FILM · 1980
Seems Like Old Times
41 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (41)
- #001
Paul McCartney wrote and recorded a song as the title track for this film, but it was never used.
- #002
According to the film's early publicity, Marsha Mason and Burt Reynolds were announced as the leads of this film. The roles ultimately went to Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase.
- #003
While shooting this film, Goldie Hawn was divorcing Bill Hudson (Kate Hudson's father) and was overseeing post-production on Private Benjamin (1980), in which she starred and served as executive producer.
- #004
Working with Goldie Hawn was a pleasure for Neil Simon. Simon called Hawn "a rare combination. She can be very funny and very sexy. She really understands what's funny and what's dreary in life" and "For a film comedian she has two essential qualities: funny and very sexy. Audiences respond to her on two levels. They get her. She's wonderful to work with."
- #005
Neil Simon had a specific location in mind for the film's opening. Simon said: "I wanted an isolated place for the writer (Chevy) Chase to work on his book, and it had to be a place he could easily be kidnapped from, so it couldn't be in a metropolitan city where it would be a little harder." Recalling a drive he and his then-wife Marsha Mason had taken along Big Sur on the California coast a few years before the film was developed and made, Simon decided the picturesque coastline would be the perfect place to begin the film and give it a distinctive look. In early April 1980, the assembled cast and crew traveled to California's magnificent Carmel and Big Sur coastline to launch the saga of this film.
- #006
Filming began with spectacular aerial photography highlighting the romantic coastline. A cabin was built on the edge of a cliff three hundred meters above a rocky beach in the Pacific Ocean, where Nicholas Gardenia (Chevy Chase) is staying when he is vaguely kidnapped. The location of the bank robbery was a small bank in the center of Carmel, California, a small, charming village that draws visitors from around the world. The Seems Like Old Times (1980) company was all there when it shot for two days on a warm April weekend. Onlookers watched for hours just to catch a glimpse of Chevy Chase, the only principal actor working at the location. Chase graciously pleased his fans by signing autographs and posing for photos with them.
- #007
This is the only feature film directed by Jay Sandrich; the rest of his work was in television.
- #008
The picture represented the second and final star pairing of Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, whose previous film together was Foul Play (1978).
- #009
This picture was inspired by the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s.
- #010
This film was written directly for the screen and, unlike many of his other films, was not based on a Neil Simon play.
- #011
It was one of three Chevy Chase films released in 1980. The films were Caddyshack (1980), Oh Heavenly Dog (1980) and Seems Like Old Times (1980).
- #012
Some scenes were shot in Salinas, California, and along California Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) beside the Pacific Ocean; these include a spectacular sequence featuring three cameras perched on the edge of a fourteen-hundred-meter dune, where a stuntman tumbles down several times after being thrown from a speeding car.
- #013
Park's house at 242 Avondale Ave, used for exterior shots, has been demolished.
- #014
This film was unique in Neil Simon's canon; it was inspired neither by his own life, nor by a real event, nor by anyone he had observed in his life. The picture was written specifically as a farce.
- #015
The residence used in the film is located at 242 Avondale Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The intersection where Chester runs the stop sign is at the corner of Evanston and Avondale. There is no Lotus Drive in Brentwood, as District Attorney Parks mentions in a courtroom scene.
- #016
It was the first of two films starring Goldie Hawn and written by Neil Simon; the second was The Out-of-Towners (1999).
- #017
Five of the sets built on the Burbank soundstage were a bedroom, the exterior of a garage with stairs leading up to the small apartment where Nick (Chevy Chase) hides, the garage apartment itself, Ira's (Charles Grodin) offices, and a courtroom with real oak paneling.
- #018
(At about 1 hour 20 minutes in) Chevy Chase and Charles Grodin shoot their first scene together. Overall, they share less than 10 minutes of screen time together.
- #019
The spot where Chevy Chase parks the car before the bank robbery is at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Lincoln Street, on the corner just outside the Harrison Memorial Library. The bank they rob is across the street and is now a jeweler.
- #020
Production designer Gene Callahan created the backdrop for most of the film's action by building six sets on an enormous soundstage. Stages 12 and 18 were combined to accommodate all the sets. It was the second-largest stage at the Burbank studios at 31,000 square meters. From January 14, 1980, the sets were built over an eight-week period by a construction crew of fifty carpenters, painters and workers.
- #021
Seems Like Old Times was the second of three films written by Neil Simon in which Charles Grodin starred; the others were The Lonely Guy (1984) and The Heartbreak Kid (1972).
- #022
Glenda's car is a 1976 Chevrolet Malibu Classic station wagon, while Ira's car is a 1979 Ford LTD Landau.
- #023
The main set built for the film was the home of upper-middle-class professionals Glenda Parks and Ira Parks (Goldie Hawn and Charles Grodin, respectively). It features unusual touches reflecting Glenda's warm personality and her passion for helping the world's underprivileged and outsiders, whether human or animal. The Tudor-style house consisted of a living room, dining room, study, kitchen, staircase, upstairs hallway and pantry. The exterior matched perfectly with the location of the house in Brentwood, California, used for exterior scenes. The set interior is larger than the real house. The Tudor style was chosen for its fine craftsmanship and paneling. Everything was custom-built, including oak parquet floors, custom-cast stairs, a real brick walkway, a real asphalt driveway and custom metal casement windows. The wallpaper was specially designed in New York. The house was painted in three grays taken from the wallpaper. Soft grays were used because the color's neutrality allowed blonde star Goldie Hawn to stand out against that background. Even the oak parquet floors were painted gray. The study has a style contrasting dark wood with red wallpaper. This is the room of the character Ira Parks (Charles Grodin). The house was decorated with collections of brass, patchwork, animal artwork, books and antique-style furniture, all blended with the personalities and lifestyles of the residents.
- #024
After a week of location shooting on California's central coast at the start of principal photography, the company returned to Los Angeles for the bulk of filming, most of which took place on a large soundstage at the Burbank studios.
- #025
Nick's vehicle is a 1970 GMC Jimmy, the Chevrolet Blazer version of the GMC.
- #026
Charles Grodin was nominated for a Razzie® Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his role as Ira J. Parks; he did not win.
- #027
Much of the crew had worked together on earlier Neil Simon and Ray Stark productions. The film was the fifth that executive producer Roger M. Rothstein made with Simon, and the sixth for cinematographer David M. Walsh.
- #028
It is one of eleven films made by Neil Simon and producer Ray Stark. The films shot mostly at Columbia Pictures and Rastar Pictures include Murder by Death (1976), The Cheap Detective (1978), California Suite (1978), Chapter Two (1979), The Sunshine Boys (1975), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Goodbye Girl (1977), The Slugger's Wife (1985), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986), Biloxi Blues (1988) and Lost in Yonkers (1993). The production of Seems Like Old Times (1980) marked the seventh collaboration between Simon and Stark.
- #029
The film was released in theaters during the Christmas season in many territories, including Australia, the United States, Norway, Sweden and Argentina.
- #030
Jay Sandrich, who for years had worked as a successful television director on hit comedies such as Soap (1977) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), made his feature-film directing debut with this film. Sandrich and Neil Simon hit it off immediately. Simon had long admired Sandrich's work and appreciated his taste. Seems Like Old Times (1980) was the first of two Simon works directed by Sandrich; Sandrich later directed Simon's London Suite (1996) for television.
- #031
It is one of two Rastar Films releases in 1980 starring Charles Grodin; the other is It's My Turn (1980).
- #032
The film's production notes describe it as a romantic comedy inspired by the popular comedy films of the 1930s. Set in a contemporary environment, it carries all the elements of films from that earlier era.
- #033
Both Chevy Chase and Charles Grodin later appeared in Muppet films. Chase had a cameo in Follow That Bird (1985), and Grodin played the villain in The Great Muppet Caper (1981).
- #034
Although Foul Play (1978) was better received by critics, this is a nearly equal pairing of Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. In the earlier film Chase took a supporting role, whereas here he takes the supporting lead opposite Hawn.
- #035
In the 1990s Charles Grodin also appeared in two popular dog comedies: Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993).
- #036
All three leads appeared in films starring Steve Martin: Chevy Chase appeared with Martin in ¡Three Amigos! (1986); Goldie Hawn appeared with Martin in Housesitter (1992) and The Out-of-Towners (1999); and Charles Grodin shared top billing in The Lonely Guy (1984).
- #037
It is one of two 1980 "dog" films starring Chevy Chase. Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times (1980) featured several pet dogs, prominently included on the film's main poster. The other film, Oh Heavenly Dog (1980), featured the popular dog Benji (played by Benjean).
- #038
The film was released while Robert Guillaume (Fred) was starring in another governor-centered production, though on television: Benson (1979) (1979-1986).
- #039
When the gas station attendant opens the candy machine to get the Milk Duds Nick (Chevy Chase) paid for, he starts gathering up the scattered candies and asks Nick whether he likes Clark bars. Chevy Chase played Clark Griswold in the Vacation film series.
- #040
Charles Grodin looks after a St. Bernard here, as he would years later in Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993).
- #041
Chevy Chase also plays a character named Nick in Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992). In both films he is shown fleeing from others and hiding in the house of a blonde woman with whom others are staying.
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