Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo to Reunite for a TV Show That Isn’t a Vacation TV Show

By  · Published on January 27th, 2015

Warner Bros. Pictures

Sometimes you need to let the past be the past and do something original for a change. And sometimes you just need to give us fans what we want. Do we need for Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo to co-star in a TV show that strangely doesn’t have anything to do with the Vacation movie franchise? No. Do we want for the duo, best known together as Clark and Ellen Griswold, to just co-star in a TV show based on the Vacation movie franchise? Yes. At this point, why not?

They’ve done so many of those movies, some great and some not, and there’s another sequel/reboot on the way focused on grown-up Rusty and Audrey (Ed Helms and Leslie Mann). They’ve also done commercials as their Vacation characters. A TV show like what ABC has a pilot order for, titled Chev & Bev, is only going to remind us of their iconic pairings. It’s time for Chase and D’Angelo to face the fact that as they enter their twilight years this is what they have to do, forever.

It ties well into the situation of this situation comedy, which is that they’re grandparents enjoying their retirement until suddenly they’re forced to raise their grandchildren. They can’t escape their destiny either. Re-title this thing Permanent Vacation, tragically kill off Audrey (since Rusty is leading the rebooted movies, and surely Helms would be a better occasional guest star than Mann) and now you’ve got something that people want to see.

Hopefully, either way this show is good, because Chase needs our love again after his Community departure and D’Angelo always has our love and needs a place for us to see her on a weekly basis. And with Emmy-nominated Arrested Development writer Brad Copeland penning the pilot, maybe it will be. Regardless, I’ll be pretending it’s Vacation: The TV Series.

Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.