Reitman’s take on SNL‘s first episode is as much fun as the show itself
That the new film Saturday Night opens this Friday, October 11th, is no accident. Exactly 49 years ago to the date, Saturday Night, the original title of the iconic late night sketch show Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC. Director Jason Reitman’s movie, which dramatizes the chaos immediately preceding the airing of that first trailblazing episode, is the perfect homage to the long-running live program that is about to enter an incredible 50th season.
Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan infuse their film with more energy, more surprises, more humor, more youth, and more vigor than the actual show has offered in years. Using an on screen time-stamp to remind us how quickly minutes are passing before the 11:30pm go-time, Reitman immediately draws us into the high-pressure, high-stress, nail-biting world of Saturday Night creator and producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans). Lorne confronts an everything-that-can-go-wrong-will-go wrong situation as he frantically tries to get the show ready for an unprecedented live broadcast featuring a cast of unknowns. Light fixtures fall, the NBC censor demands rewrites, union crew members rebel, cast members spar, and sketches, costumes, and music aren’t even finalized as the clock ticks toward showtime.
Compounding the mayhem, star John Belushi (Matt Wood) disappears from the set while his contract remains unsigned, a frustrated Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) feels his Julliard training is being wasted, stand-up comedian George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) unapologetically snorts cocaine before his set, and guest star Milton Berle (JK Simmons) blatantly hits on cast member Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith)’s girlfriend right in front of him.
All this chaos is portrayed with verve and humor by the film’s large cast, each of whom captures the personality of their real life counterparts, even when the physical resemblance is almost non-existent. LaBelle creates an appealing young but intelligent and driven Lorne Michaels. Smith’s Chevy Chase is the stand out, with Dylan O’Brien’s Dan Ackroyd, Nicholas Braun’s dual Jim Henson/Andy Kaufman roles, and Wood’s John Belushi vying for close seconds. A scene in which Belushi and his co-star Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) muse on growing old is especially poignant, as neither of them would live to see the show’s 20 year anniversary.
The film buzzes with action, and numerous characters dash in and out of the frame so frequently that Reitman deserves credit for never allowing the viewer to feel lost. We always care about Lorne’s PT Barnum-esque efforts to put on a show, even in the face of mini-disasters and challenges. Lorne must fend off skeptical NBC execs, for example, including the villainous network honcho Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe), who seems to want Lorne’s show to fail to bolster NBC’s attempts to preserve the network’s late night status quo.
Lorne was essentially alone, we learn. He had no air cover from NBC, or from Johnny Carson, or even from Carlin, the counterculture star of the day. That Lorne succeeded in getting the show off on time that night on the sheer strength of his conviction and intellect was amazing then, but now that the show is 50 years old, thanks to Reitman’s film, we can more clearly see just how much Lorne deserves credit for being one of the consummate showmen of our times.
Watching Lorne juggle and shape all the raw, unbridled talent and numerous last-minute setbacks and uncertainty into something with such staying power makes for exceedingly fun viewing. Lorne’s simple, unwavering desire to put on the kind of show he knows is right for a new generation is impressive. At one point, Lorne tries to explain what Saturday Night is: It’s all night in New York City, he says. It’s everything you think will happen in the City, all at once.
That moment left me with chills. If you’re old enough to remember the show’s debut, then you’re old enough to remember what New York was like in the mid ‘70s: a wonderland for musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists, and comedians. As Lorne knew, New York then was the epicenter of American creativity, and Reitman’s film shares and expresses that same vibe in equal measure.
With its heavy nostalgia factor, the movie may not appeal to younger Saturday Night Live fans, if any even exist now. There was a time when SNL was can’t-miss TV, and its cast members were the smartest and funniest people in America. But many years have passed since then. The television market has changed, and broadcast TV is a shadow of itself. Yes, the film is a period piece, but its portrait of Lorne’s fresh view of comedy and what TV could offer serves as a reminder of how Lorne Michaels, and the cast of that 1975 wild experiment, changed television and comedy for generations to come.
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Saturday Night opens in theaters on Friday, October 11th.
