‘Saturday Night’ Review – A Colorful Throwback To When ‘Saturday Night Live’ Was Actually Funny

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. It seems to be true no matter the topic – and it’s definitely true of Saturday Night Live, as we learn from the excellent new film, Saturday Night.

Anyone who is reading this review likely won’t remember any time in their life when Saturday Night Live was funny. The once-iconic show has transformed into a left-wing political theater for the last couple of decades. It was written by progressive women and directed by Lorne Michaels.

Well, some people in the media will argue that SNL is still as counterculture as they were back in the day. Reality states that is the furthest thing from the truth. The last time Saturday Night Live was counterculture, you have to go way back. I’m not talking about the Tina Fey era, the Will Ferrell era, the Adam Sandler era, or even the Eddie Murphy era.

We have to go back to a period when Saturday Night Live had a purpose and drive – almost 50 years to 1975. A group of 20-year-old no-name local New York comedians were given air time by NBC to host a live comedy show at 11:30 on a Saturday night.

A time slot that was destined to fail as the question lingers: who in the world would watch a show of a bunch of nobodies at midnight on a Saturday?  Well, Saturday Night Live may have been set up to fail, but the gamble turned out to be one of the biggest payoffs in television history, which leads us to the story of Saturday Night.

Saturday Night takes the audience back to October 11, 1975. A young Lorne Michaels arrives at the NBC building in New York City to prepare for the airing of the first episode of NBC’s Saturday Night. Michaels has 90 minutes to organize and produce his show behind the scenes before going live to millions of people. Michaels’s boss, Dick Ebersol, warns him that David Tebet has brought executives from across the country to come and see the taping. However, Ebersol makes it known that Tebet has no faith in the show and is ready to replay a taping of an episode of Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show to fill in for time.

To make matters worse, Michaels is struggling to wrangle in his quirky and over-the-top cast, who are dealing with several behind-the-scenes issues that threaten the show from ever making the air.  If Michael’s doesn’t pull everyone together with less than an hour to go, Saturday Night will die before it ever sees the light of day.

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Ghostbusters director Jason Reitman is the man in charge of this film and the atmosphere that he wanted to create the first time he watched Saturday Night Live on television. Reitman is a great filmmaker when it comes to topics that he is passionate about presenting on screen. 

Now Jason did not watch the very first episode in 1975, but the film does a pretty solid job of recreating on a very small scale the broadcast television arena of the mid-70s. Saturday Night gives audiences a colorful ensemble cast of actors who bring to life the original 1970s cast of the show and striking details of their personalities from that period.

In many ways, the film comes off as a behind-the-scenes look at a stage play. The standouts in the film are Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, and Dylan O’Brien as the charismatic Dan Aykroyd.

The plot of the film revolves around the frantic work in putting together a live show less than an hour before the red light goes on. Gabriel LaBelle, who plays Lorne Michaels, is a stressed-out mess trying to keep his eccentric cast of comedians in line while putting out creative fires all over the building, as well as trying to keep the executives from upstairs from pulling the plug on his show before he ever has a chance to air.

The film gives great insight into what life was like on Saturday Night Live before it gained name recognition. Decades before the show became a hotspot for celebrity comedians, actors, and singers, the severity and the stress associated with live television is well put together.

One of the flaws of this movie is that you would have to go in knowing most of the 1970s cast of the show. Names such as Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are well-known SNL alumni, but outside of that, modern audiences may not be as familiar with other members. This presents an interesting dilemma about who the target audience of this film should be.

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It seems only an older generation will understand all of the references this film has to offer unless you start binge-watching ’70s SNL content before watching this film. The story is all about determination and the underdog overcoming the odds.

While it is sad to see what Saturday Night Live has become over the course of 50 years, the story of how the show came together is an intriguing one. Saturday Night is a frantic yet entertaining look behind the curtain and experience for audiences looking for evidence that a 50-year-old late-night variety show had talent once upon a time.

As one of the most entertaining and well-paced movies of 2024, Saturday Night is a brilliant blast from the past.