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Saturday Night tells the story of the first Saturday Night Live, on the 11th of Oct 1975, as a cast of comedians are ready to change Saturday night TV forever.
The movie stars Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brian, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lemorne Morris, Fin Wolfhard, and Willam Defoe. Jason Reitman writes and directs, with Gil Kenan as co-writer.
The Story
The official story is:
At 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live (1975).
The entire move takes place during the run up to showtime.
It follows producer, Lorne Michaels (LeBelle) as he tries to get everything ready. He has actors who hate each other, too much crammed into the show, and suits breathing down his neck about what the show actually is.
There isn’t too much to say about the story, as it’s pretty straightforward. It’s more about the characters as we head to things going live.
SNL
Here in the UK, we never got Saturday Night Live. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode. The first time I remember hearing about it was when Wayne’s World came out. I found that Wayne’s World originated on SNL.
I then found out, that another movie I love, The Blues Brothers, was the same. What was a staple of US TV, Saturday Night Live, had spread around the world. Just looking it up, there weren’t as many movies as I thought.
Watching Saturday Night reminded me of the first episode of Monty Python in the UK. When it aired, people didn’t know what to make of it. The first episode, you can hear a live audience laugh, but with hesitation. This was a new kind of comedy and no one was sure what it was.
I imagine, back in 1975, most US TV was scripted sitcoms, dramas, hosted shows and they were all very straightforward. Saturday Night Live was more anarchic and crazy. It would change how TV shows would be produced.
The Cast
I’m very familiar with the names on that first Saturday Night Live show; Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Garrett Morris. Maybe not so much with the first ladies of comedy, but as we all know, women aren’t funny.
The impressions the actors do of the comedians are very good. They all have their mannerisms and voices. I liked Matt Wood as John Belushi, as Belushi saw himself as the Brando of comedy. He can’t really be in the show unless he signs his contract. Michaels trying to get him to sign the contract is like trying to herd cats.
In the movie, Billy Crystal was supposed to be on it but was cut. Dan Aykroyd wasn’t sure about of sketches, so Michaels had to convince him they were funny.
Saturday Night Chaos
What the movie does capture is the chaos before the show went live. I’ve only ever been to a couple of live recordings in the UK. They were all very organized and professional. In Saturday Night, it’s pure chaos.
There are moments where you see that Michaels just wants to run away screaming. At one point, he ends up in a bar, he meets a new writer whom he hires on the spot. He’s so desperate, that anyone can help.
From this viewpoint, the movie was great. I really felt for Michaels as he tried to hold everything together. He has the actors to deal with, drugs all over the place and, as I said, suits breathing down his neck.
The suits don’t really know what the show is. Michaels doesn’t either and has a hard time explaining it. He just knows, that if it goes to air, it’ll work.
Overall
As I said, I don’t know Saturday Night Live very well, but I found this movie interesting. If you know and love the show, you might have a different view of it. The chaos, the characters and the production is the main focus.
I’m going to give Saturday Night a solid 3.5 out of 5. I was interested in the story and had fun watching it.
Saturday Night is on streaming.
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