The latest Saturday Night trailer is for the comedy nerds
Learn the difference between a "skit" and a "sketch" in the trailer for Saturday Night, premiering October 11
Photo: Courtesy Sony Pictures
If there was any doubt that Saturday Night was made by real comedy nerds, look no further than the first few lines of the latest trailer. “Okay, let’s see if we can get through one of these skits,” the director says, before Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) quickly interjects: “Sketches, Davey, please.” The rest of the trailer is similarly filled with winking references to behind-the-scenes history in addition to the exasperation of those on the outside. “Okay, so this is a bit?” someone else in the control room wonders. “I don’t get half the shit that they do,” a co-worker replies. Saturday Night Live in a nutshell, coming to theaters everywhere October 11!
Jason Reitman‘s passion project to (further) immortalize his dad’s comedy buddies takes place in the 90 minutes before showtime of the very first SNL, when even the cast and crew didn’t fully know what the show was supposed to be. LaBelle’s Lorne is depicted as the one guy who really gets it, but even he has trouble keeping the thing on the rails: in this depiction, the premiere is nearly thwarted by dangerous technical difficulties, cast in-fighting, and network interference. The trailer is a real litmus test for how deeply you know your SNL lore. Sure, network exec David Tebet’s sneering observation that “you kids aren’t ready for primetime” is an easy one, but did you clock the sexual tension between Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) and Lorne’s wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott)?
Saturday Night premiered at Telluride Film Festival to mixed-to-positive reviews. Particular praise has been given to the young ensemble cast playing larger-than-life comedy legends, including O’Brien as Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, and Nicholas Braun as both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson. If you are an SNL buff, the movie is sure to be a real “Leo pointing at the screen” meme extravaganza. If you’re not, at the very least you’ll walk away knowing the difference between a skit and a sketch.