Saturday Night is the story of the first episode of the TV show Saturday Night, soon to be known as Saturday Night Live or even just SNL. Or rather it’s the story to the run-up to the live broadcast of the first episode. The sketch show has been running for fifty years and has elevated the likes of Dan Akroyd, Kristen Wiig, Bill Murray and more to stardom and while now it is a mainstay of American television not many thought it would be successful.
In Front Of The Camera
The film has a large ensemble cast, lead by Gabriel LaBelle as the show’s creator and mastermind Lorne Michaels who is trying to wrangle some of the most unreliable and unpredictable people in the country to make a show. Willem Dafoe plays the positively sinister Dave Tebet; an NBC executive who can choose to cancel the live broadcast. There are too many actors to list here but particular attention should go to Matt Wood as John Belushi who is so incredibly convincing you think its they’ve just put footage of the real Belushi into the film, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase who is so unlikable you want to punch him for most of the film and Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, writer and Lorne Michael’s wife, sort of, who bursts with confidence and the ability to wrangle Lorne.
Behind The Scenes
The film is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman who is probably best known for directing Juno but also has great films like Up In The Air, Young Adult and more. Reitman has also done some work on SNL before.
Does It Work?
The film takes place almost entirely in the ninety minutes before the first live broadcast. The show is scheduled for 90 minutes but is estimated to be running at double that judging by all the acts they have, major cast member John Belushi hasn’t signed his contract, Chevy Chase is upsetting everyone with his ego, a llama has arrived and there are a million problems any one of which could sink the show. Many of the people involved are now well known as being difficult to work with – John Belushi is uncontrollable, Chevy Chase is not always popular with other cast members, guest host comedian George Carlin could not be relied upon in any way to not swear – or worse – on live tv and everyone seems to delight in poking the person from Standards and Practices, essentially the censor.
The film, especially the first half, will make you dizzy. Long unbroken shots follow Lorne as he tries to keep the show on track, snippets of conversation form a background hum of not quite discernible talking. Every five seconds someone is shouting about a delivery, a problem with costume, a phone call, a meeting. It feels exhausting just trying to keep up as the audience how anyone could handle making this film or the tv show behind it is hard to imagine.
The question is repeatedly asked – what is this show? It’s not a sitcom, it’s not a variety show, it’s not a sketch show like Monty Python, there were no stars in the cast and it’s often suggested, sometimes outright stated, nobody wants the show to succeed. When we see glimpses of some of the other things NBC is broadcasting, like the dire variety show The Rumpus Room you can see why SNL would be challenging and surprising. Milton Berle, a superstar from the early days of television whose nickname was Mr Television, hangs around the studios seemingly unimpressed with the show and everyone involved. He is a very concrete symbol of old television or perhaps television just before SNL. In a hugely uncomfortable moment talking to executives, affiliates etc, Lorne Michaels describes it as the first show made by the first generation who grew up on television. As brilliant as previous performers might have been television was a new medium for them.
As well as the various conversations about art, censorship, ambition, etc the film is very funny. Classically trained actor, playwright and opera singer Garrett Morris’ odyssey of trying to work out what his place is in this show, as the only non-white member of the cast he feels out of place and complains about only getting to play hoodlums and pimps – the end of this journey culminates in one of the funniest moments of the film. Nicholas Braun pulls double duty as the oddest of the odd performers Andy Kaufman and loveable puppeteer Jim Henson. Kaufman is never not in character and seems to wander the building not knowing where he is meant to be. Henson’s incredibly gentle demeanour sits uncomfortably with the foul-mouthed cast who also resent working with puppets, and Henson states that the problem is they’re not puppets, they’re co-stars. Which perhaps would not win over cynical comedy writers and performers.
Is It Real?
This is not a documentary. Many events depicted in the film didn’t happen in that way, at that time, in that order. Some didn’t happen at all. However, what Reitman was trying to recreate was the anarchic feeling that seems to have genuinely infused the show, the feeling of being on the very edge of failure but just maybe you could pull it off and do something spectacular. The show was not as unpopular with management as is shown, the cast was not quite as dysfunctional, and early TV legend Milton Berle wasn’t lurking around the set being Milton Berle-y. But the show was expensive, live and untested, who would put that on the air? The cast did have a lot of problems, Chevy Chase and John Belushi did not get along at all and to this day people still talk about how hard Chase is to work with. And Milton Berle did guest-host an early episode of SNL that Lorne Michaels hated.
Saturday Night is a funny and enjoyable film, which will work even better if you are a fan of SNL and American comedy.
Rating: 
(3 / 5) (3.5 out of 5 if you’re a fan of SNL.)
