Saturday Night review – unbearably self-indulgent sketch of an iconic comedy show
Even the superest superfan of the legendary US TV comedy show Saturday Night Live is going to struggle with the unbearable self-indulgence and self-adoration of this exhausting film from director and co-writer Jason Reitman.
It's a frantically dull dramedy about the supposedly adorable chaos that attended the show's first ever live broadcast in 1975, with all the iconic players including Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O'Brien), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), and Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris). For some obscure and not obviously funny reason Nicholas Braun plays both Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) and Andy Kaufman, and Gabriel LaBelle plays the show's presiding producer-genius Lorne Michaels, who announces that his experimental comedy wackfest is 'the first television show by and for the generation who grew up watching television'.
The film is filled with endless swooping travelling shots as everyone rushes around corridors in wacky costumes, arguing about scripts, panicking about overruns, accidentally smoking weed (yikes!) and, underneath it all, Michaels suspects that the station chiefs have secretly set his show up to fail as part of their contract negotiations with Johnny Carson, to persuade the great man to keep working weekends.
JK Simmons has a cameo as obnoxious oldster comic Milton Berle, boasting about and indeed displaying his fabled manhood and Willem Dafoe is NBC exec David Tebet, who is unsure whether these crazy kids are any good. Tina Fey's TV masterpiece 30 Rock (based on her writing work on SNL, with Alec Baldwin as the Lorne-Michaels-esque boss Jack Donaghy) has frankly covered all this kind of thing much more entertainingly and the same could be said of Richard Benjamin's 1982 film My Favorite Year, about SNL forerunner Your Show of Shows. There's an odd, disconcerting tone of solemnity to this slice of cultural history.
Saturday Night is in UK and Irish cinemas from 31 January.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Miley Cyrus goes braless and flashes her underwear in see-through dress as she meets fans in record store
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MILEY Cyrus looked sensational as she met up with fans for a meet and greet – in a completely seethrough dress. The pop icon and fashionista appeared at Rockefeller Center in New York for a special signing of her new album, Something Beautiful. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 8 Miley looked incredible as she posed in a slinky black dress Credit: Instagram 8 The iconic popstar attended the fan event to promote her new album Credit: Instagram 8 The star showed off every inch of her toned and muscled figure in the braless outfit Credit: The Mega Agency Wearing a sheer black floor-length Ludovic de Saint Sernin gown with a neckline that plunged down to her belly button. The famously risqué star wore black thong underwear and no bra in the statement piece. Sweeping her hair up in a bun on top of her head, Miley completed the figure hugging look in a pair of black aviator-style shades. Posting photos posed against a backstage grate, Miley was also seen on a staircase posing in front of fans as they waited above her to meet her. READ MORE MILEY CYRUS OH MY, MILEY! Miley Cyrus goes braless under see-through black dress in NYC She wrote alongside the pic: "Posed with the beautiful people who showed up at 30 Rock for @roughtradenyc" Fans were delighted with the flawless look, with one writing: "THIS ONE IS FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS 🛐" "This might be your best yet," wrote a second, while a third wrote: "Everywhere you walk it's a walk of fame." Making sure she served looks for her fans, Miley later changed into a leopard print dress to sign autographs from behind a table with Rough Trade, talking with fans as she did so. In a cheeky swipe to her ex, Liam Hemsworth, Miley signed one autograph "to the best Liam" on one of her fans' vinyls. Something Beautiful, Miley's ninth studio album, was released last week, and is being accompanied by a "visual companion movie" that will debut today at Tribeca Film Festival. Miley Cyrus reveals hospital dash after filming for her music video caused shock illness Supermodel Naomi Campbell is set to make an appearance in the film as well, after appearing in the video for single, Every Girl You've Ever Loved. It's been teased by her record label Colombia as "introspective, sonically adventurous, and emotionally grounded". Miley directed the movie alongside Brendan Walter, Jacob Bixenman, and Panos Cosmatos who helped bring her vision to life. 8 The star left little to the imagination in the sheer gown Credit: Instagram 8 The star was greeted by hundreds of fans as she arrived at 30 Rock Credit: The Mega Agency 8 Miley couldn't resist posing in the gown before heading out to meet fans Credit: Instagram 8 Hundreds of fans came down to see the star at the event Credit: Instagram
Time Out
18 hours ago
- Time Out
The 2025 Macy's July 4 fireworks will be launched from NYC's East River
Good news for East Siders and Brooklynites: The Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks are returning to the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River for 2025. Specifically, the show will launch from the iconic Brooklyn Bridge and four barges positioned on the lower East River in the Seaport District. Macy's hasn't yet provided a list of best viewing spots, but you can expect miles of prime public viewing. The spectacular display is the largest Independence Day in the nation, which paints the skyline in an extraordinary display of light and sound. It's been a pyrotechnic tradition since 1976 for good reason—the show is truly incredible. Though exact timings haven't been announced, last year's show began at 9:25pm, so keep that in mind when making your plans for Friday, July 4. As for viewing locations, any anywhere with an unobstructed view of the sky above the lower East River should do the trick. In the coming weeks, keep an eye out for additional details on public viewing, as well as a city-sponsored lottery for free public viewing tickets. Last year, the fireworks were hosted on the west side of the city, delighting west siders and New Jerseyans. For a decade prior to that, the fireworks had been launched from the East River, and now they're back. "Macy's doesn't just light up the sky—we ignite a shared tradition," said Will Coss, Macy's 4th of July Fireworks executive producer, in a press release. "By bringing the fireworks to New York City and communities across the country, we create a spectacular event that celebrates joy, unity and togetherness. We are proud to bring people together year after year to honor the traditions that connect us all." While the show brings hordes of New Yorkers to sidewalks and viewing parties, it's also broadcast across the nation on NBC and Peacock for all to enjoy beginning at 8pm.
Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
Sophia Bush recalls 'emotionally abusive' experience on TV set
Sophia Bush recalls 'emotionally abusive' experience on TV set The 42-year-old actress joined the cast of a TV series after leaving 'One Tree Hill', the hit drama show, back in 2012 (Image: GETTY ) Sophia Bush suffered "every kind" of abuse on the set of a TV show. The 42-year-old actress joined the cast of a TV series after leaving 'One Tree Hill', the hit drama show, back in 2012, but Sophia encountered a toxic working environment and claims to have suffered abuse from "someone old enough to be [her] father". During an appearance on the 'Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky' podcast, Sophia shared: "I had a workplace ongoing trauma revolving around an unending situation with someone old enough to be my father. I was like, 'What is happening?'" Sophia actually had the opportunity to leave the show after two years, but she was determined to continue. The actress - who refused to name the TV show - explained: "I had the opportunity after two years to go. "I did the thing I learned to do and said, 'I will not have my integrity diminished by someone else's behaviour. I will be unflappable. I will come to work and do my job.' And I couldn't." Article continues below Sophie explained that the next two years became a "physical hell", revealing that she suffered a "crazy weight fluctuation" and "crippling anxiety" because of her troubles at work. The actress - who played Erin Lindsay on 'Chicago P.D', the NBC police drama, between 2014 and 2017 - said: "To be hit with anxiety in such a way that I could barely be out of the house. If people touched me in public, I would jump out of my skin. I couldn't talk to people anymore. I couldn't talk to strangers anymore. I couldn't be looked at anymore." Sophia found the whole experience to be mentally and physically "exhausting". Article continues below She explained: "Because I had to go to work ready for war all the time, I had to learn where to stand to not get elbowed in the ribs or how to block a scene to not be touched. It was just exhausting." Sophia actually received an apology from a network executive after leaving the show in 2017. She said: "By October [2017], I got a call from an executive apologising for what they'd done and not done. And [they] said, 'We're very aware we just made it out of that unscathed.'"
