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Matt Wood plays John Belushi on Saturday Night
Story
On October 11, 1975, at 11:30 p.m., a wild crew of young comedians and writers changed television forever. Find out what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes before Saturday Night Live (1975) premiered. Check out the rest of the cast and their real-life counterparts. Dan Aykroyd was the only original SNL cast member to read the script.
In reality, he came right away
As the show goes live, John Belushi walks into the picture through a door 39 seconds late. Lorne Michaels: Look, my name is Lorne Michaels, I’m the producer of “Saturday Night.” Bouncer: All night? Lorne Michaels: [sarcastically] Yeah, all night. The film opens with a Lorne Michaels quote: “The show doesn’t go on because it’s finished, it goes on because it’s 11:30.” Featured in Eddie Murphy, the Black King of Hollywood (2023).
Johnny Carson hated the idea on *his* network
Ixoo ‘Chickenweed’ ChawzWritten by Don Cento and Martin Garner, Performed by Don Cento and Martin GarnerThis Jason Reitman film has a lot of forward momentum, something Reitman no doubt learned from his father Ivan Reitman (“Stripes,” “Animal House,” “Ghostbusters”). In that sense, with its long, kinetic takes, it reminded me of an otherwise dissimilar film, Birdman. This is a comedy of perfect mistakes, culminating in groundbreaking television at the height of the medium’s reign over 90% of Americans. Milton Berle, er, expected loyalty from the hippie generation.
Until it wasn’t
It was a glorious failure. I was skeptical of this film until I was in the dark theater. Who could imitate the mannerisms of Chevy Chase and John Belushi? Who could capture Dan Ackroyd’s bravura?
Who could dare imitate the often captivating charm of Gilda Radner?
The actors, led by Gabriel Labelle as the visionary, nebbish-faced Lorne Michaels, pull it all off with joyful aplomb. There are laughs galore for those who remember the mid-1970s – and even those who don’t. It was an entertaining and turbulent time between the Nixon and Reagan eras. But out of it came a revolution in television comedy that continues in full force today.
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