Jason Reitman mixes fact and fiction in Saturday Night as he revisits the first-ever live taping of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. I’m using SNL as the show’s name just because it’s how everyone refers to SNL but it must be said that the show did not adopt the title until after Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell was cancelled. Similarly, Bill Murray didn’t join the cast until after the ABC show was cancelled. You’d be forgiven if you had thought he was there from the beginning.

You’ll have to forgive me because I saw the film hours after the ballistic missile attack on Israel. I have many friends and loved ones living and as such, my focus and headspace going into the film were–understandably–off. That being said, I laughed at the moments where screenwriters Reitman and Gil Kenan wanted laughs. At other times, I found myself wondering just why they made the choices that they did. There is so much to nitpick that it is not even funny. Anyway, I came up through comedy before weirdly becoming a film critic so I’m very familiar with the early years of SNL. I had to toon out the Telluride, Toronto, and last week’s New York and Los Angeles reactions so that I could attempt to go into the film with an open mind.

Having both read Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests and Alan Zweibel‘s memoir, Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier, it’s hard to not nitpick what filmmakers get right and wrong in the new film. Right off the bat, I kept waiting for Alan Zweibel (Josh Brener) to show up. After all, he was one of the original writers. Instead, Lorne Michaels (Gabrielle LaBelle) finds him within minutes of that night’s Saturday Night taping rather than on stage in Des Moines. I’m sorry but I cannot excuse taking a creative liberty when you know for a fact that it didn’t happen like this. Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman should know better!

The first Julia Child sketch featuring Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) did not take place until 1978. How can a movie get SNL history so wrong. I like that they allude to sketches that aired that evening or later on during the season. But to get the amount of history wrong that they did, it’s just frustrating.

It’s a common fact that SNL writers did not care for Jim Henson’s Muppets on SNL. However, the instance involving Big Bird in the film did not happen in Jim Henson’s (Nicholas Braun) office. It took place in Michael O’Donoghue’s office. Also, Henson wanted the gig so that he wouldn’t just have a reputation as a children’s performer. Unlike the Ron Howard documentary, the Brian Jay Jones biography has an entire chapter on the “Mucking Fuppets.”

George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) was stoned going into the live taping. Meanwhile, Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) feels like the odd man out, not knowing why he’s there. He’s the oldest member of the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players. While Lorne initially hired him as a writer, Morris would end up joining the cast. As for John Belushi (Matt Wood), it is true that he didn’t sign his contract until five minutes before showtime. However, the film appears to take some liberties in how this happens. We never see manager Bernie Brillstein talking to Belushi. Come to think of it, Brillstein doesn’t appear in the film. Meanwhile, the film would have you think that they were already grooming Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) to replace Johnny Carson. What we know is that Chase broke out and there were later rumors, which NBC denied.

Billy Crystal’s (Nicholas Podany) act does get cut for time but it does not exactly play out like it does in the film. The comedian has been open about his experiences. In the film, he’s hanging out with Valri Bromfrield (Corinne Britti) while waiting to find out any news about the appearance. We do not see Crystal’s manager, Buddy Mora, anywhere in the film. Another creative liberty appears to be Lorne’s discomfort in hosting Weekend Update during rehearsal. There is nothing in any book on SNL‘s history that remotely suggests that Lorne would host the news segment. It is strictly an invention for the film. As for Andy Kaufman, his only rehearsal before the show was on Friday night, not on Saturday evening in front of all the NBC executives and affiliates.

Did Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons) stop by to visit on the night of the first show? Good question. We know he did not host until year 5 and it was not a pleasant week. All you need to do is ask Alan Zweibel about his own experience with Uncle Miltie! If anything, it feels like this was an opportunity for Reitman to find a place for his muse. The film shows Berle making a guest appearance on a variety show–the name escapes me but Lorne plucks the lighting director from the crew–elsewhere in the building. However, I can find nothing of this show on IMDb–neither for him nor any of the lighting directors.

Perhaps one final thing as we look at the film’s fact vs. fiction: where is George Coe? We’re all familiar with the bigger names–this just goes without saying. Coe only gets billing in the first episode but he would make appearances throughout the season. Perhaps it was because he was older but he wouldn’t return after the first season.

All of the fact-checking does not even begin to take the film’s Jewish representation into account. Obviously, some of them allude to their Jewishness in the film. Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) talks about bagels and lox and one point. Hollywood had another opportunity to cast Jewish actors as real-life Jews. They get it right in some instances while continuing the trend of casting non-Jews as Jewish women in others. I wouldn’t fault you if you thought Rachel Sennott was Jewish after G-d knows how many roles playing Jewish women. Hollywood needs to do better. I cannot stress this enough.

From a technical standpoint, my G-d! If you had told me they fully recreated the 8th and 9th floors, I would not have believed you. It is absolutely phenomenal with what the filmmakers and crew achieve in bring the floors to life on the big screen. Beyond this, there is no green screen technology. What we’re seeing in the control room is live feeds from the 8H studio cameras. I cannot even imagine how much of a sound mixing nightmare that post-production was, especially with the many microphones being worn by actors and placed on the set. Moreover, to give the film its grainy 70s feel, Reitman and cinematographer Eric Steelberg opt for 16mm rather than 35mm. They use long takes at time to make the film look like one continuous shot in capturing the night’s energy.

The film really changes up the casting of extras. The background actors aren’t just walking around on camera. They have actual jobs on screen! Reitman put everyone through bootcamp, whether they’re a camera operator or another crew position. Even though I have a number of issues with the film and rightfully so, their approach is rather impressive.

Saturday Night keeps the spirit of the evening but it takes way too many creative liberties with the hour and a half leading up to the taping.

DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman
SCREENWRITERS: Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
CAST: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons, Jon Batiste, Naomi McPherson, Nicholas Podany, Robert Wuhl, Catherine Curtin, Paul Rust, Tracy Letts, Brad Garrett, Josh Brener

Sony released Saturday Night in theaters on September 27, 2024. A wide release is will take place on October 11, 2024. Grade: 3.5/5

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