Summary
- The trailer for Saturday Night teases the chaos behind SNL‘s first live show and features an expansive cast portraying iconic figures.
- Saturday Night emphasizes how SNL innovated live television, reshaped culture, and popularized live sketch comedy.
- The film presents a real-time countdown to SNL‘s iconic opening words, highlighting a crucial argument that almost prevented the first live show.
The first trailer for Saturday Night has been released. The upcoming film, directed by Jason Reitman, chronicles the first live performance of Saturday Night Live, which debuted on October 11, 1975. The film stars a veritable slate of rising stars and familiar faces, including The Fabelman‘s breakout Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman as Dick Eberson, and Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, a writer for SNL. Nicholas Braun, Matthew Rhys, Dylan O’Brien, J.K. Simmons, and Willem Dafoe are also among the film’s expansive cast.
Now, Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for Saturday Night. Check it out below:
The trailer, running for two minutes, teases the chaotic behind-the-scenes lead-up to the very first live show of SNL.
Everything Revealed By The Saturday Night Trailer
Cast, Story, & More
One of the most exciting aspects of Saturday Night is seeing its remarkable lineup of actors portraying iconic SNL figures, many of whom are seen in action in the trailer. This includes LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, the creator and producer of SNL, alongside O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd and Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, two of the show’s biggest stars from the late 1970s. Braun plays legendary Sesame Street puppeteer Jim Henson, responsible for the Land of Gorch sketches on SNL. Other notable appearances include Rhys as comedian George Carlin, who hosted the first episode.
Simmons appears as the comedian Milton Berle, while Dafoe plays the publicist David Tebet.
Another focus of the Saturday Night trailer is how the show itself innovated live television, revolutionized the entire medium, and reshaped culture forever. Before SNL, one of the show’s biggest eventual stars, Aykroyd, was so unknown the announcer didn’t even know how to pronounce his name. Additionally, a few of the show’s cast, crew, and executives were even unaware of exactly how live television worked. SNL is often cited as one of the earliest and most influential examples of live sketch television and though it wasn’t the first, it popularized and expanded the format.
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Overall, the Saturday Night trailer presents a fast-paced and anxiety-inducing look at what happened behind the scenes leading up to the first broadcast of SNL. An argument between Lorne Michaels and Dick Eberson takes center stage in the trailer, highlighting how the show almost didn’t make it to air, and a revolutionary moment would have been missed. It appears the film will unfold in real-time, counting down the chaotic 90 minutes until the iconic opening words were spoken for the first time, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Source: Sony Pictures
Saturday Night (2024)
As the clock ticks down to the first-ever broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” on October 11, 1975, a group of young comedians and writers hustle behind the scenes, navigating chaos and creative pressures. Set in NBC Studios, the film offers a dramatic and comedic look at the birth of an iconic television show.
- Director
-
Jason Reitman
- Release Date
-
October 11, 2024
- Writers
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Gil Kenan
, Jason Reitman - Cast
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Finn Wolfhard
, Willem Dafoe
, Dylan O’Brien
, J.K. Simmons
, Ella Hunt
, Rachel Sennott
, Matthew Rhys
, Lamorne Morris - Character(s)
-
NBC Page
, David Tebet
, Dan Aykroyd
, Milton Berle
, Gilda Radner
, Rosie Shuster - Main Genre
-
Biography
