If you’re interested in American comedy, you must have heard of SNL at some point in your life. Launched in 1975, this NBC sketch comedy show became a cultural touchstone, crafted by baby boomers and adored by Gen X and millennials throughout their formative years. Now, five decades after its inception, people understand its influence on the American comedy. While the SNL sketches impacted other forms of comedy like movies and sitcoms for decades, it is now borrowing its style of humor from other formats to satisfy another generation of viewers. Be that as it may, it is fascinating to learn about its foundation through Jason Reitman’s exhilarating “Saturday Night” (2024). While calling it a formative moment in American comedy will be reductive considering the history of this form, it is certainly a milestone that shaped generations of comedic minds to come. Find the film’s ending explained here.
Spoilers Ahead
Saturday Night (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” follows the utterly chaotic night of the 1975 premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night just before it aired on live television. Later, it was known as Saturday Night Live (SNL).
What happens in ‘Saturday Night’?
Set in 1975, “Saturday Night” begins with snippets from the audition tapes of its initial cast members like Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Loraine Newman (Emily Fairn), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt). Shortly after, it takes us through the events from the night of October 11th, when the show premiered. Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), who brought together a cast of talented writers and actors is uncertain whether his plans for the show will succeed.
An NBC Page (Finn Wolfhard) tries his best to lure people with free tickets to watch the show but rarely succeeds in doing so. Michaels’ boss, Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman) supports his ambition. However, he warns him about the senior executives who are coming to see the show to decide whether it will go on air. After all, Michaels’ idea was unheard of at the time. He wanted to bring fresh and inventive comical concepts on live television. It was challenging since, until then, Americans were not used to its edgy humor. There were also practical issues in telecasting a live show. On top of that, Michaels’ cast and crew couldn’t function in TV’s hectic environment. So, he had to face many battles on the same night.
Why was the first Saturday Night rehearsal a messy affair?
Michaels has to deal with the egos and insecurities of his cast, which turns the rehearsal into a hot mess. Morris wonders what specific role he serves in the cast and whether his inclusion is out of the industry’s hollow tokenism. During the sketch rehearsal, Morris is made to just stand aside as a masked robber while Aykroyd gets to show his talent. Curtin, Newman, and Radner, all talented comedians, appear (at least in the film) more preoccupied with their appearance due to the male gaze-driven approach of comedy at the time. Belushi refuses to wear a bee costume for his skit, thinking the cast and the crew do not take him seriously.
Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun) gets offended by the castmates’ comments about his puppets whereas Andy Kaufman (also Nicholas Braun) fails to see the point in the scripts with his idiosyncratic style. Writer Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) is confident that his sketches will work. But host George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) considers it a sham. As if that’s not enough, the network’s religious advisory board tells them to cut the words or phrases that might be deemed offensive. The entire cast and crew is against this form of censorship and so is Carlin. Writer Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennot) becomes a formidable force amid all of this, helping her then-husband Michaels save this sinking ship of the show.
Saturday Night (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Can Lorne Michaels convince NBC executives to broadcast ‘Saturday Night’?
While Michaels brought the talented people together for his sketch show, Shuster ensured that things worked out as smoothly as expected. At the time, Michaels also needed to prove his worth to David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) and the NBC executives he brought in to see if he could trust Michaels with the 11:30 PM slot on his network. Remember, this was at a time when television was at the peak of its popularity, bringing people across the country together through entertainment. There was no internet or social media to compete or be relevant with. So, Michaels had to fight to prove the worth of his idea.
Tebet is not confident that 20-something comedic voices can make people turn on their televisions as other shows do. So, Ebersol worries Tebet will choose to replay The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson instead of their show. The pressure keeps mounting on Michaels. He needs to keep the crew’s morale high besides facing technical difficulties. Suddenly, he receives a call from Carson who warns him of his failure.
Ebersol pushes Michaels to introduce a Polaroid camera in one of his sketches since it would help with the advertising revenue. But Belushi throws away the camera, making it almost impossible for Michaels to have faith in his vision. After the camera mishap, Belushi disappears from the set, leaving everyone panicked. As it happens, assistant Neil Levy (Andrew Barth Feldman) accidentally smokes a joint and locks himself in a closet. While the cast helps him return to his senses, Michaels goes out looking for Belushi.
What does the laughter in the end mean for SNL?
Toward the end of “Saturday Night,” Michaels leaves the studio to find Belushi. He had disappeared after throwing away a Polaroid camera and dissuading an advertiser. Michaels walks through the streets of New York, unsure whether his vision behind the show will ever see the light of the day. He ends up in a bar, where he meets writer Alan Zweibel (Josh Brener). At the time, Zweibel was barely making ends meet, writing jokes for a self-assured hack trying to bank on his humor. Michaels sees potential in him and hires him immediately for his show. With Radner’s help, he locates Belushi and convinces him to return to the show.
By the time Michaels returns, many people queue up for their show. Just when Michaels enters the set, Tebet claims the show will never air until Michaels shows him what will happen in the show. So, Kaufman gets on the stage to perform his Mighty Mouse skit. Then, Chase becomes the impromptu Weekend Update host and performs with Zweibel’s new material. Michaels does not entertain any new requests from the cast and instead, mandates what ought to be done. Shortly after, the audience arrives on the set for the recording. The crew gets all the sets in place. They wait for Belushi to be on the stage. Soon, Belushi arrives with O’Donoughe to perform their Wolverine sketch.
In the sketch, O’Donoughe’s character reads a pledge and Belushi’s character repeats it. It ends with them suddenly dying of a stroke. Belushi’s delivery style and spontaneity make the audience laugh. Then, Chase enters the scene and announces, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”. The ensuing audience laughter conveys their approval of SNL’s brand of humor, which led them to ride high on the waves of success for several years.
Does Lorne Michaels’ dreams for ‘Saturday Night’ come true?
Anyone who knows SNL enough knows the answer to this. Yes. Lorne Michaels’ dreams for the Saturday Night show come true. Initially, the NBC network executives did not trust Lorne or his team of 20-something edgy comedians to create something profitable and worthwhile. Lorne had a hard time convincing them. However, the show eventually got a live broadcast and the rest is history. It became a sensation in the decades upon its release, helping many comedians find a footing in the industry. From Billy Crystal to Bill Hader, from Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Kirsten Wiig, from Eddie Murphy to Bowen Yang, it has fostered many American comedians over the years.
When did ‘Saturday Night Live’ begin?
While “Saturday Night” started in 1975, it became “Saturday Night Live” at the start of its 1977-1978 season after NBC purchased the rights to its name.
Is ‘Saturday Night Live’ actually live?
While some SNL sketches are pre-recorded, most of them are performed live in its NYC studio with moving stages and changing props in front of an audience.
Saturday Night (2024) Movie True Story Explained:
How accurate is ‘Saturday Night’?
The SNL movie – “Saturday Night” is based on real-life comedic minds, which were crucial in shaping American comedy in years to come. While the hours before the SNL premiere were similarly hectic and chaotic, the movie takes creative liberties and dramatizes the events when necessary for the script.
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