Saturday Night Movie Review

Do you remember the first time you heard “Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night!” The first person to shout that was Chevy Chase played by (Cory Michael Smith). Now, it’s shouted by the host, musical guest, and all cast members, generally after the cold opening.

This movie is about the stuff happening behind the scenes of the first show. If you saw it, you were lucky. If you were young, you felt exceptional, able to stay up with the grown-ups to watch this new show! If you were allowed to continue to watch, you were incredibly fortunate.

Here, you get a glimpse of how it all happened and how it almost didn’t. It came close to being shut down several times. We also learn what led to the “Not Ready for Primetime Players” moniker. If you don’t mind, let me point out that you must pay attention to the background. I saw a bag of “Colon Blow.” Perhaps there are more discoveries to be made. Like the Children’s TV Workshop is finally explained, that’s nice… and it only took fifty years! Land shark is seen and, Chevy Chase knocks on a door saying, “Candy Gram.” You can’t help but go back in the memory bank to when you first heard and saw these on the show. But you wonder, is his saying candy gram in the movie its true origin?

Throughout the evening, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) fights for the show, but it isn’t easy to keep going. Looking from the inside out, you see that the crazed goings on backstage and elsewhere could lead one to guess the show wouldn’t have worked without Lorne pushing it. The movie’s central theme is how he held it together despite the fact that he had an inebriated crew, a less than enthusiastic cast, and a sound system in failure—and this is all happening ninety minutes before curtain!

In the film, a disturbing clock ticks, keeping you on edge. It’s as if, at any moment, something horrible will happen. It’s October 11, 1975. Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) isn’t happy about having so few lines and roles. He shows this best during a song I’d prefer you discover on your own. John Belushi (Matt Wood) is running around in a bee costume, grumpy as hell. His character is not all that interesting, which surprises me because Belushi was lively and fascinating… and Wood performs him it well.

Milton Berle is a lech; I didn’t see that coming. Scenes with him may shock you a bit, but they’re riveting. Sponsors worry that they hysterical fake commercials could be confused with real ones. We see the first big names on the show running around, trying to make sense of it all. However, watching it come together with young unknown actors then and near unknowns now, when it was all doomed to fail, gives you a certain appreciation for what Lorne went through wrangling everyone together and creating the perfect show comedy show for us. Everyone was great then and now. Fifty years, Lorne! Congratulations!

Follow Us on Socials:

Youtube / satnightmovie

X https://x.com/SatNightMovie