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    • How much really happened in the movie “Saturday Night”?
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    How much really happened in the movie “Saturday Night”?

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

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    NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has always seemed to be a part of entertainment heaven. Canadian comedy writer Lorne Michaels’ brainchild originated almost half a century ago, and yet he’s unlikely to continue to generate laughs, controversy and rising stars.

    But how did it all start? That’s the focus of “Saturday Night” (in wide release Friday), director Jason Reitman’s deliciously frenetic take on the 90-minute period before the first episode aired live on October 11, 1975.

    “It’s just about a group of people trying to completely revolutionize television in 90 minutes,” Reitman says with a laugh.

    Reitman’s film plays like a strange freight train barely staying on the tracks, complete with crashing light trains, pouting stars, sudden fights and even an appearance from Milton Berle’s famously oversized member.

    There’s no question that Michaels created nothing less than a genre-bending explosion with Studio 8H. But the hubris seems so unlikely that it’s fair to wonder how much of “Saturday Night” really happened that fall night at New York’s Rockefeller Center.

    USA TODAY reviewed some of the film’s more outlandish scenes with the help of Reitman and stars Gabriel LaBelle (who plays Michaels) and Cory Michael Smith (Chevy Chase).

    Critic’s opinion: “Saturday Night” review: Throwback comedy picks up on the fabulous hype surrounding the first “SNL.”

    Did Chevy Chase and John Belushi get into an altercation right before Saturday Night Live debuted?

    “Saturday Night” stars Chase and future comedy icon John Belushi (Matt Wood) as two sharks intent on tearing each other apart just before the show. And finally, arguments arise that have to be broken apart. But the fight never happened that night.

    “Jason portrayed this as a sign of tension, but it’s also a reference to the argument Chevy famously had with Bill Murray when Chevy, who left ‘SNL’ after its first year, returned as host in its second year. ” says Smith. “It was a tribute to that moment.”

    Did a lighting system really crash during “Not Ready for Primetime Players”?

    No, says Reitman, although “the story we heard was that their famous camera crane, the so-called Chapman crane, which someone would actually drive, lost its brakes and plowed through the set.”

    Secret: Here’s the one thing “Saturday Night” director Jason Reitman begged his actors not to do

    Did John Belushi really hold off on signing his NBC contract until the show?

    Yes, says Reitman. “He was nowhere to be found and refused to sign the contract until the end.” But, Reitman adds, “the film was about showing that, not about highlighting a contract dispute, but about showing how much fear he had before becoming a star.” Stern. John was aware of his own genius, but he feared that if he became popular on television, things would spiral out of control.

    After leaving “SNL” to pursue films, including his breakthrough role in 1978’s “Animal House,” Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, California, at age 32.

    Was Billy Crystal part of the original cast of Saturday Night Live?

    Yes. The comedian was supposed to be part of the first show, but as portrayed on Saturday Night, his role never made it to air and he eventually left the series, returning as a very successful cast member in the 1984-85 season.

    Did Johnny Carson insult Lorne Michaels on the phone right before the show?

    “That’s true,” Reitman says of the late-night host’s call to the aspiring producer. As “Saturday Night” explains, “SNL” took over the time slot reserved for reruns of Carson’s “Tonight Show,” and he wasn’t thrilled about giving it up.

    “It might not have happened that night, but Carson had set up all these rules to make it difficult for Lorne,” Reitman says. “The message was really, ‘Stay away from Burbank,'” home of “The Tonight Show.”

    LaBelle adds: “My feeling was that they (NBC) didn’t respect Lorne at all, they saw him as this hippie. So they were always at each other’s throats.”

    Did Milton Berle really expose himself to Chevy Chase’s girlfriend backstage?

    No. The famous comedian known as Mr. Television was not on set that evening or, as depicted, taping an old-fashioned variety show next door. (Berle once hosted “SNL” in 1979.) But a scene in which he exposes himself has roots in real life.

    Berle was “notorious for showing people (his penis), so many people have stories about what happened to them,” says Reitman, who adds the scene in “Saturday Night” in which Berle hits on Chase’s girlfriend and then the Boy insults comedian by pulling out his penis is actually about the generation gap in comedy cultures.

    Was Chevy Chase really handed over the reins of Weekend Update at the last minute?

    On “Saturday Night,” Lorne Michaels gives a succinct reading of fake news headlines during a rehearsal for the show’s Weekend Update segment. Michaels then abruptly tells Chase to do the job instead. Chase soon became famous for this part, often beginning with his classic line: “Good evening, I’m Chevy Chase. And you’re not.”

    Michaels originally wanted to take on this task, but long before the first episode began, she handed it over to Chase, who had originally been hired as a writer. (Reitman says Michaels and Chase met while both were waiting in line to see the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”) “SNL” is shown on “Saturday Night” as “American Python ” designated.

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    Caradoc Wyn
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