Saturday Night Review

What is Saturday Night about?

The new movie by Jason Reitman, Saturday Night, is literally the portrayal of the ninety minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. The action is depicted in real time. And what an exciting and hilarious time that was!!! The audience gets to see how Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), and Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) corralled and coddled the first batch of The Not Ready for Primetime Players: Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt).

Check out the list of the best Saturday Night Quotes.

Is Saturday Night and accurate representation of the 50-year-old TV program that we mostly love, but can sometimes hate?

By and large, YES! The part the movie gets the most right is the portrayal of the people involved. For example, you don’t need anyone to use the names Al Franken and Tom Davis (Taylor Gray and McCabe Gregg) to know exactly who they are. If the actors don’t look like the characters, they have their cadence and deliveries down pat. The standouts are Lamorne Morris, Cory Michael Smith, Nicholas Braun, JK Simmons, and the fabulous Matthey Rhys as first Guest Host, George Carlin. UNCANNY!

Who is this movie for?

TV fans, history buffs, and anyone wanting to watch a terrifically funny movie. It probably isn’t for kids. There is a lot of swearing, drugs, smoking, and even some pretty rude nakedness. By comparison, the actual television show is relatively tame.

What could enhance my enjoyment of Saturday Night?

Stream the very first episode of Saturday Night Live. You will learn about wolverines, killer bees, woefully misplaced Muppets, a very funny Carling being very unfunny, and knock out musical performances by Janis Ian and Billy Preston. THEN see the movie. Perfection.

Watch the trailer:

About the movie:

At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television and culture forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words…