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This movie depicts the run up to the first performance of Saturday Night Live. The run up is shown as chaotic, frenzied, and disorganized, with no final list or ordering of sketches and the set still under construction. Creator/Director Lorne Michaels darts frantically between the cast, crew, writers, network executives, and special guests. All the frantic activity becomes tiring, but the 139-minute movie still manages to drag in a few places.

I wasn't there, but several events depicted seem to be of dubious historical accuracy, such as when Michaels wanders out of the building shortly before showtime. This makes me wonder if the chaos was created by the screenwriter and the director.

The most enjoyable part of the movie was watching the portrayals of the original cast members, although the portrayals of John Belushi and Chevy Chase seem exaggerated. Being familiar (or becoming familiar in advance) with the original cast members is helpful for getting the most out of Saturday Night. Overall, the movie is entertaining and occasionally funny but falls short of the high bar set by the original production.

This is the hardest review ever for myself because I don't completely know how to feel about this film. If you didn't grow up watching SNL or know nothing about the OG cast or how SNL was started you're going to be incredibly confused, lost and bored. I think that's the issue I have with this movie is you have to essentially know who everyone is from the beginning of SNL. Tons of name dropping and names and no back stories, if you go in wanting to watch a movie that will explain it to you... this isn't it and you will most likely walk out. So it really puts the category of viewers quite small. I grew up watching SNL (but in the Sandler, Farley, Spade, Farrell era). If it wasn't for my dad being obsessed with older beginning SNL and always having it on I would have hated this. My husband grew up on MadTV and even though some big names like Belushi, Chevy chase, Dan Aykroyd from movies growing up he had no clue who anyone else was. We had to come home and watch the first episode and I had to explain a ton of things he wasn't picking up on. Like the relationship with Lorne and his wife and the connection with Aykroyd there. Most people wouldn't have a clue though.

I will say the casting is INCREDIBLE, I did laugh at some parts although I think it had potential to be a bit funnier. It's not wildly inaccurate at all like some people say. Most of the things were true just some didn't happen THAT night.

The actors did absolutely amazing, and the 70s vibe and filming style was great. It really felt like you were immersed. I did feel a bit stressed out, I don't even drink and I left thinking "I need a drink, I feel like I just had an exhausting day at work".

I do recommend watching the very first episode ever prior to going if you haven't seen it in awhile. They absolutely nail some scenes it's uncanny.

Sadly I think this movie will bomb, but they really did a poor job making it watchable for anyone who is now considered "boomer" age or close to. Many people in that category no longer are watching movies in theaters much, passed away or are now stuck in their Jesus ways they'll be offended at things they probably weren't in 1975. Obviously some people in that category will love it but I would guess that may be far and few between.

You might enjoy it if you also do research on the beginning of SNL first and know what they all looked like but that's a lot of work to ask of viewers.

I don't recommend seeing it in theaters if you even think you might be lost, you will be. I honestly think even myself if I watched it from home I would have got distracted. My husband and I were the only ones in the theatre not a single other person and I caught him scrolling on his phone a couple times. I have never seen him do that in a movie before so I know he was bored.

So idk I give it 10/10 for casting and acting and doing great capturing the era. 7/10 because I'm one of the few people under the age of 50 who knew the history. But if I was a regular person just watching a movie for fun I would have given it a 2/10.

Presented to us as occurring in "real time" as the hour and a half long movie counts down the last 90 minutes before the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" (then called "Saturday Night") went live on air. We are invited to witness and get dragged along backstage as we enter the chaos of this hollywood-magic version of the start of a legendary TV show.

Long time fans of SNL will enjoy spotting the many, many easter egg references to SNL's most-famous and beloved sketches, the majority of which would not have been present and ready before this first showing.

The pace and action are frenetic as disaster after disaster happen while the hundreds of tiny little gears required to make something like SNL all try to come together in some form which will work and produce a viable show by the time the curtain raises.

The character actors chosen to mimic the first cast are spot on and do a great job really embodying what are undoubtedly huge shoes to fill. They are extremely fun to watch and carry the majority of the film with great humor.

But I fear Lorne Michaels was miscast or poorly written, because as our main focus of this maelstrom of frustratingly inept administration, he largely devolved into an amateurish and annoying little twit we keep waiting an waiting and waiting to see rise to the occasion, and never truly does.

He can barely share his vision of the show with mealy-mouthed human words and wanders around from fire to fire, never actually putting any out and immediately forgetting them as he toddles on to the next.

When the first show is pulled off, it's largely because everyone else had been carrying on without him and made it work in spite of him.

I also just irrationally hate his face and the little look he gets when anything goes wrong; it's like an overwhelmed, pissed off toddler is smelling something bad.

This film is a fun bit of nostalgic fantasy homage. A visit from the spirit of SNL past. But it definitely is NOT a biopic recreation of what actually happened, and should not be viewed as such.

This is a film largely for the fans, and other viewers will find it hit or miss, and will most likely find themselves googling the mentioned sketches afterwards.

This is one of those films where you see the trailer and think "How in the hell are they going to pull this off?" It's going to require taking risks, a lot of dramatic tension, some very funny dialogue, and anecdotes we haven't heard about 100 times in 50 years.

Jason Reitman (barring Ghostbusters sequels) can make some pretty decent films when paired with a writer who colors outside the box and digs deep into characters (Diablo Cody, for example, with Juno and Young Adult). Gil Kenan does not appear to be one of them, given this film's "insert the crowd pleaser here" script.

It seems like Kenan and Reitman are a little too cowed by the mythos of SNL to really try anything outside of too-timed "bits" that smack of bad sitcom or over-the-top dramatics that don't really generate any tension.

The cast is, by and large, pretty terrific... except for Gabirel LaBelle. Labelle often seems just befuddled and gaping-mouthed, characteristics I don't often equate when conjuring up the Lorne Michaels *I've* read about and seen over the past half century.

"Michaels was kind of a cypher" Reitman says in the film's commentary. Fair enough, and likely true, but it doesn't help to have this unknowable entity at the center of each scene. Many people have complained that the original core SNL cast is given rather short-shrift, and they're right. Again, Reitman says in the commentary "I wanted people to get to know not only the 80 some characters but the background actors as well...." And that was green-lit?

If you're an SNL fan, this is worth a watch, simply because it's a fascinating glimpse at how a show like SNL can even exist, week to week, without it being a seismic train wreck. Reitman manages to impress us in this regard. As a technical masterwork, it hums. And there are many fine performances (cameos?) here that pop: DaFoe, Simmons, Tracy Letts, Cory Smith's Chase is particularly good.

Cooper Hoffman maintains a hot wired mix of anxiety and bravura as Dick Ebersol... it's probably the strongest performance, with the most face time in this picture.

But having Phillip Seymour Hoffman for a dad, I'd say he's got a bit of an advantage in the genetic gift arena --- I'm guessing you'll see more of him soon and I for one can't wait. Jason Reitman comes from good stock too, but in this case he's maybe not playing to his strengths. In Saturday Night, he's drowning.

There's a scene at the end when LaBelle hires Josh Brener (playing legendary writer Alan Zweibel) at a hellish comedy club that exemplifies two things: first, the exaggerated facts of this piece and it's near miss misanthropy.

If Josh Brener, a subtle almost lethally understated comedic actor, had been cast as Lorne, this might have been a very funny movie.

I expected to really enjoy 'Saturday Night'. I was hoping for a fast-paced and hilarious look at a historic night. They got the fast-paced bit down (perhaps even a little too fast-paced for its own good at times) but the hilarity never came. Instead the movie came across quite unpleasant, with forced drama for the most part.

There are a lot of characters in this movie and very few of them are interesting to watch. 1975 was far too long ago for most of us to know who these people are, but it seems like the movie just assumes that we will. And because of the structure there isn't much, if any, time to set up and develop the characters. So we are just told, here's a person who was there that night, enjoy their screen-time. I will say the scenes with Chevy Chase were interesting, but that probably worked for me because I know who he is and am a big fan.

I felt like there was so much potential for comedy and witty dialogue and yet it just never came. A funny situation would arise with a character taking drugs that were too powerful for them, but the movie was in such a hurry to get to the next scene that it couldn't breathe and become a memorable scene.

This probably sounds like a very negative review, and it is, but it's more negativity aimed at what this film could've and should've been, as opposed to the general quality of the film. It isn't a bad film, but it should have been so much more. 6/10.

As someone who grew up with Saturday Night Live (SNL) on in the background most Saturday nights, thanks to my parents, it's no surprise I've developed a deep affection for the show. Over the years, the format and talent involved just kept improving. While I'm part of the era with names like Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey, I've always looked back on classic episodes with fondness. There are sketches from decades past that I still revisit because they're just that iconic. Naturally, all of this made me curious about the film Saturday Night, now in theaters. And if you're a fan of the show, particularly those old enough to have experienced the original cast in the 1970s, here's why you should definitely check this one out.

Most people see Saturday Night Live as a lighthearted, easy watch, a way to get a few laughs late at night. But what many don't realize is how chaotic and stressful it was to actually get the show on air, especially in the early days. The film dives into the behind-the-scenes madness leading up to the premiere episode on October 11th, 1975. Ninety minutes before going live, the set was still unfinished, people were being fired, mistakes were being made left and right. It was a whirlwind of confusion and stress, and the film places you right in the middle of it. From the moment you're thrown onto the set, there's an undeniable energy as everyone scrambles to get things ready. It's a thrilling ride without a single dull moment.

Directed by Jason Reitman, Saturday Night feels like his best work since 2009's Up in the Air. His direction injects the film with a kinetic, almost frantic energy, perfectly capturing the chaos of a live production on the verge of collapse. The cast delivers outstanding performances, each of them embracing the high-octane tone Reitman clearly set. Dylan O'Brien nails his portrayal of Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith captures the essence of Chevy Chase, and Nicholas Braun impressively balances two distinct characters throughout the film. However, the standout by far is Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, the mastermind behind it all. LaBelle, who was solid in Spielberg's The Fabelmans, truly shines here, delivering a breakout performance that anchors the entire film. His portrayal of Michaels is captivating, he shoulders the film almost entirely, with only a few scenes where he's not the focal point.

Now, while Saturday Night excels in capturing the essence of its characters and infusing humour to keep audiences laughing, it does have one notable flaw: it stretches the believability of how all of this could have unfolded in just 90 minutes. Though the film isn't meant to showcase sketches from SNL itself, I couldn't help but feel that the story ends a bit abruptly. I expected the conclusion, but still, it felt like a few more beats could've been hit before the credits rolled. That feeling of "is that it?" holds the film back slightly for me.

In the end, Saturday Night isn't a masterpiece, but it's an energetic, fun film that captures the frantic spirit of creating live television. It made me laugh a lot, and the energy was infectious. Despite its imperfections, I had a great time watching it.

I enjoyed Saturday Night, but not as much as I hoped. It was a little repetitive that Lorne Michaels was having so many problems on the show. There were good laughs and convincing performances of all the main characters/actors we watched, but there could've been a little more to it then the final 2 hours or so before the show aired it's first episode. I would've liked to know where Lorne Michaels had the idea of Saturday Night Live and what he produced before. It was mostly entertaining with good laughs, but kind of claustrophobic being in a sound stage almost always with a few scenes outdoors.

I thought the frenetic pace of the movie was executed almost flawlessly. It kept moving, the camera swinging around the room to give the feeling like it was all in one take, or long takes.

The acting was fantastic, so many famous people were portrayed so well. What was really impressive was how many people we came across.

One reviewer stated that they were upset Gilda Radner wasn't featured more. I will say this is a fair criticism. She has a couple scenes but we don't get to hear her talk about her comedy. Although she does have a more thoughtful scene at an ice rink where she shows how free spirited and thoughtful she was.

As for the plausibility of the timeline of events, it's completely unrealistic. It's 45 minutes to air and people are just sitting in rooms hanging out. But at the same time, it's pretty brilliant because you get to see all these characters and also feel the anxiety of having a live show coming and still needing to work on the production up to the minute.

And the fact that the network didn't have confidence in the show and Lorne Michaels is running around trying to bring it together is probably how it really felt to bring something so new to TV.

And it was funny!

One hour and thirty minutes before going live on the air, Lorne Micheals is still trying to get his show and comedians in order. While he believes in it, others doubt it or do not even know what it is. The set is in chaos, actors are rebelling, and when it all seems like it is about to fall apart, they manage to get it together and start a show that changed late-night television forever.

There is more to the story of what led Lorne Micheals and his group of comedians to start Saturday Night; this movie shares what it was like when they got on the air for the first time on October 11, 1974. The movie makes it seem that the first episode was chaotic. Still, somehow, everything came together perfectly to make television history. This movie has more drama than comedy. The movie is short, but some parts feel slow. Fans of SNL or any of the original cast might enjoy this movie more than the average viewer. This movie is worth a stream for the average person if they want to learn some of the show's history.

This Jason Reitman film has great forward momentum, something Reitman no doubt learned from his father Ivan Reitman (Stripes, Animal House, Ghostbusters). In that sense, with long kinetic shots, it reminded me of an otherwise dissimilar film, Birdman.

This is a comedy of perfect errors that culminated in groundbreaking television in the height of the medium's sway over 90% of Americans. Johnny Carson hated the idea on *his* network. Milton Berle, ahem, expected fealty from the Hippie generation. It was a glorious failure. Until it wasn't.

I was skeptical of this flick up until I was in the dark theater. Who could mimic Chevy Chase and John Belushi's idiosyncracies? Who could capture Dan Ackroyd's bravura? Who could dare imitate Gilda Radner's often captivating charm?

The actors, most importantly Gabriel Labelle as the visionary nebbish Lorne Michaels, pull it all off with joyful aplomb.

There are scores of laughs for those who remember the mid-1970s and even who don't. It was a fun and turbulent period between Nixon and Reagan eras. But out of it came a television comedy revolution that lasts to today in full power.

Elton John may have sung that "Saturday night's alright for fighting," but it turns out it's even better for comedy-at least that seems to be part of the thinking behind the creation of Saturday Night Live. Though, let's be honest, that was low on the list of reasons.

This film about the very first episode of SNL might not be the most accurate depiction of history, but it sure knows how to entertain. Despite featuring paper-thin characters, ludicrous moments (seriously, no comedy writer gets hired five minutes before a show starts-I'm calling BS on that), and yes, even a cameo involving Milton Berle's penis (Not joking), it somehow manages to pull it all off.

Uh, that is pull the movie off, not Milton.

"SNL" has been around before I was born an "NBC" staple that I've watched some over the years, it's celebrated here with this auto bio type picture from Jason Reitman as it goes behind the scenes to see how the first and original show in Oct. Of 75 went on the air. The movie is funny and full of drama showing how the cast, crew and comedians, struggled to get it all together for Lorne Michaels to go on the air(hey he could even rival Johhny Carson!). The sets, clothing, and dialogue captures times of the early and mid 70's and seeing Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Andy Kaufman in their early years was a historical laugh feast. Overall not the greatest still a film that any historical film buff should see.

Decent fan service for some often told entertainment lore, including Uncle Milty's much lauded member. Though the film is frantic in its feeling, and takes place during a specific brief evening, it feels like it's 12 hours long. The female characters appear to be there only to cheer on those brave men doing hard new things. Jon Batiste's score is a highlight. Also a highlight, the film allows us to go into an alternate universe where Andy Kaufman and blessed Jim Henson are the same person... which if you think about it, makes some good, whacky sense. This film could have and should have been better.

If it was really accurate, it would be better. It's a dramatization of itself, and much like watching a tv show about a night in the emergency room, where the actors play it up a little too much, it shows. One of those films where the character walks by at just the right time for a funny quip, a question, a comment ... but someone just asked a question and you kept walking and the question just goes away? Eh.

I will say the characters were pretty spot on - they looked exactly like the real actors from 1975. It did make me want to go back and watch some early Saturday Night Live, so that's a good thing!

For those of us who saw the first season live, I would guess most of us will give it a 10. As people get younger, I'm sure the rating drops. Overall, the portrayal of The Not Ready for Primetime Players is very well done, with the strengths, weaknesses, fears, and egos of the cast members and writers well played by actors, who like the characters they play, are also up and coming. Fifty years later, the excitement of Season 1 Episode 1 came back. While not exact, after all this is a feature not a documentary, the memory I have of waiting for the first episode after begging to stay up past midnight to watch a TV show hasn't faded, and this film took me back. It doesn't disappoint.

This year, 2025, Saturday Night Live turns 50. I remember clearly what I was doing in 1975, with a promotion and new job, but with kids in the house watching SNL was not a priority. Did I see that first episode in 1975? I don't remember but probably not.

This movie runs just over 90 minutes and it examines the final 90 minutes leading up to the very first live telecast. In essence the movie follows a similar time line of the initial episode.

I found the whole thing fascinating, a live comedy show like this had never been done. Down the halls and backstage rehearsals were still going on as the minutes ticked by. The "schedule" was a series of notes tacked onto a cork board. Not everyone there was sure they would actually go on. Acts that had prepared for 5 minutes were asked, right before the show, to cut them down to 3 or even 2 minutes. What is depicted here was chaos and the show runner was even being encouraged, right up to the last minute, to postpone it for a week to be better prepared. He didn't.

Now I suspect some, maybe much, of the content of this movie was either fictionalized or at least exaggerated for purposes of entertainment. In fact some of the original cast have spoken out in recent days, saying that things were running much smoother than the movie purports.

Regardless, I found it to be totally entertaining. I watched it on DVD from my public library. My wife skipped.

This was probably more fun to make than it was to watch, but I still had a mostly solid time. It's moderately enjoyable, but never quite as funny or intense as it could've been. I felt torn between a 3/5 or a 3.5/5, but I'm just a bit too disappointed for the latter.

I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson would make a movie like this nowadays, but he probably would've done a better job with the ensemble cast and creating a sense of constant momentum. Maybe the Safdie Brothers too, or just one Safdie brother. As it stands, Saturday Night is solidly funny and sometimes comes close to nail-biting, but it just lacks a bit of oomph when it comes to the writing and how it looks.

Due to the pacing and the huge cast, most actors here don't tend to do more than impressions of famous people, and, to their credit, they were generally good impressions. It's only disappointing that the cast didn't get to do more than just impersonate.

I also can't help but wonder if the story would've been more exciting had they taken the real-time approach to showing the taping of the show, rather than the 90 minutes right before it went to air. The film does little to persuade me the shooting would've gone any smoother than the hectic lead-up, so I can't help but feel it was a missed opportunity.

There was the chance for something amazing here, but it never really coalesced into something more than pretty solid. I don't regret spending time and money watching this, but can't help wishing I liked it a good deal more.

Now to set the stage for my review, I am not a fan of Saturday Night Live, but I also don't hate the show. I have seen clips of this show on YouTube, there have been stars from this show that went on to do bigger things in their careers and I've only watched one episode and that episode was hosted by Sydney Sweeney. Aside from that, this is a show that never grabbed my attention and I'm not really a fan of sketch comedy. However, when I heard that Jason Reitman was directing a movie based on the events that happened prior to the debut of this show, I naturally decided to give it a chance and I had a fun time with Saturday Night (2024).

Positives for Saturday Night (2024): This movie was a chaotic roller coaster from start to finish. This movie has such as wild paced to it that does require you to pay attention to it and it worked for the most part. The actors do a fantastic job at portraying these people from the 70s and while it was a little distracting trying to see some of them portray certain people from that show, they all do great in their roles. The comedy in this movie is very funny and some of the skits they were doing got a couple of chuckles out of me. And finally, the movie does a fantastic job at making this set look and feel chaotic.

Negatives for Saturday Night (2024): The movie is a little too chaotic for me. There are certain conflict where it feels like they rushed to the resolution without giving any proper buildup to it. And finally, the movie has such a fast paced to it that I couldn't keep up with it at times.

Overall, Saturday Night (2024) is a fun experience from start to finish and if you're a fan of this show, then I would highly recommend this movie.

Really energetic and entertaining film! Quite a roller coaster ride.. as they get ready to put on the first episode of SNL. Many of the actors did a great job, and the film makes us feel like we were there as all the crazyness was happening to make the show come together. Soundtrack and audio were amazing and very engaging. Just a high adrenaline ride, and we feel the pressure as the clock moves closer to 11:30pm. We get little glimpses into the characters that we know and helped create the show, and we mainly focus on Michaels. While I'm not sure the film is all totally accurate.. it's still a great ride and a must watch for any SNL fans.

Saturday Night follows the behind-the-scenes chaos of the first episode of what can only be described as an American cultural institution, Saturday Night Live. It's a breezy, self-contained story with a massive cast of characters - with some actors playing literal comedic icons - and overall, pretty fun.

On one hand, I feel like there's so much more this movie could've been and could've shown; I can imagine there are oodles of already filmed, but scrapped scenes that could pretty much slot into anywhere in this movie. It's a strength in that Saturday Night really captures the chaotic energy behind that very first episode, but it also means the film sort of meanders until it comes to its conclusion without all that much structure.

I'm sure that was intentional, but what it also means is that it's hard to really gleam much of anything from this movie aside from the apparent poop show the first episode was. The movie rarely delves too deeply into the psychology of the people we're seeing to get anything really meaningful out of it. I feel like an additional 10-15 minutes of setting the context would've done this film wonders.

As a fan though, I did get a kick out of seeing the iconic show framed the way it was, as a counter-cultural response to the dying norms of television at the time. When the movie is at its best, it transports you into the era and really convinces you that the people on screen ARE the younger versions of the people they're supposed to be. I really liked Willem Dafoe and JK Simmons sort of representing legacy television and they absolutely ate in their roles, as usual.

The cast is truly incredible here; when Finn Wolfhardt is a bit character in your movie, you know you have a stacked cast.

I really liked Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and Matt Wood as John Belushi, who capture their mannerisms and charisma so perfectly. Gabriel LaBelle should've been given more of an opportunity to flex his acting chops as the legendary Lorne Michaels, but he was pretty solid. Rachel Sennott was great as well, but I couldn't help but feel so many of these actors get mere moments to shine, that they all sort of coalesce in a generally "good," if not "great" collective performance.

I'd definitely recommend Saturday Night, especially for those who still love the show or at least have a soft spot for it. But, I can't help but feel there's the bones of a better movie here that takes it time a little more to really explore the legacy of the show, and give the actors a bit more time to breathe.

Director Jason Reitman also co-wrote this stream-of-consciousness-styled look at the organized chaos behind the first episode of television's long-running hit "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. Egos, star behavior, rampant drug use, too many sketches and musicians, George Carlin suffering from cocaine-induced lockjaw, Jim Henson and his Muppets...all this plus network executives itching to pull the plug (NBC realized they could make more money from advertisers by simply re-running the Carson show). It's all highly suspect and impersonation-heavy--and padded, what with J. K. Simmons doing a visiting Milton Berle as if it were an Oscar turn--and yet there's enough manic energy in the presentation to make the film worthwhile for fans. Reitman ensures a moving, whizzing, tracking camera, and the actors are well-enough cast. But is there anything here we don't already know? Chevy Chase was in love with himself and did not get along with John Belushi, who was high on everything and harboring a Brando complex; Dan Aykroyd was eccentric and brilliant and on-guard; Garrett Morris wanted to assert himself as a black man; Gilda Radner was a buddy to both the women and the men; producer Lorne Michaels was practically unflappable and a real nice guy. The way everyone and everything is shuffled about, we don't get to know these personalities very well--and their interactions with Lorne and with each other is highly suspect, anyway. Is it that "Saturday Night" is comically ridiculous on-purpose or is Reitman really presenting this night as "the way it was". I didn't believe anything here as factual, but I don't think that's the point (it's an "entertainment"). Still, this kind of fanciful daring can be dangerous: in time, curious newcomers might just accept all this nonsense as nostalgic gospel. *1/2 from ****

I enjoyed this movie, it was great fun. I just feel like it completely cut out, well all of the women, but most importantly Gilda Radner. She was key to the launching of Saturday night live and it felt like a huge insult to completely ignore her.

I liked the movie other than that, however it is such a a huge oversight that it almost felt malicious on the part of the writers. It just felt so egregious, like such a slap in her face, that I don't really want to give it an official rating because I'm so torn. On the one hand it was fun, but on the other I felt so defensive of how Gilda was treated.

How on earth would they make this movie without Gilbert having a significant role????

Greetings again from the darkness. For those of a certain age, October 11, 1975, changed television forever. Now celebrating it's 50th anniversary season, "Saturday Night Live" (SNL was originally just 'Saturday Night') has been maligned and criticized so many times over the years, yet it persists in providing commentary and comedy when so many other shows have failed. No better choice exists to present the show's origin story than writer-director Jason Reitman w-d (JUNO, UP IN THE AIR, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, TULLY), who along with co-writer Gil Kenan, go extreme with the 'origin' by tracking the 90 minutes prior to the first show's airing.

Thanks to a clock counting down to the 11:30pm showtime and a few periodic reminders, we are always aware of just how few minutes remain for showrunner Lorne Michaels (a terrific Gabriel LaBelle) to pull off this minor miracle. Backstage chaos barely scratches the surface of what Michaels is dealing with (in addition to his own anxiety). Network executives, an out-of-control cast of truly 'Not Ready for Prime Time Players', a writer's room in disarray, incomplete set assemblage, and more than double the material necessary to fill the allotted time are just some of the hurdles facing Michaels.

What we immediately notice is the fine job done in casting the cast: Cory Michael Smith captures Chevy Chase's looks, ambition, ego, and talent; Dylan O'Brien nails Dan Aykroyd's physicality and rapid-fire speech; Ella Hunt is underutilized as ultra-talented Gilda Radner; Emily Fairn is insecure Laraine Newman; Kim Matula shows Jane Curtin's coolness; and Lamorne Morris plays up Garrett Morris' realization of stereotyped characters. Perhaps the key to the show and this movie is Matt Wood's portrayal of John Belushi, who initially rebels against the bee costume, refuses to sign his contract, and clearly is the most explosive and vital member of the cast.

"What is the show?" Lorne Michaels fields that question a few times and fails to give a satisfactory answer ... until just before showtime when he eloquently explains it and wins over NBC's Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe), the key network executive who was fully prepared to show a Johnny Carson rerun rather than risk embarrassment with the newbies. The frantic pace is unrelenting as a nervous Director of Programming Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman, son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) tags along wondering if his own career is going to crash and burn right along with Michael's. Acting as a calming influence is Lorne's (first) wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), who brings serenity to those on the edge.

Revolution is difficult - especially with a bunch of twenty-something no-name actors. Bringing in 'Mr. Television' Milton Berle (Oscar winner JK Simmons) allows for further contrast with old comedy versus new, not to mention Berle's most infamous appendage, which he doesn't hesitate to flaunt. Others of note include Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page charged with filling the studio audience, a too-tall Nicholas Braun who plays both an out-of-place Jim Hensen and Andy Kaufman (complete with "Mighty Mouse" segment). Matthew Rhys plays coked-out host, George Carlin, and Nicholas Podany is a desperate for stage time upstart named Billy Crystal. Tommy Dewey plays head writer Michael O'Donaghue, and Jon Batiste performs as Billy Preston (while also writing the film's score).

A couple of highlights include a sound check with Garrett Morris singing about what he's going to do with his shotgun, Aykroyd as Fred Garver, and of course, Belushi whenever he's on screen. Director Reitman includes numerous callbacks to sketches and characters ... some of which require a sharp eye by viewers. Kudos to Jess Goncher for Production Design that recalls this hectic time, and to cinematographer and frequent Reitman collaborator, Eric Steelberg, for using the camera in sync with a time that was totally out of sync. Capturing an event of anti-establishment or counterculture rebellion is almost as impressive as what Lorne Michaels and the cast and crew pulled off that night (drugs and all).