Joel McHale Awkwardly Explains Beating Up Chevy Chase on 'Late Night' (Video)

CBS

Count one for Team Chevy.

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All summer, and even as they've worked to promote the new season of Community, the case of the cult hit NBC comedy has been vocal in its support for ousted showrunner Dan Harmon, who got the can after a series of leaked voicemails, public statements and on-set stories made clear the extent of the dysfunction in his relationship with one of the show's co-stars, Chevy Chase. On Thursday, Chase got some backup from Late Show host David Letterman, who pressed Joel McHale about the reasons behind some of his own picadilloes with the comedy icon.

"There were some creative differences, but Chevy is coming back to the show," McHale explained, before making a crack. "He's been in hibernation since March, and we're going to go into that cave and poke him with a very sharp stick, and he's like 'Dah, I'm Fletch!'"

"You know, you're just making it worse," Letterman lectured in response. "Whatever the problem is, you're making it worse. Now, I've Chevy Chase for a long time, always been very nice to me and my family. Paul [Shaffer] would say the same thing. Now what's going on over there?"

That chastened McHale, who then went on to explain how he, accidentally and thanks to some egging on, separated Chase's shoulder. Which is probably part of their differences.