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Saturday Night recreates the inaugural edition of the US comedy show, broadcast on October 11th 1975 – even though it very nearly didn’t exist – beginning at 10pm on the night, with the show due to begin at 11.30pm – and covers the 90-minutes in the run-up to the beginning of the show pretty much in real time, led by an exasperated Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans) on brilliant form!)
We don’t have Saturday Night Live – as it was renamed in 1977 – in the UK, but I’m well aware of it, along with many of the stars of the day, such as Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase, and not least, the late, great George Carlin, who hosted the first show. However, bear in mind that once you look him up on Youtube, you’ll get recommended scores more of his videos, and then your day will quickly have disappeared… but it will have been well-spent.
As an alternative over here, we did get Saturday Live (later renamed and moved, as Friday Night Live) with Ben Elton, which was best in the mid-to-late ’80s when it began, but attempts to bring it back weren’t as good, especially since Mr Elton largely stopped being funny after the ’80s ended.
Aside from Dylan O’Brien (American Assassin) as Dan Aykroyd, JK Simmons (Juror #2) as old, groping pervert Milton Berle, Nicholas Braun (Cat Person superb in not just one, but TWO, roles as Andy Kaufman AND Jim Henson) and Matthew Rhys (IF) as George Carlin, Saturday Night features a cast of mostly unknowns, including Cory Michael Smith (Transatlantic) looking and sounding spot-on as Chevy Chase, Nicholas Podany (Hello Tomorrow!) similarly identical to Billy Crystal, and Matt Wood as a drugged-up John Belushi, who’s taking forever to sign his contract, which must be done before 11.30pm, otherwise he can’t go to air.
I didn’t see O’Brien’s Dan Aykroyd as looking massively like him, but he had the voice perfectly, which was certainly more than enough. Fans will never forget him and Belushi teaming up for The Blues Brothers. I still haven’t seen the belated sequel, although it didn’t feature Belushi as he passed away from a drugs overdose in 1982. It would’ve been interesting for them to have included his real-life brother, Jim Belushi. I understand he was cast, but was busy filming TV drama Total Security, so was unavailable.
Amongst all the calamity of set lights collapsing and briefly catching fire, there’s even censor Joan Carbunkle (Catherine Curtin – The Half Of It) on-set to rip apart the script as she deems appropriate, but as she comes across as a Mary Whitehouse-type individual, the cast slip some rude jokes past her by claiming they’re something far more innocent. I’ll leave you to discover what they are.
As well as the 90-minute run-up to the show beginning, Lorne & co. are flying by the seat of their pants, having to work out who to cut and/or trim from the running order, since the dress rehearsal for the first show ran to three hours.
Lorne occasionally goes outside to look for some of the comedians, and as events are starting to fall off a cliff, with the show potentially getting pulled before it airs by NBC executive Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe – Nosferatu), he declares, “I’d like to be there when I get fired(!)”
As the 90 minutes comes to a close, we do get the opening sketch that aired on the night, but I would love to see the entire first show recreated.
Saturday Night is a great blast of nostalgia, and there’s so much going on in this film that I need to see it again to catch up with it all, since it all comes thick and fast, such as an aside from Carlin, “Do you ever look at people in old films, and wonder if they’re dead yet?” – Yes, I do!
Contrast that with the most recent output from Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, in the form of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. I’d rather shit in my hands and clap than sit through those again!
Since this film was released in US cinemas back in October – similarly as a limited release – it’s already available on home formats over there, but it was a hell of a buzz to see it on the big screen, right in your face. However, since barely anyone knows it over here, then even though it was better-attended on a Tuesday afternoon than I expected, the film has completely disappeared for its second week, which is a shame.
There is a post-credits moment, covered in the video below.
Saturday Night is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 109 minutes
Release date: January 31st 2025
Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Super 16mm)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 9/10
Director: Jason Reitman
Producers: Jason Blumenfeld, Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman, Peter Rice
Screenplay: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman
Music: Jon Batiste
Cast:
Lorne Michaels: Gabriel LaBelle
Rosie Shuster: Rachel Sennott
Chevy Chase: Cory Michael Smith
Billy Crystal: Nicholas Podany
Gilda Radner: Ella Hunt
Dan Aykroyd: Dylan O’Brien
Dave Tebet: Willem Dafoe
Laraine Newman: Emily Fairn
John Belushi: Matt Wood
George Carlin: Matthew Rhys
Garrett Morris: Lamorne Morris
Jane Curtin: Kim Matula
NBC Page: Finn Wolfhard
Radio Announcer / New Dad Narrator: Colby West
Andy Kaufman / Jim Henson: Nicholas Braun
Mrs. Kaufman: Ellen Boscov
Milton Berle: JK Simmons
Joan Carbunkle: Catherine Curtin
Dick Ebersol: Cooper Hoffman
Neil Levy: Andrew Barth Feldman
Barbara Gallagher: Presley Coley
Edie Baskin: Grace Barlow
Anne Beatts: Leander Suleiman
Billy Preston: Jon Batiste
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.