Synopsis
On October 11, 1975 at 11:30 pm, a wild group of young comedians and writers changed television forever
Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live (1975). Matt Wood plays John Belushi on Saturday night, check out the rest of the cast and their real-life counterparts.
Dan Aykroyd was the only original SNL cast member to read the script
When the show airs, John Belushi enters the frame through a door 39 seconds late. He actually jumped right into the picture… Lorne Michaels: Look, my name is Lorne Michaels, I’m the producer of “Saturday Night.” Doorman: All night?
Lorne Michaels: [sarcastically] Yeah, all night
The movie opens with a Lorne Michaels quote: “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, it goes on because it’s 11:30 p.m.” Appeared in Eddie Murphy le roi noir d'Hollywood (2023). Ixoo “Chickenweed” Chawz Written by Don Cento & Martin Garner Starring Don Cento & Martin Garner.
as the kinetic energy of the behind-the-scenes drama is revealed
SATURDAY NIGHT (2024) *** Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennot, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O' Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamone Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Corinne Britti, Nicholas Podany, Rober Wuhl, Jon Batiste, Willem Dafoe, Tracy Letts, Matthew Rhys, JK Simmons, Brad Garrett. Director Jason Reitman’s fast-paced, carefree reimagining of NBC’s iconic live late-night comedy telecast in the hours leading up to its opening night broadcast is a whirlwind of action, angst and hubris with executive producer/creator Lorne Michaels (LaBelle).
There are plenty of Easter eggs for SNL fans to add to the nostalgic joy ride
Breakneck Cinematography by Eric Steelberg, Sharp Editing by Nathan Orloff & Shane Reid relentlessly pushes the frenetic pace with last-minute tweaks that expand his mostly game cast (the best are Smith’s Chevy Chase, full of ego and sarcasm, O’Brien’s Dan Aykroyd, mysterious and funny, and Wood, a perfect imitation of the late , great John Belushi). While Batiste’s score keeps the film on track, it gets repetitive and stale after a while, and the awkward Podany as a worried Billy Crystal (the guy doesn’t look like the comedian, which doesn’t help) is too annoying.