Let me push up my nerd glasses to start this. I am a geek for a lot of things, but Saturday Night Live is part of my speciality. Comedy in general is my thing, but I grew up watching the late night sketch show every weekend. Now, we have Saturday Night.
The new Jason Reitman-directed film (he also co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan) takes us into those early days of Saturday Night Live way back in 1975, and the first-look images of the movie from Vanity Fair have me both excited and confused. So I guess that’s perfect for those early seasons of the show, right? They really were trying things back then.
We get to see Gabriel LaBelle’s look as Lorne Michaels, an absolutely unhinged looking Matt Wood as John Belushi, and all my beautiful women of Saturday Night Live. For every good thing about these pictures, there is something that leaves me scratching my head. I really can’t get over the Belushi of it all; why does he look like Animal from The Muppets?
What is truly baffling, as well, is the fact that Nicholas Braun is playing two characters? He’s pictured as both Andy Kauffman and Jim Henson.
Along with a surprise Matthew Rhys as George Carlin. Again, I ask, what is happening in this movie?!
Hey, at least Corey Michael Smith seems to really be embodying that hot but douchey Chevy Chase era that took over the first season of the show. I did cry seeing Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, but also, what is Dylan O’Brien’s vibe as Dan Aykroyd going to be? Why do these images make him look like the straight man and not … the funny man?
Whatever this is, it’s coming soon!
The first season of the show began on October 11, 1975. Saturday Night has a release date of October 11, 2024. I do wish it were coming out next year, for the 50th anniversary, but hey, we will be in the 50th season, so close enough.
Personally, I wish the movie would go into the second season because one of my favorite bits of Saturday Night Live lore is the relationship between Bill Murray and Gilda Radner. The two were close friends and I would want to see a movie all about that dynamic on the series. But also, a movie where Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) and Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn) get to yell at Chevy Chase? I will take it.
That first season of the show is very different from the Saturday Night Live we currently know, and I hope that this inspires new fans to go back to these older seasons and see how the show has changed. But I am a little skeptical about Saturday Night, mainly because the energy of this is chaotic in a different wa, and I’m interested to see how they end up bringing the Not Ready for Prime Time Players to life.
We can see it all on October 11, 2024.
Published: Aug 7, 2024 02:35 pm