Chevy Chase was ‘depressed’ after the Fox Talk Show was canceled after six weeks

A brief chapter in Chevy Chase’s illustrious comedy career is his ill-fated late-night talk show, “The Chevy Chase Show,” which ran for six weeks on Fox in 1993 and was canceled after scathing reviews and low ratings.

In the new CNN documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” Chase talks about his experience as a talk show host – and the disappointment that followed. “I never took anyone’s advice on how to do a talk show. I can do it“I kept thinking,” he said in the doctor’s office. “It was horrible. I just had no idea what you do on a talk show.

Chase’s representatives and staff explained in the documentary that the show, which debuted on September 7, 1993, failed because there were “old” TV producers and a new vision was needed. Furthermore, although Chase was a gifted comedic actor and movie star, he was less adept at stand-up comedy.

Chase’s eldest daughter, Cydney, recalled visiting her father on the set of the talk show. “He felt nervous for me,” she said.

Andy Aaron, a writer on “The Chevy Chase Show,” shared, “The reviews were universally terrible, and Chevy literally walked into the writers’ room and said, ‘You guys are doing a great job. It’s not your fault, it’s my fault.’

“I don’t know how people like Letterman and others do it,” Chase said. “That’s beyond me. You can say, ‘Well, it’s interesting to have different people…’ Yes, it is. We’re pretty much all the same. It’s not that interesting.”

The staff discovered that the show had been canceled by Fox at the end of Chevy’s 50th birthday party. CAA leader Michael Ovitz, Chase’s agent at the time, asked him if he wanted to go for a few more weeks. “’A few weeks?‘” Chase recalled with mock surprise. “I think we’re done.”

Chase’s daughters opened up about Chase’s mental health struggles following the series’ cancellation. “It was a bit of a weird environment after his talk show,” Cydney Chase said. “I know my dad has been depressed. I knew that from a young age. That was kind of hard for me because I went in and pulled his shirt and he said, ‘Not now, honey.'”

Chase’s daughter Caley added, “One thing that was interesting about our household is that my parents were pretty open about some things that went deeper depending on our ages. My parents communicated enough to say, ‘There is such a thing as depression, and it’s hard for people to get out of bed.'”

“He got into bed and couldn’t get out,” Chase’s wife Jayni added. “I didn’t understand why.”

Chase would go on to star in a handful of films after the talk show ended, and would eventually experience a career resurgence playing Pierce Hawthorne on the sitcom “Community,” which ran on NBC from 2009 to 2014.

In 1993, “The Chevy Chase Show” arrived in a moment of frenzy around late-night television. Johnny Carson’s retirement from “The Tonight Show” a year earlier opened up possibilities, and Arsenio Hall was already hosting a successful, syndicated late-night yakker, “Arsenio,” which was an instant appeal to younger, multicultural viewers in major cities. Distributed by Paramount, “Arsenio” was the first competitor to take on Carson, who stuck around and made a dent in his audience.

The Fox network saw the success of “Arsenio” and decided to take it a step further with a late-night show. It was Fox’s second attempt to gain a foothold late in the evening. In October 1986, Fox Broadcasting Co. born when it asked Joan Rivers to host “The Late Show” in hopes of meeting Carson with one of his longtime guest hosts. But Rivers’ show hit a rough patch and was canceled in May 1987. It was briefly replaced by the unusual, proto-“Daily Show” newsmagazine-esque “The Wilton North Report.” That show lasted about three months. Then Fox was out late at night, turning its attention to primetime and finding traction with hits like “Married With Children” and “21 Jump Street.”

Five years later, Carson’s retirement set off the battle between Leno and Letterman, which ended with Leno taking the throne of “The Tonight Show” and Letterman launching a new franchise on CBS. Letterman’s “The Late Show” launched to much fanfare on CBS on August 30, 1993, after Letterman had to wait out the remainder of his contract as host of NBC’s post-“Tonight Show” hour, “Late Night With David Letterman.” (The open spot on “Late Night” ultimately went to Conan O’Brien, who was famously extended in six-week increments in his first few months.)

So into this mix came Chase to do battle with Leno and Letterman, both of whom were excited to prove themselves as the top dog in the timeslot. The entire fight was quickly dubbed “the night wars” in the media and pop culture.

Even though it was short-lived, the arrival of Chase’s show as a Fox network offering spelled the end for Hall’s show in syndication. That’s because several of the stations that showed Hall’s show in major markets were affiliated with Fox. When the Fox network decided to go with “Chevy Chase,” those affiliate stations were under pressure to drop Hall’s show to make way for the network offering. Most of them did. Despite Chase’s quick hook, the damage was already done. “Arsenio” was last broadcast on May 27, 1994.

“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” premiered on CNN on January 1.

Here’s the first episode of “The Chevy Chase Show,” via YouTube