The late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025. With five decades of television history behind "SNL," it should come as no surprise that there was a lot of drama behind the scenes. Aside from all the chaos shown in the Jason Reitman's Saturday Night aired on the show's premiere night in October 1975, the early seasons of "SNL" caused a lot of tension behind the scenes, especially as the show became a hit and previously unknown comedians began to become famous.

Chevy Chase was the first and biggest benefactor of "SNL's" success right out of the gate, mostly because, as host of the news segment's "Weekend Update," he was the only one who said his name on the show regularly. ("I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" was his desk sign). As recounted by many who worked at "SNL," Chase's newfound fame didn't sit well with co-star John Belushi, who was offended by Chase's rapid rise, especially when he left the show to pursue a career in movies. This wasn't just because Belushi wanted to become the star of the show himself (despite almost refusing to sign an "SNL" contract at one point), but also because it pushed everyone else aside in what was inherently an ensemble effort. The rest of the cast and crew were not happy with his attitude after that.

Chase left "SNL" during Season 2, and Season 3 brought in Bill Murray, who was repeatedly referred to as "the new Chevy," much to the chagrin of both comedians. So there was already some built-in tension when Chase returned to "SNL" to host the 11th episode of the third season in February 1978. That tension was fueled by none other than John Belushi, though Chase's reputation after leaving the show didn't do him any favors. The result was a fight that broke out between Murray and Chase just before the show aired.

In the book "Live from New York" by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, an oral history of "SNL," Chase admitted that his first mistake was assuming he would do "Weekend Update," despite the fact that cast member Jane Curtin took over the desk after he left the show said: "It was somewhat self-centered of me because Jane had been doing it all year."

According to the book by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad "Saturday nightChase was more direct and blunt in his expectations. The book details a meeting in the office of "SNL" creator and host Lorne Michaels, in which Chase is quoted as saying, "Jane, let's face it, you can't be on screen with me at the same time."

Bill Murray didn't like this. As Chase recalled on "Live from New York," "John also, as I later found out, spread some pretty apocryphal stories about me because of his jealousy and anger or whatever at Billy Murray, who was protecting Jane and so. Generally a hot guy and I'm sure Billy wanted to take me down, you know.'

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Why did it fall to Bill Murray to knock Chase down a peg or two? On "Live from New York," Murray explained:

"It was because I was the new guy, and it was kind of my job to do it. It would be too petty for someone else to do that. I think everyone was hoping for that. I think they resented Chevy for leaving, for one thing.

Everyone else was from the improvisational world where you didn't do it for yourself. You were an ensemble. You were a company. So when he left, there was resentment about that. It was a shock. At the same time, Chevy was the big potato in the stew. He got the most sketches. He had the most influence, he had the most publicity, all those things. So they didn't miss that part of it. But there was still a hangover feeling that he wasn't supposed to leave until everyone got it."

Of course, it wasn't just the "SNL" cast's resentment toward Chase that created the problem. Along with Chase's fame came even more arrogance, and he already had a big head to begin with. Murray noted as much when recalling the fight on "Live from New York," where he said, "I remember a kind of general animosity that they felt, and he came back as a star. When you become famous, you have like a year or two where you act like a real a-hole. You can't help everyone.

Chase was still in that early stage of fame— many would probably say he never shook that cocky ego - but he was at least willing to admit as much as he recounted his row with Murray. On Live From New York, Chase reflected:

“I think Billy was trying to put me down and I probably went up. I was probably full of myself, you know. When I left I realized that maybe I wasn't such a great person Maybe we weren't that close. , that was water under the bridge, but it changed my perception because my perception the whole time was that that first year was really a tight-knit family and I just came out because of something someone wrote and because people reacted to me as the first breakaway star." .

During the week leading up to the show, Murray and Chase were already bumping and squirming. The book "Saturday Night" recounts some of the barbs they threw at each other during writing and rehearsal. At one point, Murray interrupted a meeting to air some complaints from the cast and crew about his presence during the show's first season. But perhaps the deepest cut was that Murray addressed publicity questions about Chase's relationship by saying, “You're going against your wife. I hear she needs it.'' Chase, keeping his cool, hit back with a Murray lookalike, making a comment about Neil Armstrong that fell on his face, a sharp insult to the comedian's facial boxing scars.

It all came to mind the night of the live show, and just before Chase was to take the stage as President Gerald Ford for the cold open show, he went to Murray's room for a showdown.

However, as both Murray and Chase swung at each other, neither of them seemed to hit, instead just yelling and roughing each other up. During the fight, John Belushi actually ended up taking a few punches, as he was hanging out in Murray's dressing room at the time. In fact, Chase recalled a telling detail that incriminated Belushi's place in all of this, "John was like the Cheshire Cat, sitting there like, 'Mission Accomplished.'

Director John Landis ("The Blues Brothers") was on "SNL" during the kerfuffle and relayed his recollection of the incident on "Live from New York," saying, "Chevy and Billy had a huge screaming match in the hallway, and (Writers) Michael O'Donoghue and Tom Davies were holding them back and John and Danny (Aykroyd) jumped in because Chevy and Billy were really going to hit it off." But perhaps the funniest detail he recalled was Murray taking the time to call Chase a "mediocre talent," which is such a specific, thoughtful, and funny insult.

Of course, Chase and Murray had a show to put on. On "Live from New York," Chase may have been patting himself on the back too much when it came to staying on track right on live television:

“This happened, but I have a show to do. Others may have withered. I've had a certain toughness streak about me from childhood with an older brother who had already kicked the crap out of me for most of my younger life, and there were a few times when I was in violent situations, so it wasn't just some guy who never saw the other side of the track In other words, instead of being filled with adrenaline that gives you the shakes and doesn't allow you to concentrate on what you're doing, it just went away, and maybe it was because I was fit and playing. a lot of football and I've been in situations where I could have easily calmed down after something like that happened."

Okay, we get it, Chevy.

While this feud between Chase and Murray would go on for years, they would eventually patch up their beef during a production of the classic comedy Caddyshack. Director Harold Ramis, who would later have his own beef with Bill Murray after Shrub Day cast both Chase and Murray in his golf movie slobs vs. snobs". In fact, their famous scene together (seen below) is the reason the two actors were able to put their differences behind them.

In Chris Nashawati's book "Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Pepperella StoryMurray said the collaboration was easy for him:

“I've never really done anything with a Chevy. We always had a kind of... funny relationship. But it was like, “Okay, I liked it when you did that. Let's move on.'' We kept walking, and it was funny because Ty Webb is not far from being Chevy thought that meant, 'Hey, he's my friend!' It's a really fun, self-aware example of what Harold claims the film is about."

Chase agrees, as he says in the self-congratulatory way that only someone like him can say, "We got over everything. The tension was short-lived. I have nothing but admiration and affection for Bill. He can still be an ugly character, to say the least. he's a good guy, even though I'm the number one star in the movie, I'll always think of Caddyshuck as Billy." It's hard to disagree, esp when Bill Murray improvised one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

The good news is that they are still on good terms, at least as far as we know. During the performance of "The Howard Stern ShowIn September 2008, Chase reflected on their conflict and said: "We were never close but we were very friendly, we play golf together. (...) I think we made efforts over the years to get to know each other better and leave those things behind."