The frenetic pace of Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night feels like how the NBC variety show debuted 49 years on Oct 11.
It’s 90 minutes till showtime and the first-ever episode is not quite ready for prime time, as the cast of seven was referred to.
Show runner and creator of Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is a dervish of scattered energy, trying to deal with multiple issues such as John Belushi’s contract and disappearances, pressures from NBC brass Dave Tebet (Willem DeFoe) and co-producer Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), contentious union workers and a missing script for the hour-and-a-half program.
Networks naysayers call the nascent SNL a “counterculture show starring a bunch of nobodies,” which was fairly true. Belushi (Matt Wood), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) all came out of Second City. Laraine Newman (Emily Farin) and Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) were from the Groundlings and The Proposition, respectively. Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) wrote for and appeared on the National Lampoon Radio Hour. The lone Black cast member, singer Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris, no relation), wonders what he’s even doing on a comedy show.
Belushi is painted as an odd duck who barely speaks. He’s impervious to direction and at one point gets into an altercation with Chase. Belushi has a particular issue with wearing a yellow bee costume.
Aykroyd has some funny moments, especially when he splatters Michaels with fake blood intended for the Julia Childs sketch.
Chase appears to have a foot out the door just as SNL is getting going. He's eyeing Johnny Carson's job. Smith delivers one classic Chase pratfall.
The women mostly sit around, amused by the 17th floor shenanigans at 30 Rock. The best female role is reserved for Rosie Shuster, staff writer and Michaels’ first wife.
Head writer Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey), the gonzo spirit of SNL, has some good off-the-wall zingers. Al Franken (Taylor Gray) and Tom Davis (Mcabe Gregg) make an appearance as does musical director Paul Shaffer (Paul Rust). Billy Preston (John Batiste), George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), Janis Ian (Naomi McPherson) and Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun) are the special guests. Jim Henson (also Braun) nervously awaits his turn to show off The Muppets. Billy Crystal (NIcholas Podany) kvetches about his stage time.
There’s an uncomfortable scene with Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons) and his famous appendage and, in a phone call, Carson warns Michaels to know his place.
Band members get Michaels’ assistant Neil Levy (Andrew Barth Feldman, son of cannabis attorney David Feldman) stoned on a joint of weed Aykroyd says comes from “the Eastern slopes of Thailand.” When the freaked-out Neil locks himself inside a dressing room, Aykroyd recommends cocaine as an antidote.
The non-stop action acknowledges the impact of coke on the set. A band member gives Morris a vial which Belushi snorts all at once. There’s a big pile of it in Carlin’s dressing room.
But ultimately it’s Michaels’ movie and LaBelle (he played the lead in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans) rises to the occasion.
Saturday Night marks the beginning of the celebration of the comedy franchise’s 50th anniversary in 2025. It’s in theaters now.
MORE SNL LINKS
• Belushi and the Blue Brothers
