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August 9, 2024 8:14 AM

The trailer for director Jason Reitman's "thriller-comedy" about the beginnings of SNL has landed.

The casting is something else! And yes, Reitman knows that Gabriel Labelle is a little young to be Lorne Michaels.

Here is the IMDB cast list.

posted by Kitteh (59 comments total)

"oh, is this an ensemble?"
posted by HearHere at 8:33 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

OK, I'm going to watch the hell out of this. Say what you will about Jason Reitman, he grew up around these guys.

The first SNL episode aired a little over a month before I was born. My parents were obsessed, and so I was also.

We had the first episode on a Beta cassette, recorded from a re-run sometime in the late 70s. It is... not good, but there are sparks of brilliance. The cold open ("I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines") demonstrated just how much they were willing to depart from standard ideas of comedy and do something bizarre, subversive, surreal.

The movie looks like it will be fun and stressful. Thanks for posting.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:37 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

I have to admit the actors playing Ackroyd and Chase are nailing it.
posted by Kitteh at 8:42 AM on August 9 [2 favorites]

A moment of silence for The Great Favog, my favorite Muppet ever. He deserved so much better. I could say more, but I suspect it's gonna cost me. (Drops Scred into a nearby toilet and flushes) Awwwwrrrrriiiiiiite!
posted by zaixfeep at 8:47 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

Yeah, I know that the writers and cast basically hated the Muppets on the show, but I don't want to see Jim Henson played for a dweeb.
posted by briank at 8:52 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]

That's clearly meant to be George Carlin in the trailer, but the IMDB doesn't say who's portraying him.

Also, while Lamorne Morris is portraying Garrett Morris, they are NOT related, as far as I know.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:04 AM on August 9

This Vanity Fair article says it's Matthew Rhys (of The Americans) playing George Carlin.

Also, strangely, it looks like Nicholas Braun (of Succession) is playing both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman. Is it some sort of meta-reference to the fact that SNL has cast members playing multiple roles throughout the show?

And, apparently, Lamorne Morris has been telling people for his entire life that Garrett Morris is his dad, so there's a sort of poetic justice there. :)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:09 AM on August 9 [2 favorites]

Lamorne Morris is portraying Garrett Morris, they are NOT related, as far as I know

The moral is that every Morris is a Morris, more or less.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:10 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]

I'm gonna be a naysayer, here. I think SNL is one of the greatest disappointments in American comedy.

While its first season, maybe two, had an edge, Michaels very quickly bowed down to corporate pressures and any spark of edginess quickly faded, as the show pandered to mainstream tastes and ripped-from-the-headlines low-hanging fruit. These days, the show's sketches are little more than watered-down riffs on "what are this week's memes?" In that way, it's barely half a step removed from all those tedious late-night talk show monologues. But that's been the show's trajectory since the middle of Season Two.

While it may be semi-accurate that Michaels and his crew were the scrappy upstarts at this particular point in time, they quickly became exactly the kind of corporate genericizers of comedy that they had, barely a year before, railed against. Michaels is no comedy hero, and the show is just not that good, and hasn't been good in a long, long time.

This is not a novel criticism, I know, but I really dislike the continued lionization of this overrated show.

Then again, this film has Willem Dafoe in it, and his presence makes anything worth watching, so.

Then again, I think Jason Reitman is a hack, so.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:14 AM on August 9 [17 favorites]

Yeah, I know that the writers and cast basically hated the Muppets on the show

I knew this about Michael O'Donoghue ("I won't write for felt!") but didn't know it extended beyond him.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:15 AM on August 9 [2 favorites]

I hope they got Joe Dicso and Bob Van Ry's characters right. They aren't nearly as broad and easy to pull off as, say, Biff Henderson.
posted by zaixfeep at 9:31 AM on August 9

The casting looks pretty great actually though the trailer made almost no use of Newman or Curtin. And yes DAFOE.

I think SNL is a little tired (and has made some odd choices w/r/t American politics especially recently) and is definitely not always for me. But it's also a pretty interesting thing just in how much it continues to exist. The music is often surprisingly fresh. It's a 50 year old show that is still memeable which continues to surprise me. We mostly watch it well after the fact but It's one of my doorways to some of what is up in pop culture which is more mainstream (i.e. network TV and sort of "slow" media compared to the speed of the internet) and I appreciate that it exists.

Sad to hear that both Punkie and Molly won't be in the 50th season. Very curious to see who else they get. Thanks for linking to the trailer.
posted by jessamyn at 9:39 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

I remember watching the original cast when I was too little, though I didn't see the first episode. What I took away was that edgy comedy was about 25% awful, 50% meh to mildly funny, and 25% laugh until you can't breathe hilarious. Also, which sketches fit in which classification is different from person to person. I don't think a film this tightly centered can approach that, but it's key to my understanding of SNL's early days.

That said, I'm trying to go to more movies (for me reasons) and this looks like it might suit my tastes, so I'm pleased to see it.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:42 AM on August 9 [3 favorites]

The moral is that every Morris is a Morris, more or less.

👀
posted by Jeff Morris at 9:45 AM on August 9 [14 favorites]

I see like one movie a year, but this trailer really grabbed my attention. I only regret that the movie can’t include the greatest moment in SNL backstage history, Bill Murray yelling “medium talent” at Chevy Chase after their fistfight was broken up.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:55 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]

No George Coe, no justice.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:06 AM on August 9 [3 favorites]

Why is Nicholas Brain playing Jim Henson
posted by pxe2000 at 10:08 AM on August 9 [2 favorites]

This is not a novel criticism, I know, but I really dislike the continued lionization of this overrated show

I'm gonna echo this. I know there's been an interest in the history of comedy in recent years but when I saw the trailer I really wondered who this movie is for exactly? I can't imagine a general audience wanting to see the history of a show that many are surprised is still on the air.
posted by Ashwagandha at 10:19 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

These days, the show's sketches are little more than watered-down riffs on "what are this week's memes?"

Seems like the show does better when it creates memes ("cowbell" etc.) rather than when it just apes them.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:54 AM on August 9

Reitman’s first production company was even called Hard C, based on the linguistic comedy theory that k sounds make the best punchlines. (“I don’t know if you can print this, but my example was always: ‘Punched in the dick’ is nowhere near as funny as ‘kicked in the cock.’”)

Have to say I agree
posted by gottabefunky at 11:13 AM on August 9

‘Punched in the dick’ is nowhere near as funny as ‘kicked in the cock.’

We got a brand new dance called kick 'em right in the cock

Ehh... maybe?
posted by dick dale the vampire at 11:19 AM on August 9 [2 favorites]

Perhaps they could perform it at this tower in Estonia.
posted by Crane Shot at 11:29 AM on August 9 [4 favorites]

I don't want to see Jim Henson played for a dweeb.

Good news!

I'll see this, but I won't try to lard it down with expectations of accuracy. This is history, and it'll be interesting to see what is valued and what isn't.
posted by rhizome at 11:30 AM on August 9 [3 favorites]

I really dislike the continued lionization of this overrated show

Look, I'm first in line to join the Don't Really Like SNL Anti-Fan Club, but to claim that overrated is the same as not influential is a bizarre argument, and things that have influences our society are worthy of examination. And those examinations can be fascinating, even if the subject isn't otherwise of interest.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 11:47 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]

SNL has its ups and downs. Lots of the sketches suck, they're absolutely dogshit on political issues (inviting Dan Crenshaw on to do a both sides thing? the man is a straight up violent fascist) but every cast has some very funny people on it that produce great stuff. Tim Robinson for example, and in the current cast Sarah Sherman is one of the funniest people around. It has to have pretty broad appeal, which brings the quality down a lot, but there are always some standout sketches each season. I guess that's enough for me to keep watching it as I have since I was old enough to stay up past 11 on a saturday night.
posted by dis_integration at 11:50 AM on August 9 [5 favorites]

Lorne Michaels is the good guy?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:06 PM on August 9 [4 favorites]

In the 2023/24 broadcast season, the show averaged 7.2 million viewers, per Nielsen. This was up 3% from last year. These numbers, particularly among younger viewers, were presumably helped by hosts such as Pete Davidson, Bad Bunny, Timothee Chalamet, Jacob Elordi, Ayo Edebiri, Sydney Sweeney and Dua Lipa.

Aw, nobody watches that anymore. It's too popular.
posted by cupcakeninja at 12:07 PM on August 9 [4 favorites]

to claim that overrated is the same as not influential is a bizarre argument

I didn't make that claim. Of course the show is influential. I just think it's overrated.
posted by Dr. Wu at 12:32 PM on August 9

Your favorite 50-year-old skit show sucks.
posted by terrapin at 12:54 PM on August 9 [4 favorites]

I was in college, we often watched. That 1st year, there were Muppets; I hope they're in the movie.
posted by theora55 at 12:55 PM on August 9

Who plays Mr. Bill?
posted by whatevernot at 1:06 PM on August 9 [4 favorites]

I didn't grow up with parents who watched late-night talk shows, so one night when I magically had the tv to myself I saw a really weird advert at the end of some late-night skit/musical number. It took my a long time to figure out I'd seen Saturday Night Live, one of their fake ?interstitial? "coming up" screen cards. I asked around and friends in the know said, oh you gotta watch that, so I did. I agree, some brilliance, some yuckety yuck, some ehh...I never got into Chevy Chase smarminess, for instance. But, forever and ever, seeing "coming up next: Jacques Cousteau gets an undersea enema" will be something I saw on regular old tv, a world my parents knew nothing of.
posted by winesong at 1:23 PM on August 9

I remember having my high school friends talk about Saturday Night Live when it came out and then watching Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (a real thing that came out at the same time) and wondering what the hell people were caring about. The Howard Cosell version debuted with, among other acts, tennis pro Jimmy Connors singing a Paul Anka song.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:43 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

Who plays Mr. Bill?

Andy Serkis in mo-cap probably.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:59 PM on August 9 [6 favorites]

I think that it comes and goes. The original cast pretty quickly started phoning it in; by the time that their five-year run ended, some of that drug-laced heavily-National-Lampoon-influenced humor already seemed forced and dated. My favorite cast will always be the Dana Carvey/Phil Hartman cast; Hartman in particular could really make a sketch shine--my favorite SNL sketch is still the one that he did based on the idea that, since Reagan was an actor, maybe he was only pretending to be a genial ditz and was actually a master schemer all along. I also very much enjoyed the recent cast when Vanessa Bayer, Cecily Strong, and Kate McKinnon were all on.

But, yeah, I'm sure I'll watch this thing. Probably couldn't be worse than Wired, right?
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:06 PM on August 9 [2 favorites]

I was hooked when Chevy Chase was playing Gerald Ford rolling a joint.
posted by clavdivs at 2:06 PM on August 9 [2 favorites]

Also, strangely, it looks like Nicholas Braun (of Succession) is playing both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman. Is it some sort of meta-reference to the fact that SNL has cast members playing multiple roles throughout the show?

No, there's a much more mundane explanation; the guy they originally had to play Andy Kaufman had to drop out and it was too late to recast, so Nicholas Braun got assigned a second role.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:22 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

We had the first episode on a Beta cassette, recorded from a re-run sometime in the late 70s. It is... not good, but there are sparks of brilliance.

The players were not ready for prime time.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 2:54 PM on August 9 [2 favorites]

"KNOWS NO ONE PERSONALLY" -- audience close-up caption
posted by zaixfeep at 3:21 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

Who plays Mr. Bill?

Some guy named Clay, I assume.
posted by zaixfeep at 3:22 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

I saw that first episode and had been reading National Lampoon for enough years to recognize its provenance. It wasn't perfect, but there weren't any perfect NatLamp issues either. For a tuned-in high schooler it was the best thing on TV 50 years ago. I'll go see this movie.
posted by morspin at 3:42 PM on August 9

I’m just glad it’s a damn movie and not an interminable limited series where an entire episode is dedicated to Lorne’s haircut or something.
posted by q*ben at 3:48 PM on August 9 [6 favorites]

The first thing you should do when someone gives you their opinion of SNL, and it will be given, you'd obviously never ask, is roll your eyes. At best, you can maybe divine someone's general age range by what they have to say, more often you just get a weird load of baggage filtered through SNL opining.

It's essentially the last living variety show and surviving thread of an original american art form. Folks always have the same thnigs to say about SNL but the show has always been and continues to be a magnet and incubator for fantastic talents through the decades.
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:51 PM on August 9 [8 favorites]

"Dead honky."
posted by kirkaracha at 3:52 PM on August 9 [9 favorites]

If you want to know what happens to a sketch comedy TV show that doesn't "bow to corporate interests" and stays edgy, watch Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show on Hulu. One of the most talented casts and writer's rooms to ever come together. Spoiler: it lasted 7 episodes.

Why it only lasted 7 episodes is perfectly explained by the the guy who was in charge of late night programming at ABC when the show aired. Another spoiler: money.

The doc is really quite amazing; everyone involved in the show sat down for very honest and candid interviews.
posted by Frayed Knot at 4:16 PM on August 9 [6 favorites]

While its first season, maybe two, had an edge, Michaels very quickly bowed down to corporate pressures and any spark of edginess quickly faded, as the show pandered to mainstream tastes and ripped-from-the-headlines low-hanging fruit.

To me, (still) liking SNL is like being a Cubs fan (or White Sox, if we're being current). Without fail, with every new season there is a week or two of chatter about how the show isn't any good anymore, but since the third season? That's some fresh new cantankery!
posted by rhizome at 4:33 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

"Dead honky." yt

Written by the great Paul Mooney!
posted by rhizome at 4:41 PM on August 9 [3 favorites]

This is not a novel criticism, I know, but I really dislike the continued lionization of this overrated show

SNL has such a huge history to it, and so very many cast members and an unbelievable number of shows that it's kind of silly to paint it with a broad brush: it's either great or terrible. When the truth is it's both of those things, and also middling. That applies to certain seasons/years, certain cast lineups, and even within individual episodes. I've watched SNL when every skit was like fire and I laughed my ass off, and I've seen episodes that were entirely, and I mean every single sketch, was painfully unfunny. Namely the seasons since the early 2000s, which is a lot.

But to your point about SNL being risk-averse...the Weekend Update is the one part in which current events are directly addressed, and yeah, there's a lot of punch-pulling when it comes to going after powerful entities. Hell, Elon Musk and Donald Trump hosted not too many years ago. While I would agree that SNL wears kid gloves, it can still be funny. I actually watched an entire episode a few months ago and was pleasantly surprised to laugh. A lot!
posted by zardoz at 4:50 PM on August 9

While its first season, maybe two, had an edge,

I didn't even like that much when it was brand new and I was about sixteen. You'd think I would've been the ideal audience. But nah. Being home watching TV at 11:30pm on a Saturday night was a sure sign that you were something of a loser who had no friends. There had to be something better going on.

But I'm probably not a good indicator of tastes back then. I was big into Monty Python and found this American stuff comparatively bullying and mean-spirited and only occasionally as genius as it thought it was. When I think of overrated anything in the history of TV, SNL has always rocketed to the upper reaches of the list.
posted by philip-random at 5:07 PM on August 9

Yeah, I know that the writers and cast basically hated the Muppets on the show, but I don't want to see Jim Henson played for a dweeb.

Yep. Especially since Jim actually had a pretty spicy sense of humor.

Henson, stone-faced, stroked his beard and listened, probing the filmmaker further on the prurient particularities of how the creatures would be used. After asking a clearly exasperated Kenworthy for his opinion on the project, Henson “exploded into his high-pitched giggle, unable to contain himself longer,” as Brian Jay Jones describes in his biography of the Muppet creator. Everyone broke character; the entire office was listening in behind the door. The pitch meeting was a prank to get a rise out of Kenworthy, a Cambridge graduate and a future BAFTA chairman.

Henson “clearly loved yanking people’s chains,” Jones told me, but the X-rated extent of this ruse would baffle any casual Henson fan. The prurient goof doesn’t align with the sensibility that drove his TV shows or movies, yet these kinds of backstage stories are prevalent. Though his public persona was that of a hip, latter-day Walt Disney, Jim Henson once responded to a viewer’s criticizing letter with a simple “What the fuck are you talking about?”
posted by oneirodynia at 7:27 PM on August 9 [3 favorites]

There's so much history to unpack, that even though "someone" has cherry-picked a movie out of the first ummmm five of the fifty years of SNL's production, I'm just glad to see something made out of it.

I was hoping more for a series-spanning cinema verité documentary, or even a mockumentary a la Spinal Tap... but I don't think Lorne has the subversive-best-interests of the viewer foremost in his mind anymore.
posted by not_on_display at 7:29 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

The music is often surprisingly fresh.

Goddamit, you owe me a new keyboard.
posted by intermod at 9:17 PM on August 9

1986 - 1995 was peak SNL in my book - - the Phil Harman, Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, Mike Meyers, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Victoria Jackson, Tim Meadows era.
posted by fairmettle at 9:48 PM on August 9 [4 favorites]

I don't think (?) anyone's posted it yet, so for those with SNL interest who might not have heard of it: 2015's Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests. (And also: thanks for the post, Kitteh.)
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:45 AM on August 10

It is a shame that SNL is a mere shell of what it was. Now when the country needs some good laughs, it comes up short every time. I have not watched SNL in many years. My spouse does and she tells me what a disappointment it now is and has been for quite a while.
posted by DJZouke at 5:18 AM on August 10

Aside from the comedy, what other show was putting Fear or Klaus Nomi on the air?

The choice of musical guests has gone downhill, but when the host got to pick the band it could be quite interesting.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:44 AM on August 10 [4 favorites]

There's also the Saturday Night Live FAQ which is a fun readable book (though not, strictly speaking, an FAQ) from 2013.
posted by jessamyn at 9:39 AM on August 10

SNL may be a little tired, but lots of people, including me, are obsessing over who will play Walz in the fall (If not Steve Martin, then perhaps Ed Harris or Ed O’Neill?).
posted by Melismata at 10:26 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]

To sum up: the trailer for an upcoming film about the 90 minutes just before the first ever SNL episode has produced a discussion about How Much SNLHas Always Sucked.

Never change, Metafilter.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:31 PM on August 10 [8 favorites]