The first episode of “NBC’s Saturday Night Live” aired from Studio 8H located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Oct. 11, 1975. For 50 years, “SNL” has produced comedy sketches, political commentaries and musical performances that correspond with the evolving audience and generations that tune in at 11:30 p.m.
“Saturday Night” tells the story of the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” Lorne Michaels, played by Gabriel LaBelle, is a young, upstart producer who assembled a cast of “Not Ready for Primetime Players” with the hopes of crafting a show for young audiences, made by young comedians.
The troop’s biggest obstacle, besides building the sets, finalizing the script and getting everyone to sign their contract, is David Tebet, played by Willem Dafoe. Tebet has the ultimate authority on whether or not the show will make it to air and despite his complementary demeanor, he hopes to see Michaels fail.
Directed by Jason Reitman, “Saturday Night” offers a look behind the scenes of one of the most eccentric shows to ever broadcast on syndicated network television and reveals that what happens on screen is a continuation of the off screen antics. Between the writer making fun of Jim Henson’s Muppets to the battle of words against the NBC morality censor, “Saturday Night” has some moments of comedy sprinkled in alongside strained efforts toward catharsis.
However, the main issue with “Saturday Night” is a direct result of the film’s novelty: the race against a “ticking clock.” The shaky handheld camera shots adequately express the tension but distract from any character arcs or growth. There are so many characters experiencing different emotions that it becomes difficult to “buy in” to any, let alone one, of the characters outside of Michaels.
For example, Rachel Sennott plays Rosie Shuster, the ex-wife of Michaels, and it is clear that she is behind the ultimate success of getting the show ready in 90 minutes. From crafting jokes to alleviating the stress of the actors and stagehands, Shuster makes the show—and film—come together despite having less than 20 minutes of screentime.
The way the relationship between Shuster and Michaels is represented does a subpar job of effectively conveying the two’s tumultuous relationship. Exposition is lazily provided in a scene in which Shuster talks to Dan Aykroyd, embodied by Dylan O’Brien, about how she came to know and marry Michaels.
The screenplay seemed to forget rule number one of writing for film: show don’t tell. This story beat is just one of many areas where the film could have dedicated itself to presenting ideas and stories to the viewer as opposed to throw-away lines of dialogue that are supposed to explain the motivations and desires of whole characters.
The performances of the ensemble cast make for a fun, fast-paced movie about a piece of television history if one doesn’t think too hard about the representation of female characters. Since it is next to impossible to distinguish Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain and Laraine Newman from one another, “Saturday Night” did a disservice to the legacy these women left behind on “SNL.” With most of the men playing heightened caricatures, the discrepancy in their portrayal and screen time proved to be a jarring experience as the camera quickly panned from one short scene to the next.
“Saturday Night” would have benefited from a few more quiet moments to help emphasize the triumph of going to air on time and starting what has become a television dynasty. Instead of a flashy film that races against the clock, the story about the inception of “SNL” lacked a more nuanced approach to the subject matter. No matter how cliche the genre has become, a biopic on Lorne Michaels and his journey alongside “Saturday Night Live” would leave viewers with a greater understanding of the show’s humble beginnings. After all, 90 minutes isn’t enough time to tell a story that spans 50 years.
