Shortly before "The Chevy Chase" show debuted, its host had this to say about the late-night talk show competition:
"Well, we'll probably be the first to go, but I think we'll make a lot of noise before we do," Chase said.He was half right.
Fox pulled the plug on Chase rather suddenly over the weekend. And the reason was it hadn't made any noise at all - certainly not in terms of ratings.
Well, it had made a bit of noise - but it was the sound of ineptness and bad reviews.
The reason Chase failed so spectacularly was obvious from the start - he was completely unsuited to the talk-show format.
He couldn't do stand-up comedy, so the monologue was a disaster. He had no interviewing skills whatsoever, so the guest segments were pathetic.
And while Chase, in a formal statement, said "I am proud of the comedic elements that we were able to intersperse throughout this otherwise very constraining format," those bits were good only in comparison to the rest of the show.
(The talk-show format doesn't seem to constrain, say, David Letterman, does it?)
Chase's television persona - built on smugness - simply didn't work. Audiences have to like the guy who's hosting the show, and Chase wasn't likeable.
When he tried to be warm and fuzzy, it was even worse.
From the start, Chase said he was distressed that his show had become "the latest talk show." And, from viewing his short-lived program, he appeared not to want to be there.
There were also widespread reports (denied by both Chase and Fox) that Chase simply wasn't working very hard at his job. The fact that he bumbled and fumbled his way through the "News Updates" every night - a segment that should have been the highlight of the show - seemed to point to a lack of preparation.
Once again, you have to wonder what made Fox Broadcasting Co. Chairman Lucie Salhany decide to tap Chase for the show in the first place. His entire television experience consisted of one season on "Saturday Night Live" 17 years ago. His movie career was, shall we say, less than a roaring success.
Not to mention that Fox, which so avidly pursues youth, hired the oldest late-night host on the air. Chase is 50, and it's been a good 15 years since he was "hip."
NBC at least made Conan O'Brien tape a practice show before they gave him "Late Night." Fox should have put Chase in front of a camera to see if he could cut it.
Of course, what ultimately killed "The Chevy Chase Show" was the ratings. According to the most recent ratings information available, Chase averaged a 2.2 rating since his debut, compared with Letterman's 5.3, "Nightline's" 4.9 and Jay Leno's 4.1. (Each ratings point equals 942,000 homes.)
What's worse is that Fox had guaranteed advertisers a 4.0 rating for "Chevy Chase," and had to give spots away free because of the shortfall.
In short, Fox was losing a bundle on Chase and decided to cut its losses.
Chase will, of course, still collect on his $3 million contract. But now he's publicly branded as a failure, which won't help his already flagging movie career.
And Fox has its third failure in three late-night attempts - remember "The Late Show starring Joan Rivers" and "The Wilton North Report?"
But despite three strikes, Fox isn't out yet. In the short term, the network will air reruns of "In Living Color" in the 10-11 p.m. timeslot.
And rumors tagging everyone from Howie Mandel to Richard Lewis to Sinbad have circulated about who will eventually get the hour. (No announcement is expected before next week.)
The only thing that's certain is that Chase will be sitting back licking his wounds longer than Fox will. The network has to move on.
ANCHOR-IN-WAITING: Half of KSTU's new anchor team - Libby Weaver - made her debut as schedule last night.
But the other half, Brad Giffen, has been delayed by the Immigration Department. A Canadian, he's still trying to work everything out.
The folks at Fox hope to have him on the air by this coming Monday.