Eight years ago I saw Chevy Chase onstage in London at the Apollo being interviewed by DJ Mike Read. It was one of those nights you don't forget easily. Not because of Chase, but because of Read, whose interview technique was somewhat unconventional. At one point he picked up a guitar, which I wasn't expecting. I don't know whether Chase was but he handled the situation pretty well. Then again, he's been through a lot over the years.

This incident isn't referred to in the very watchable new Sky documentary I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not, but there are plenty of examples of Chase doing the unexpected himself. From the get-go the New Yorker was acknowledged as funny, but also from the get-go his personality seemed to divide the room. He was not universally liked by colleagues, but became the first superstar of Saturday Night Live before being plucked from the cast to become a Hollywood star in hits from Foul Play to Caddyshack and the National Lampoon Vacation franchise.

This documentary covers most of the bases (though only features his iconic appearance in the Paul Simon You Can Call Me Al video in the credits) and doesn't shy away from his bad points. The brilliance of his humour, apart from the well-timed slapstick pratfalls, was that it felt unedited. He'd slip in inappropriate asides when you least expected them. The trouble is that, looking back at them now, his witticisms feel less funny. I'm sure Chase is not racist or sexist or homophobic but he said things that wouldn't be acceptable today.

And the trouble is that in the new interview with Chase insulting asides that he considers funny but others might not still have a tendency to slip out. Calling the film's female interviewer (presumably director Marina Zenovich) "bitch", for example.

Sometimes he gives alternative versions of events, sometimes he says sorry and is genuinely contrite. The film traces his rise and then fall (and mountain-sized concaine use) and then rise again when he played a lovable eccentric in Community. Until he was involved in another controversy over remarks and left the show. 

Towards the end we get what some see as an explanation for his behaviour. His mother and stepfather were both strict and of all the children he seemed to be the one that was punished the most. Somehow this damage carried through into his own adult behaviour. 

Does this mean you can forgive him? That's your call. His family clearly love him (he briefly forgets the name of his first wife, although recent memory blips are put down to being in a coma during Covid). His second marriage lasted less than a year. Wedding guests were taking bets on how long it would last. The film doesn't say who won. 

I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not is available on Sky & Now