SNL Alums Remember Infamous Backstage Fight Between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray: 'It Was Very Sad'

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Marty Lederhandler/AP/Shutterstock Comedian Chevy Chase, second from left, joins the cast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," with Laraine Newman, from right, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Jane Curtin

Former Saturday Night Live stars Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman are looking back on the infamous backstage fight between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.

Curtin, 73, and Newman, 69, appeared on Watch What Happens Live! on Thursday, when they were asked by a caller about the 1978 altercation.

Newman said that she, Curtin, and their late costar Gilda Radner witnessed the fight, which got physical in the dressing room of late comedian John Belushi - just moments before the show aired.

"It was very sad and painful and awful," Newman said.

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"It was that sad kind of tension that you would get in a family, and everybody goes to their corners because they don't want to have to deal with the tension, and it was uncomfortable," Curtin said. "You could understand, you know, there were these two bull mooses going at each other, so the testosterone was surging and stuff happens."

"I think they both knew the one thing that they could say to one another that would hurt the most, and that's what I think incited it," Newman added.

Bravo Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman on WWHL

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Chase, 77, and Murray, 70, went on to star in Caddyshack together just two years later - and as WWHL host Andy Cohen put it, "everything worked out."

Chase previously opened up about the incident on The Howard Stern Show, explaining that it took place during an episode he was hosting.

The comedian admitted that he "was probably a little bit full of myself after a year of fame," adding that Murray - who joined the SNL cast as Chase's replacement in 1977 - "probably wanted to knock me down a couple of rungs" after hearing rumors about him from Belushi.

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"And basically, words were said - just before the show in the makeup room - and he got me really pissed," Chase explained.

"I was ready to level him, and he was probably ready to scratch me up," Chase continued, adding that Belushi ended up getting caught in the middle of their scuffle.

Since then, however, the relationship has only improved.

"We've never been close, but we've been very friendly, we play golf together," Chase said of his relationship with Murray. "I think we've made an effort over the years to get to know each other better and to put that stuff behind."