R.L. Stine Movie Reunites Dan Aykroyd & Chevy Chase

Two of the original Saturday Night Live cast members are reuniting in a movie...that's based on an R.L. Stine book.

This isn't necessarily the movie I would have hoped that would reunite two of the funniest people from the 1970's but Chevy told CBS earlier this year that he just wanted to work. Between "mutually agreeing" to leave Community for being difficult to work with and then being banned from hosting Saturday Night Live for being rude to the cast, this may have been a rare opportunity to get in front of a camera again. It hasn't been that much better for Aykroyd of late. Other than various Ghostbuster incarnations, he's been on the sideline for most of the last several years.

In the 1980's when I was a kid, it was just assumed the run both of them were on would last forever. In the 80's alone, Chase was in Fletch, Caddyshack and three of the Vacation movies. He even hosted the Oscars twice. 

Out of the original cast, Aykroyd was the most versatile and consistently funny member of The Not Ready For Prime Time Players. He follows that up with The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters (both of which he co-wrote).He got nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Driving Miss Daisy.

Now they are both in an R.L. Stine movie with teenagers as the leads.

I don't know how I should have expected it to wind down for them. The rest of the Three Amigos, Steve Martin and Martin Short are both in Murders In The Building on Hulu. It's a show that plays to their strengths and appeals to both a new and a familiar audience. That would be the ideal place to wind down a legendary comedy career. But maybe Chevy had that with Community and he fucked it up by being an asshole. 

People will put up with shitty behavior if your movies bring in lots of money but if you lose that fastball even a little bit, what was once ignored becomes under a glaring spotlight. Chase certainly lost a few miles off that fastball with movies like Cops & Robbersons and The Chevy Chase Show, which was a late night show on FOX that lasted five weeks before being cancelled.

Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd movies are still funny. Ghostbusters and Christmas Vacation are still beloved today and their other older work may feel a little slow at times to some younger audiences but Ty Webb and Elwood Blues are still universally accepted as hysterical characters. Comedians age out quicker than dramatic actors. You're seeing it in real time with Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey and it even happened with Charlie Chaplin. Apparently, it's tough to be funny in movies when you get older. Maybe you don't change but the younger audiences want something different. That also might be why Chevy Chase is doing an R.L. Stine movie deep into his 70's.

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He wouldn't change.