It’s Saturday night, live from New York! In actuality, it is Thursday afternoon in the United Kingdom. However, the trailer for Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night just released, and it appears to be a star-studded, chaotic, comedy-heavy affair, with creator Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle of The Fabelmans) counting down the minutes until his groundbreaking program SNL premieres. Watch it right here:
Today, Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a late-night powerhouse, drawing A-list presenters and musical guests, frequently becoming viral with clever skits, and serving as a training ground for the biggest stars in American comedy. However, back in October 1975, it was a free program that NBC was having trouble drawing viewers for—an unproven risk featuring well-known personalities in heated debates that was aired on TVs throughout the country before it was ready. LaBelle is the head of a massive ensemble that also stars J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Cooper Hoffman as Willem Dafoe and Licorice Pizza’s David Tebet and Dick Ebersol, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, and a host of other actors.
Saturday Night features a behind-the-camera staff led by Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire partners Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan. Reitman directs and co-writes the show, while Kenan also contributes. The show is based on the real-life events leading up to SNL’s inaugural broadcast. When Saturday Night opens in theaters on October 11, we’ll see if the gang gets their act together.