Whatever it is you think of Saturday Night Live (1975-present), it cannot be denied that it has become an institution of American culture.  Actually, “institution” is an apt word for the film based on its opening performance, Saturday Night(2024).  Practically everyone you see in it needs institutionalization.  That is a joke, you see?  A sort of play on words?  Anyway, I have never been an avid watcher of the show, but I have come to appreciate the weekly “Weekend Update” skit in recent years.  As for the movie, like its creator and producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel Labelle), I do not know what to make of it.  Most of the time I was bored despite the madcap antics, but there is a scene or two in it that piqued my Catholic interest.  I will, of course, fill you in on the rest.

It is Saturday Night, October 11^th, 1975, and there is no rest for Lorne.  Ninety minutes before his never-before-tried live comedy show is to air, he steps outside of the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) building in Manhattan to collect himself.  An indication of how things are going in the floors above comes floating down in the form of a burning script page.  As he returns to the still-being-constructed set, Lorne’s boss, Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), warns his talented producer that there are still numerous unresolved problems.  Nobody, from the stage hands to the performers seem to know what is going on beyond their rehearsals; they have material for a three-hour block that is supposed to fit into an hour-and-a-half; and there are threats that NBC will air reruns of Johnny Carson (voiced by Jeff Witzke) rather than put on a live television experiment.  From here, the movie becomes a continual loop of Lorne moving from one problem to the next, all the while trying to look like what he envisions will work in front of an in-person and at-home audience.  The first main villain is Joan Carbunkle (Catherine Curtin), the NBC sensor going over the script at the last minute.  With her trusty red pen in hand, she marks through various lines, mainly those of head writer Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey).  He does not take her demands lightly, but their hostility towards each other is just one example of the contentiousness behind-the-scenes.  Another source of stress is the presence of NBC bigwigs gathered for the premier, headed by network executive David Tebet (Willem Dafoe).  Lorne is deferential to David, and the latter gives the former a peptalk, telling Lorne to ignore all the people saying it cannot be done and to make his dream happen.  Most of these negative voices are people who believe that their old way of making television is the best way, and suggesting that Lorne will fail.  These include legendary producer Milton Berle (J. K. Simmons), who has a wildly inappropriate scene while telling Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) that he and the others will be forgotten in a week.  There is also Johnny, who calls to tell Lorne to say that he is betting on the show not making it because it will take away from his own late-night dominance.  The conversation seems prophetic for in the middle of it, Lorne witnesses Dick attempt to get the mercurial John Belushi (Matt Wood) to use a Polaroid camera.  It is part of Dick’s desire to use advertising in the sketches, which Lorne does not think is a good idea.  Because Lorne has had trouble with John’s lack of signing a contract, not to mention the drug use, watching John storm off the stage at such an affront is the last thing Lorne needs.  John is not the only sensitive performer at hand.  Their first guest, George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), an established star, acts as if he is better than the cast of unknown twenty-somethings.  This comes out as they are walking through a skit where George is called upon to play Alexander the Great.  He has a poor assessment of the costumes and jokes, and is not shy about voicing his opinion.  Because Michael had also penned these words, he sharply retorts, causing George to get mad and angrily lock himself in his dressing room.  In short, things are falling apart.  A couple of assistants spraying fake blood on Lorne is the final act that convinces him that he needs to once more step outside.  Stopping at a nearby bar where a comedian (Brad Garrett) is laboring through a set, Lorne meets the person giving the stand-up the material, Alan Zweibel (Josh Brener).  As far as Lorne can tell, it is the comedian’s fault there are no laughs, and he immediately hires Alan to come work for him.  The sequence seems to re-energize Lorne, and on the way back to NBC, he helps cast member Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) convince John to return.  Once back on set, there is less than half-an-hour until showtime.  With everyone’s nerves piqued, cast member Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) calms everyone down with a funny, though racially charged, song.  Nonetheless, David is about to shut the production down until Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun) makes a few musical jokes that demonstrates Lorne’s genius.  Thus inspired, Lorne goes on to clearly explain the concept of the show that is to become Saturday Night Live.  It placates David for the moment, and he allows the audience to start filing into their seats.  All the same, they have Johnny Carson’s tape ready to roll up until the last moment when David gives the go-ahead.  There is one last scare when it appears that John is not going to show-up, but he does so after a few breathless moments.

At the same time, “breathless” is not a word I would use to describe Saturday Night as a whole.  As previously indicated, for a film that is about the stresses of airing a television program the likes of which the world had not seen, I was a bit bored.  What kept me going were scenes like the confrontation between Jean and Michael.  It is the low-point of the proceedings.  Jean is supposed to represent traditional American values, including being a Christian as evidenced by the cross around her neck.  I get that the show was countercultural in nature, and that by itself is not a bad thing.  What I could have done without is having Michael and many of the cast members chant that they are satan back to her.  To be clear, I do not think the film or Saturday Night Live are satanic, at least not intentionally.  At the same time, one cannot be too careful in dealing with such evil forces.  The enemy is always looking for places to strike, and such talk is basically an invitation.  This includes comedy.  Making a joke about the devil might appear to be funny, but it also speaks to potentially not taking such matters seriously.  Then again, it is hard to get anybody at that age to be more soberly minded, and yes, that is a reference to drug use.  There is a great deal of that going on around the set, which is also not ideal.  Searching for ideals among this muck might seem like a fool’s errand.  Catholicism and the counterculture do not make for typical bedfellows.  However, before you go thinking the Church is passé, remember that Catholicism has been behind some of the biggest societal innovations.  This does not have much to do with the movie, but what else can I say for a story that meanders around as does this one?

It is interesting that Saturday Night would be so unfocused when you consider that it is about a roughly hour-and-a-half period in 1975.  It is all history that can be roughly verified, which also contributed to why I chose it.  The trouble is that beyond seeing the story behind the first aired Saturday Night Live, there is not much of a point to it.