
As the clock ticked down on October 11th, 1975, a new set of challenges arose. The lights on set almost toppled over the actors, seats remained empty, costume changes were yet unsolved, a set script was ‘work-in-progress’, and most importantly, John Belushi hadn’t even signed the contract. He juxtaposed the claim of the night with his views regarding the debut of “Saturday Night Live” which broadcast an entire episode’s worth of comedy for roughly thirty minutes of time. The broadcaster ‘Saturday Night’ had a lot of potentials because his team, known as ‘The Not Ready for Prime Time Players’, were unfiltered and funny. But first, Belushi had to sign the contract. At the age of thirty, Lorne Michaels decided to navigate his way through the combination of writers with no boundaries. Some colleagues blended with bottom-line cut demanding executives to chase his goals for the show while standing in front of a screaming audience.
With just an hour and a half to go before showtime, Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman chose to unleash the chaos from the very beginning.
Reitman and his cameraman Eric Steelberg are always a step behind Michaels, establishing a rhythm on the set that is dizzyingly out of sync whilst zooming through the halls past llamas and flying dress racks, collecting pages off of NBC employees. The movie was shot on 16mm film rather than the magnetic tapes that were used to film the show during its beginnings. It was primarily filmed on tapes, and the more mature color palette of the 70s provides a magic deeper hue and extraordinary texture which gives the wood paneling background and the lights in the dressing room a unique glow that is inviting. But, be ready to remind yourself not to get too comfortable, as there was never a scene that played out long enough before Micheals was once again present, this time to soothe the anxious executives or to search for missing actors.
This reminds me of the style that Gordon Willis employed while filming “The Godfather,” I believe it looks too extravagant for the topic that this ‘movie’ is headed toward. Willis picks a few characters and shoots them from behind the curtains in half-light while the remaining cast essentially operates in the shadows. Because we are unable to witness the performers absorb the context of the scene, it eliminates the comedy that accompanies their reaction to watching the adrenaline-filled set behind the curtain. Much of the film’s aesthetic relies exclusively on masking the desperate anticipation leading up to the showtime and its action-packed rhythm.
This ‘movie’ has a splash of nostalgia, a touch of acting, and a whole lot of references to comedians and sketches, making it both appealing and frightening to the audience. Besides all this, there is another reason that ‘Saturday Night’ is so appealing it was shot just before the 50th anniversary of the show.
Alongside Michael, there are the initial members of ‘Saturday Night Live”. Famous for being conceited, Chase plays by the equally conceited Chevy Chase- Cory Michael Smith’s character, with Matt Wood acting as the flip-floppy John Belushi. Furthermore, Dylan O’Brien is cast as the fast-talking Danny Aykroyd, while Ella Hunt embodies the character of a cheery Gilda Radner, Kim Matula impressively plays Jane Curtin, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman and Lamorne Morris round off the group of models as Garrett Morris, who is angered to realize he is the only black actor in the group who has to remain confined in the restraints of predetermined roles.
The series had invited many guests in the first episode, therefore, other people moved around the set just like the actors, such as the writer Michael O’Donoghue, portrayed by Tommy Dewey, and Lorne’s wife Rosie Shuster, played by Rachel Sennott. Other comedians like Matthew Rhys as George Carlin, Valri Bromfield, Corinne Britti as Billy Crystal, and Nicholas Podany also got roles. Musicians who made an appearance were Billy Preston as Jon Batiste, who also makes the music for ‘Saturday Night’, and Janis Ian as Naomi McPherson. In the future, David Letterman’s band leader Paul Shaffer was cast as well. Nicholas Braun takes on the roles of Jim Henson, who was ridiculed for his Muppet performance, and Andy Kaufman who gave an unforgettable ‘Mighty Mouse’ performance. Along with those, more network employees such as the irritated Dick Ebersol, played by Cooper Hoffman, and David Tebet played by Willem Dafoe come together to work on the project. His serious expression indicates he does not wish to continue the show.
Surprisingly, these were not the only nominations for the show; many of them probably did not take part in the initial recording. The voice of Johnny Carson was cast and his dialogue was his calling to ridicule Michaels. Milton Berle, portrayed by J.K. Simmons had got portray claim to fame as one of the worst hosts and will go on to become an icon in SNL history.
Each man was nothing short of a giant in the industry; they both have become the bad guys in conformist-friendly comedians that Michaels and his group of outcasts wanted to put an end to, according to Reitman’s narrative. This part is played for a laugh, and it is one of the things heavy handed metaphors that the movie masterfully handles, but like when Michaels has to demonstrate a brick phase during set construction, an hour before the broadcast. The cast and crew volunteer somewhere in the last few minutes and with a little help, it might be possible for them to go to town on Carson.
There is no doubt that many of these performers are deeply embedded in America’s comedy legacy and that’s how some impressions are bound to catch on more than others. A classic example of this is Smith as Chase and Wood as Belushi. O’Brien embodies the breathless speech that cemented Aykroyd as the go-to person in the cast while O’Brien himself captures his big Belushi energy. The movie does depict him with the mercurial genius style, however, Belushi’s notoriously erratic practices do seem exaggerated for the kind of comedy we have.
LaBelle manages to maintain the trademark humorous wit and charm of Michaels, while also being able to imagine how thrilling yet daunting it may have been 49 seasons back to lead a sketch show with little-known comedians. Rosie Shuster’s contributions to the show finally get the credit they sorely deserve. In addition, Sennott complements LaBelle’s wonderful but anxious aggression as the collected yet sharp-witted partner who finds a way to neutralize Belushi’s blows and refine the jokes on the spot.
However, these three – Radner, Curtin, and Newman – tend to end up as part of the giggling choruses of sketches with little active participation in the events. Hunt’s Performance of Radner seems lackluster, given that Radner was such a lively physical comedian in the troupe and was one of the show’s breakout stars. Hunt’s Radner has her longest scene talking with Belushi about nostalgia and arriving at 30 Rock with their kids for the show which starts in a few minutes. In addition to that, this moment feels particularly harsh, as neither Belushi nor Radner would have the opportunity to go back to work with their children because of their early demise. Not even mention, the first episode had yet to air. It’s hard to imagine the show surviving its inaugural season, let alone 50 years from now.
I’m always amazed that despite its issues, ‘Saturday Night’ still works as a crowd pleaser for those who witnessed the era of Chevy Chase commanding the Weekend Update desk, John Belushi’s theatrical stylings, Dan Aykroyd’s and Gilda Radner’s goofy, self-mocking audience antics and tearing up the stage. But, audiences who are not familiar with the drama of ‘SNL’ may not enjoy the film as much as those who are eager to catch every redeeming reference in the movie to the greater series which pays homage to the wow funny bone.
The optimal use of ‘Saturday Night’ is not in fact geared towards understanding what happened on this fateful night. Instead, it seems to be a fictional account of a series of events. With “Saturday Night” one can nostalgically remember a past when George Carlin would enthuse about baseball and football on television, everyone had Muppets as a childhood favorite but they had not started their own TV Show yet, and a handful of TV channels existed and all of them were still introducing a fiercely anti-establishment skirt that we now describe as scrappy. This was the period when there were attempts made to diversify the comedy phenomenon with TV shows and oh what a time it was.
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