Posted on 07/09/2004 3:58:36 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
In the Deborah Orin article "Jerky Jokester Whoopi in Dirty Diss at Dubya," (article linked above, FR threaded here) she describes this occurance at last night's star-studded Kerry fundraiser:
Also on the Bush-bashing team was comedian Chevy Chase, who claimed the president is dumb as "an egg-timer" and said Edwards will make Vice President Dick Cheney look "as bright as a bundt cake" when they debate next fall.
On ABC Radio News at the top of the hour, a sound bite from Chase was used: "I don't like George [W.] Bush. I want him out, and I want Kerry in."
I have been thinking about Chevy Chase more than I have in years lately. Not because he's done anything amusing lately (1986's Three Amigos was the last time I laughed at any of his work), and not because I was making a mental note of the biggest flops in television history (Remember Chevy's attempt to join the late-night talk wars?).
Nope, the reason why I have been thinking about Chevy is because of something that he did back in the late seventies that was even MORE forgetful then that talk show, if you can believe it. In fact, after doing a web search, I think I may be the only person on the planet who remembers this moment -- except for Chevy himself, who probably prayed for that eventuality. It was a NBC-TV special called (to the best of my memory) The Chevy Chase National Comedy Test.
The gimmick was this: In the TV Guide for that week, the ad for the special had a series of questions with check boxes (the "comedy test") that the viewer supposedly would check off in order to determine...well, I'm not really sure. But it looked like it was going to be fun to fill out, anyway. But the whole quiz on the ad was a ruse. The first instruction of what to do with the ad was to fold it into a paper airplane and throw it. Nonetheless, there were numbers that flashed at the bottom corner of the screen and I guess you were supposed to give yourself points if you found what was going on on the TV funny. In retrospect, it's obvious why they asked viewers to throw the "test" away; if the test had been for real, Chevy and the other supposed comedians on the show would have been flunked with dishonors.
Now, mind you, this was in the middle of the Great American Malaise, the period of double-digit interest rates, inflation, and unemployment percentages. It probably was in the period of the hostage crisis in Iran, because I remember a skit with a character named "Iwannatellya Khomeini." At that time, the GOP was hanging fire as Gerald Ford was non-committal on running for election (not RE-election) against Carter (citing the failing health of his wife Betty, he decided not to run).
I was either in my final year of junior high or my soph year in high school when this special came on, and hadn't learned at that point in my life to shut off the TV if I wasn't being entertained. I continued watching, and found only one part of the show funny -- the fake TV ads, some of the most hilarious parts of Saturday Night Live ("It's a floor polish AND a dessert topping!") and all of its clones, right up to the currently running MadTV.
The ads on the Comedy Test were quick, PBS sponsorship-like blurbs for non-existent companies. "GENERAL NATIONAL!" a narrator boomed to dramatic giants-of-industry music, adding the corporate motto "Because we couldn't think of a better name!"
"MERRILL LUNCH!" the narrator said in another fake spot, "We don't know what 'We're Bullish On' Means Either!"
OK, good for a few titters. But the one that stuck with me up until today was the following: On the screen in large lettering were these words:
A mild-toned narrator read the screen, and then the words shrunk slightly into the middle of the tube. Underneath the word "Reagan," the periods (or dots) of an ellipsis appeared one by one -- dot, dot, dot. Then, the screen looked like this:
This was not an exhortation to consider Reagan a serious contender for the White House, this was a gag -- in other words, "think about it" meant the same as "Can you imagine one day saying 'President Ronald Reagan?'" (There is a similar moment in the classic fantasy Back To The Future, but it was in a historical context, not a denigrating one.)
Last month, as the news media expressed its amazement at the outpouring of emotion after the passing of two-term President Ronald Reagan, I wondered if Chevy Chase pondered how mistaken he (and/or the writer of that bit) turned out to be about him. I wondered if he stopped to ponder the shape America was in at that time, and how he had no choice but to say "Yes" whenever Reagan asked, "Ar you better off today than you were four years ago?"
I wondered, and I think I have my answer today.
Now that this is likely settled, I have another question: Will Chevy Chase ever be funny again?
If he only would spit out whatever is in his mouth when he speaks so the so-called "regular" people could understand what he says.
These "Wild-eyed" liberals reliving their youth.
We need a true conservative to continue the Reagan legacy and get America back to his founding values. W lied to us when he described himself as a compassionate conservative - he is neither.
We need to purge the liberals (ie GWB and his ilk) from the Republican party which means losing at least one Presidential election. The question is which election? But the sooner we do, the less pain we will incur.
Sorry Kerry supporters, "I Hate Bush" isn't going to win the WH for your Johns...
What do you mean, "again"? Watching Chevy Chase trying to be funny has always been a disappointing experience for me.
I gave up on him a long time ago; he's basically as funny as a fence post.
Yeah, I remember this argument being made when I first registered at FR in 1998, and during the general election in 2000 when some GOPpers jumped to the sinking Reform Party ship because Pat Buchanan was named captain. Rebuild conservatism from the ground up by conceding the country to the center-lefties, and scoop up repentant undecideds when they inevitably run the nation into the ground. But that doesn't even work on paper.
Look, it's as simple as this: regardless of whether the American system was intended to be a two-party system, that's what it is. There have ALWAYS been only two parties with a legit chance at controlling governments in American elections. It's too difficult for a "third way" to emerge from the fringes and expand its base into a winnable majority. Remember, Perot's Reform Party got nearly 20% of the popular vote, but how many electoral votes? Zeeeee-rohhhhh.
Funnyman Chevy Chase.... think about it.
You guys are so funny when caught in your blind uninformed mantras.
I guess banning partial birth abortion, pushing through tax cuts, throwing Kyoto into dust bin, etc. etc are not Reaganesque to you.
"1986's Three Amigos was the last time I laughed at any of his work" National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation got my vote.
Great article, great post! As Chevy Chase got more mean-spirited, politically-driven, and just plain hateful, we too dropped off watching him. After all, there was no actual talent underpinning his hatefulness. I saw him once on Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect" and told my husband that he was the biggest a**-hole I'd ever seen and don't bother asking me to watch his movies again. We haven't.
By what standard could this crew be referred to as stars?
Edwards keeps his mouth twisted in a vain attempt to hide the growth on his lip.
What a shame!
President Bush hasn't been your "Conservative Maiden's Dream", but he has made slow and steady progress towards those ultimate goals. The RATS turned this country down the road to socialism incrementally. It has to be turned back incrementally as well.
pssstttt... Herman Cain
President Ronald Reagan? Now that is funny! </sarcasm>comedian Chevy Chase . . . claimed the president is dumb as "an egg-timer" and said Edwards will make Vice President Dick Cheney look "as bright as a bundt cake" when they debate next fall.
The president is "dumb" enough to have won three major elections, two of them upsets. And to have defeated two enemies and established friendly governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each victory for a casualty total low enough for Tim Russert to be able to recite the names of the fallen in a single TV show.Given the communication, entertainment, transportation, convenience appliances, and medicine/health care advantages her family enjoys, the material prosperity of an American secretary bears comparison to that which Queen Victoria had in her time (1819-1901).
And any appeal to the "plight" of the people in the lowest income quintile is based on the facile assumption that a fifth of the people in the country live out their lives in that one status. In fact of course, the "lowest quintile" is loaded with young people just starting out in life, the preponderance of whom leave that status quite quickly. Indeed more of them reach the highest quintile within a decade than remain in the lowest quintile that long.
Edwards' "second America" consists not of a large fraction of the nation who have been discriminated against and held down but a much smaller percentage of people who had more opportunity than they availed themselves of. That is why Thomas Sowell calls a shtick like Edwards' a rendition of "the wino veto."
Cheney's "bundt cake" is likely to look pretty shiny compared to the black hole where substance should be in a John Edwards performance.
OK, so President Bush has a reputation as a dummy, and he really does scramble his words quite a bit. But Cheney? Come on! For one thing, Cheney is supposed to be the evil Halliburtonoid mastermind who pulls Dubya's strings like a puppet. He really is very intelligent & quite well-spoken. And that bit of dryer lint Edwards is going to make him look dumb in the debates? LOL... Good lord, these people are in deep denial.
I disagree. He's not conservative, but he's plenty compassionate with other people's extorted money, which is exactly what he meant by that.
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