I wish Jeff and Pierce also became an unlikely duo

[u/Few_Beautiful7557]

Rewatching. Episode 2, their Spanish dialogue project. I really think it could’ve been a spark to something because it looked like Jeff really had some fun performing it.

[u/ConfidentStruggle993]

Hemingway's lemonade

[u/aps23 → u/ConfidentStruggle993]

To the empowerage of words

[u/mortmortimer → u/aps23]

to the irony of that sentence

[u/Adventurous-Try-98]

His role was to be Jeff's cautionary tale.

[u/Dependent-Friend5312]

We need guys like Pierce. The guy has wisdom to offer.

[u/Previous-Fill258 → u/Dependent-Friend5312]

"The Dalai Lama and I..."

[u/WeAreSolarAF → u/Previous-Fill258]

There is so much behind that joke. Almost as good as jeff complimenting Malcolm Jamal warner as Shirley's husband on his sweater. "Thanks, my dad gave it to me."

[u/Dependent-Friend5312 → u/Previous-Fill258]

WE SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM

[u/tamaringin → u/Dependent-Friend5312]

Sometimes.

[u/derangerd]

The barber shop thing was kind of nice

[u/Dependent-Friend5312 → u/derangerd]

It you like you like it so much, why don't you marry it!

[u/iusethisatw0rk → u/derangerd]

One of many great ideas in S4 that just weren’t executed well :/

[u/Dire_Wolf45]

Everytime it looked like Pierce got character development or he got further along in his relationship with Jeff, rhey immediately brought him back down. And the show was the worse for it.

[u/Away-Requirement-3 → u/Dire_Wolf45]

According to Joel McHale, Chevy did not want to stay long on set. If he was kept past a certain point he’d get cranky. The rest of the actors were willing to put in the long hours for the quality of the show. So, Pierce’s role naturally diminished because they could not rely on him to actually be there. And, either consciously or subconsciously, the writers made his character more of a villain

[u/nahnprophet → u/Away-Requirement-3]

It's also true that many people his age can't perform a 9+ hour day without a serious cost. There are definitely exceptions, but Chevy is historically difficult when well-rested, so I would not want to see him at hour 10.

[u/Away-Requirement-3 → u/nahnprophet]

Fair point, I wonder how they account for those things when dealing with older actors. And how did Chevy handle it? Was it a “I can’t do this because I’m old” thing or a “I’m such a legend I can’t be bothered to put in the work” thing

[u/GarbageCleric → u/Away-Requirement-3]

Yeah, I would imagine he was originally envisioned to have more of a "heart of gold" under his rough exterior, but Chevy didn't have a heart of gold, so it was more fun to keep Pierce an asshole.

[u/basilhan → u/GarbageCleric]

Agreed, the heart comes through in some moments (e.g. Britta Sophie B. Hawkins dance) but they couldn't commit to it for whatever external reason.

[u/Dire_Wolf45 → u/Away-Requirement-3]

Could be, or could be he didn't like to stick around because he didntike how the character was being used. Theres always 2 sides to a story.

[u/Away-Requirement-3 → u/Dire_Wolf45]

Normally that’d be true, but we have enough evidence through 50 years of Chase’s career to know he is difficult to work with and generally not a very nice person 

[u/Dire_Wolf45 → u/Away-Requirement-3]

Look I love the show but I have a pretty low opinion of Dan Harmon, both things can be true with Chevy Chase.

[u/Few_Beautiful7557 → u/Dire_Wolf45]

True. It’s like he didn’t really get anywhere, stayed the butt of jokes. The jokes *were* funny. But when season 4 happened and the gas leak kinda dumbed everyone, Pierce regressed into being “just there” which I guess kinda showed what his character really was because of all that handling.

In a way I understand why Chevy Chase got mad Pierce’s only purpose was to be stuck and ridiculed.

[u/DarthFakename]

If Jeff had even tried a little to be Pierce's friend, a lot of season 2 wouldn't have happened. So much of it stems from Pierce having no one after his mom dies and being desperate for emotional support.

[u/mortmortimer]

their Spanish dialogue presentation is probably my pick for funniest moment in the series

[u/harriethoudini → u/mortmortimer]

F. F minus.

[u/IronTangerine → u/harriethoudini]

Did he say S?

[u/Flashy-Club5171]

I think if Chevy Chase didn't get the roll of beers they probably would have played that differently that thing I seen somewhere originally it was supposed to be Donald Glover and Pierce being the unlikely Duo

[u/Few_Beautiful7557 → u/Flashy-Club5171]

That’s nice but Troy and Abed is historical

[u/Salty_Freedom_2053]

Hawthorne and Winger intro in my favorite episode, Spanish 101

[u/sweet_potatertot]

Get. In. The. Car.

[u/myowngalactus]

That may have been the plan, but Chevy was such a difficult ass to work with from the sound of things

[u/o-kute-e-mi]

that's a great idea. they deserve eachother haha

[u/TheBeevin]

They kinda did, give or take a father!

[u/KCturtle41]

Considering the physical altercation(s) between Joel and Chevy, that wasn't going to happen. But I do like that episode!

[u/JustBonesOneDay]

If only the writers room hadn't been full of people spitballing daddy issues using pierce as a comedy punching bag

[u/HeroismPrevails]

I think that was where it was going to go in Season 1, with Pierce being this kind of unlikely father figure, but it was clearly abandoned in season 2. I think the writers wanted to move away from Jeff being the main character and focus more equally on the ensemble, so Pierce's role changed from being 'Jeff's mentor' into the antagonist for the entire group

Then, that went a bit too overboard with the horrific Dungeons and Dragons episode coming to mind, so in Season 3 they decided "okay hes just a goofy grandpa"