9. ^ TIME article: "10 Questions for Chevy Chase"
  10. ^ http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F31.html
  11. ^ The Onion article: "The Chevy Chase Show Enters Sixth Blockbuster Season In Alternate Universe"
  12. ^ http://www.familyguyscripts.com/S05E18_Meet-The-Quagmires.php
  13. ^ http://thechevychaseshow.blogspot.com/
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Chevy_Chase_Show&oldid=339489136"