‘Saturday Night’ trailer is officially live — and shows original 1975 cast in chaos before premiere episode
Live from New York, it’s the trailer for “Saturday Night.”
The trailer for director Jason Reitman’s movie about the 90 minutes leading up to the first-ever episode of “Saturday Night Live” in October 1975 was released Thursday.
It shows the original cast of the sketch comedy series racing against the clock to put on the first show at Studio 8H.
At the start of the trailer, an NBC page played by “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard struggles to give out free tickets to the show.
Gabriel LaBelle’s Lorne Michaels, the creator of “SNL,” tries to get past security at 30 Rock.
The original cast — which includes Cory Michael Smith’s Chevy Chase, Dylan O’Brien’s Dan Aykroyd, Ella Hunt’s Gilda Radner, Lamorne Morris’ Garrett Morris, Matt Wood’s John Belushi, Emily Fairn’s Laraine Newman and Kim Matula’s Jane Curtin — are also dealing with conflict and disaster as they prepare to tape their first episode.
NBC exec Dick Ebersol, played by Cooper Hoffman, tells Michaels that he doesn’t think the show is “ready.”
“It doesn’t matter that we’re ready, it matters that it’s 11:30. That’s when we go on,” LaBelle’s Michaels responds.
The cast of “Saturday Night” also includes Rachel Sennott as Rosie Schuster, Matthew Rhys as George Carlin, Jon Batiste as Billy Preston, Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin, Willem Dafoe as David Tebet, J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle and Naomi McPherson as Janis Ian.
The first episode of “SNL” aired on October 11, 1975. It was hosted by Carlin with Preston and Ian as the musical guests.
The show changed its title from “Saturday Night” to “Saturday Night Live” during Season 2 in 1977.
The upcoming film was directed by Reitman, 46. He also produced the movie and co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan.
The official logline for the film reads, “At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television — and culture — forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.”
“Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words…”
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Wednesday, Reitman described “Saturday Night” as “a thriller-comedy.”
“I always describe this movie as a shuttle launch, and the question was, ‘Would they break orbit?’” he said.
Reitman also said the film will tell everyone’s story who was involved in making the first episode of “SNL.”
“This is about not only the first seven actors, but the writers, the art department, and everybody who came together at the last second to change television,” he explained. “What was so unusual about this show was not only that it was live, but the format was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.”
“Saturday Night” will be released in theaters on October 11, exactly 49 years after the first episode of “SNL” aired.
