# What was the deal with Chevy Chase's Ford impersonation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521 "2001-06-12T08:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/21 "2001-06-16T05:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > \*\*The other thing you need to keep in mind was that when SNL first aired, it was pretty revolutionary. You really didn’t have too many shows featuring such hard biting satire before. So even if Chevy Chase didn’t look like Ford, or Akroyd didn’t look like Carter, making fun of the President in such a personal way was still something rarely seen on TV before. \*\* It was before my time, but what would you call **That Was the Week that Was**? **spoke** : Good point. **Sofa King** : I stopped watching SNL after the '93-94 season because they were relying on the recognizability factor and nothing else. Sketches were practically reduced to the cast saying, “Tonya Harding!” “Lorena Bobbit!” “Burt Reynolds truth serum!” “Prince Charles and his mistress!” _It’s called creativity: look into it,_ as Spade should have said. But I don’t watch the show now, so I’m not criticizing the current cast. ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/22 "2001-06-16T08:09:11Z")
I saw Chevy Chase on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, and I thought at first that he was dumb as a stump -even by “Millionaire” standards. Then after a while it occured to me that he was putting on some sort of act…or maybe he wasn’t. I suppose that was part of his “appeal” as Jerry Ford. But I did think “Caddyshack” and the first “Fletch” movie was funny. As well as some movie he made about a big city guy moving to the country…I forget the title. “Chevy Chase couldn’t adlib a fart after a baked bean dinner”. Johnny Carson ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/23 "2001-06-16T08:45:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jaimest \* > **As well as some movie he made about a big city guy moving to the country…I forget the title.** Funny Farm? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/24 "2001-06-16T10:09:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > **…keep in mind…that when SNL first aired, it was pretty revolutionary.** Exactly. It was an edited version of the movie, “The Groove Tube” by television’s “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” Even [Hans Beckert](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0022100) is blas’e ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/25 "2001-06-16T13:57:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Yes, and it worked great. That’s partially because Chevy Chase did “The Fall” regularly before Ford became president. It became a part of SNL’s opening, and we used to watch the opening just waiting for “The Fall”. \*\* Sorry, I hate to nitpick, but…Ford was president when SNL started (10/11/75). I always assumed that Chase was making fun because Ford was known as kind of a doofus and for being clumsy. I thought the pratfall _began_ as part of the Ford skits (then again, I was 7 months old when the show began, so what do I know). In any case, I thought it was damn funny. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521/26 "2001-06-16T16:04:17Z")
Here’s my take on Chevy Chase: if you feed him lines, he can be extremely funny. But as **jaimest’s** Johnny Carson quote attests, he couldn’t improvise to save his life. He’s got comedic timing and great ability for physical comedy. He just can’t think on his feet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-chevy-chases-ford-impersonation/68521.md?page=1)