I don’t know if he’s fundamentally an asshole, per se, but he’s always come across to me as a guy who knows without a shadow of a doubt that he’s better and funnier than anyone else in the room, and that annoys me because in almost every case it’s clearly not true.

I’m not even convinced that the “Chase as asshole” narrative has ever been borne out in any meaningful way. In his public appearances or interviews, he genuinely seems to be a decent guy, content with his family, his main fault being a lack of interest in the Hollywood hype machine.

His character underwent a pretty drastic change from seasons 1-3, going from a mentor that occasionally said the wrong, racist thing, to being a full on villain by season 3. The D&D episode was probably the biggest heel turn (“What shape do you make Neil?” “FAAAAAAAAAATTT”), but also Harmon wrote him that way because…

The phrase that gets me is “hard-hitting.” It’s hard to imagine he’s using the phrase to mean he wanted the comedy to be darker, more intense, more political, or something. Whether it’s Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation, or Three Amigos, Chase’s career is built on movies that are fairly goofy.

There’s a pretty notable outtake in one of the seasons where Troy says “You don’t want to do that...you want to sit at home and think about what you used to be...” and Chevy actually laughs and the whole cast points out that he never laughs at the material.

“ I think it’s almost a generational thing; he’s just not plugged into the zeitgeist anymore.”

It already exists, it’s called Superstore. In this one, there’s more balance in the Jim-Pam relationship, as Jim (who looks like Ryan Howard) is a screwup who’s forced to take a menial job at a store and Pam is his superior at work. Dwight is a woman, Stanley is in a wheelchair, Kevin is an Hawaiian woman, etc.

Chevy Chase will never be on Stranger Things!

More of a spin-off set in the same world than a reboot.

1. I love Community.

Good luck finding a room big enough to hold both their egos.

Chevy Chase has been married to his third wife for approaching 42 years now.

Community is almost certainly the funniest thing Chevy’s ever been in. Anything even remotely competitive for that spot is over thirty years old, so even if wanted something more hard-hitting, he’s had plenty of time to find something better.

We need to get Chevy Chase and Sean Penn in a room together and figure out who’s the bigger douchebag.

Man, if Chase wasn’t such an asshole, Only Murders in the Building could have been a ¡Three Amigos! reunion.

So, wait, this is a reboot, not a revival? That seems like an odd choice. The characters are what people loved about The Office, not the premise. The premise is that there is no premise, it’s literally just a workplace comedy. While I’m sure good writers can write a new batch of good characters, it seems like…

“People will watch the entire series and then roll right into watching it again, and to me, that means we ended it properly,” he said.

Honestly, it has become one of my go-to idle-watching shows (as it has for many), and it’s almost entirely because of the characters. I’ve never been a big cringe comedy fan, but I love the hangout feel with the character I watched for years. I’d be skeptical bringing them back, so a side-boot is probably the best…

A few random thoughts:

Wow, who said Rich Little is washed up?