It’s easy to forget how revolutionary the American television show “Saturday Night Live” was when it came on the air in 1975. A live sketch show, made by a flock of twenty –somethings who had never made anything before was a highly risky proposition. It was a huge gamble for flagship network NBC, back when America only had three major television networks and cable television didn’t yet exist. Before SNL came along television was the purview of variety shows and the family friendly (at least on -air) “Uncle Miltie” Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons). It was not the front lines of fresh entertainment, it was establishment entertainment. A network censor is around to make sure it stays that way.
This new feature film SATURDAY NIGHT directed by Jason Reitman focuses on the nerve-racking 90 minutes leading up to the first live broadcast of what was then called “Saturday Night” on October 11, 1975. This is not a documentary pieced together with archival footage, but is instead a cinema-verite style shoot of a recreation of that night.
The nail-biting 90 minute film plunges the audience in media res of a hot mess, with just 90 minutes to go before the 11:30 showtime. The 90 minutes plays out in real-time as the clock ticks down to airtime. The big question: will the show really go on tonight?. The lights are falling, the sets are on fire and there is a llama in the loading dock that someone must have ordered for some reason.
The reason for all the drama: if the show doesn’t get its act together and get on the air tonight, it might never get on on the air at all. Lurking in the background is a cued up tape of a Johnny Carson rerun that may well derail the show ever getting on the air at all. Network heavy David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) explains the lay of the network land to Michaels, giving him the unflattering reasons why he has been given this chance at all.
We watch as Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) tries to herd the cats into the form of a brand new show, assisted by his wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) who would write some of the most memorable sketches of the early years of SNL.
The “Not Ready For Prime Time Players” that America would come to know and love were totally unknown on a national stage before the night the show hit the air. We see: Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Dan Akroyd (Dylan O’Brien) and Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun) as they are first trying to find their way in the big leagues of show business.
Since the movie is set in the comedy world of the 70s there is way too much coke and the kind of sexual shenanigans and drinking and indoor smoking of all kinds of substances that totally wouldn’t fly in a current workplace. At least one penis is used as a prop to prove a point.
This film is important because the entire comedy landscape of the last fifty years would have been entirely different if SNL hadn’t come along when it did.
SATURDAY NIGHT played Fantastic Fest 2024 as “Secret Screening #1.” The film opens in limited release on September 27th and in wide release on October 11. Thanks to Fantastic Fest and Fons PR for assistance with this review!
