Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson and their late-night horror shows
The Chevy Chase Show” premiered Sept. 7, 1993, on Fox — a week after “The Late Show With David Letterman” dropped on CBS — and was canned six weeks (and 29 episodes) into its run.Chase, whose movie career was on the skids after a string of flops (“Nothing But Trouble,” “Memoirs of Invisible Man”) was not Fox’s first choice to host its first foray into late-night following “The Joan Rivers Show” — which lasted seven months from October 1986 to May 1997 — and “The Wilton-North Report,” a hybrid sketch-comedy/talk show that aired for four weeks.Fox wanted Dolly Parton as its late-night star but her manager, who also represented Chase, recommended him. Chase, who was 18 years past his initial “Saturday Night Live” fame, was reportedly paid $3 million, and Fox spent another $1 million renovating the Aquarius Theater in LA — renaming it The Chevy Chase Theater.