There are two superb books — “Saturday Night” and “Live from New York” — about the behind-the-scenes chaos that turned “SNL” into a surprise counterculture smash for NBC in 1975, and neither of them mince words about what an absolute jackass Chevy Chase could be. Thanks to his anti-impersonation of President Gerald Ford, and his front-and-center perch at the “Weekend Update” news desk, Chase was the show’s breakout star in its first season. He knew it. He was high-handed with and verbally abusive to some of his co-stars while a series regular, and, when he returned to host the show in 1978 to promote his starring role in “Foul Play,” he got into a backstage fistfight with new “SNL” golden boy Bill Murray.

Chase was also in the throes of an addiction to painkillers (which he began taking to quell the aches brought on by his penchant for pratfalls). He was, by many accounts, an unpleasant person to be around, which Heckerling would discover during the shoot of “European Vacation.”