Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993 TAG: 9309030387
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE DUFFY KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``There isn't much you can do on these shows that hasn't been done,'' Chase said Monday morning, sparring amiably with TV critics during a press conference to promote his coming late-night talk show on Fox.
``I think these shows are host-driven. And it's, `Do you want to see this guy do it?' So we're going to do the best we can to be original.''
Debuting at 11 weeknights Sept. 7, ``The Chevy Chase Show'' is being billed as a ``late-night, comedy-talk program.''
Steve Binder, the show's producer, promises unpredictability. Chase jokingly guarantees ``a lot of balloons.''
No one, however, is promising instant success. Not in a jammed-up late-night universe that will also include Jay Leno, David Letterman and Arsenio Hall.
But Chase isn't interested in dissing the competition or adding to the media feeding frenzy over the late-night wars.
``I don't care about any of that crap,'' Chase said. ``I like Jay. I love Dave, and I love to watch his show. And Arsenio was always very sweet to me when I was on his show.
``But I think we'll do less of an interview show than perhaps Jay or Arsenio.''
In fact, the emphasis will definitely be on comedy and the irreverent sensibility that blasted Chase to fast fame on ``Saturday Night Live'' 18 years ago.
Like ``SNL,'' each show will open with a comedy sketch before going to the opening credits and theme music.
There will also be a ``Nightly News Update,'' a regular feature that echoes one of Chase's best-loved ``Saturday Night Live'' creations.
``The idea that it's turned into `the next talk show' kind of perturbs me,'' Chase said. ``To get back on television is just fun for me.''
And no, Chase reassured one questioner, he hasn't mellowed. ``If I'd mellowed, I wouldn't be doing this.''
To join the late-night grind, Chase has put his film career at least temporarily on hold.
He kidded that Fox is paying him $15 million a year to do the show. It's nowhere near that Lettermanesque stratosphere. ``I'm not going to tell you what I make,'' Chase said. ``That would be tasteless. And you know me.''
Besides stockpiling comedy bits and sketch ideas, Chase said he's been looking forward to the opportunity to once again ``satirize and parody'' current events and political figures as he did on ``Saturday Night Live.''
The challenge of doing a late-night show will be ``trying to maintain whatever cheeky persona I have as a result of comedy sketches and then to change over and be the nice host talking to guests. I don't plan on bullying guests.''
Besides, Chase said, ``I don't consider the interview portion of it to be what my show is about.''
So it's the laughs, stupid.
Binder, who worked on ``The Steve Allen Show'' back in the '60s, suggested Chase's talent is of a different, more varied sort than that of Letterman, Leno and Hall.
``What Chevy brings to this is not a stand-up comedy background,'' Binder said. ``He's a writer; he's a musician; he has a brilliant physical comedy background; he's an actor.''
Chase, who, like Steve Allen, plays piano, modestly tabs himself ``a fair musician.''
Saxophonist Tom Scott will be the band leader on ``The Chevy Chase Show.'' And you can expect to see Chase sitting in on a fairly regular basis.
As for a sidekick, Chase will do without his version of an Ed McMahon. There will be an announcer, Ron Russ. And members of the show's writing staff will occasionally appear on camera during various comedy bits.
Chase will also probably do without a monologue. ``Monologues are more for stand-up comics than me.''
Though Letterman and Leno are the clear late-night heavyweights, Chase does have one potential edge on the competition come fall. He begins at 11 p.m.
``We're on the air 35 minutes before any of those other shows get on the air,'' Binder said. ``That's a huge advantage.''
Chase, who became hilariously famous in the '70s for his stumbling, bumbling impersonation of President Gerald R. Ford, hasn't forgotten his slapstick muse.
``I still fall down, and I still worry about hurting myself when I do it,'' said Chase.
He also possesses enough of a dark sense of humor to know ``The Chevy Chase Show'' could fall down and go boom in the late-night ratings. ``We'll probably be the first to go. But we'll make a lot of noise until then.''
The sudden switch from movies back to TV isn't something Chase had been expecting until Fox President Lucie Salhany came courting with her not-a-talk-show proposal.
``I really love making movies. It's a lot of fun,'' Chase said. ``But I've had this yearning in my stomach for years to get back and somehow subversively screw up television again. And this is my opportunity.''
by CNB