I’m Chevy Chase … and I’m Not on TV!

It was both inevitable and not shocking to hear that Chevy Chase left Community. As Popculturology has noted, Chase had run-ins with Dan Harmon, the show's creator (now former showrunner), and apparently wasn't getting along with the new showrunners. With most of Community's fourth season already in the can, Chase’s departure should not affect the show terribly.

Community has dealt with this before, with Chase threatening to leave at least once already. Let's not forget that Chase was wanted out of the show back when Pierce Hawthorne, his character, developed a painkiller addiction. At Chase's urging, Harmon and his writers planned to write Pierce out of several episodes only to have the actor balk at the idea once he realized he wouldn't get paid for the episodes he wasn't in. His role became diminished until Community's hospital episode (the one where Troy met LeVar Burton) allowed Chase to "bequeath" his way back. This all conjures up the question: Why now?

Chase has always done things his way. Born into New York elite (he’s in the Social Register), Chase’s family can be traced back to the Mayflower. America was introduced to Chase on Saturday Night Live in 1975. Hired only as a writer, he would become the show's first star only to quickly depart in 1976, making only guest appearances in the second season. His rise to stardom was due to his strong writing ability which created many popular gags (Weekend Update, the pratfalls) in the show's freshman season. As Chase explained in Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live:

"One of the things that made the show successful to begin with that first year and made me successful was this feeling of 'I don’t give a crap.'  And that came partially out of the belief that we … wouldn’t go anywhere anyway."

Chase became the flint to the fire that is SNL, allowing Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to keep it burning. He wanted out to try acting, as he didn't want to be pegged as a comedian. So Chase left, while so many at SNL felt he should have stayed to increase the popularity and ratings of the NBC staple.

For Chase, the 1980s were his decade to secure a few iconic roles, but none more significant to his wallet and legacy than a John Hughes concocted father. Caddyshack gave the golf-hating Chase a noted character (and a chance to patch up a feud with Bill Murray), but his entire acting career can be placed on one Clark W. Griswold III. The Family Vacation series, based on Hughes' writings for National Lampoon, helped/will help keep Chase in a higher tax bracket for the rest of their days.

Chase always had that swagger, always talking about how he essentially made SNL or that, as Jane Curtain put it, Belushi and Chevy felt women weren’t funny. This was his fault with Community. While Community has a legion of diehard fans, Chase just never understood it.

Seth Pohorence is a contributing writer for Popculturology. You can follow him on Twitter at @spohorence.