Saturday Night tells the true story of what happened on the first episode of Saturday Night Live, providing a re-enactment of the beginning of the long-running series. NBC launched the first season of NBC’s Saturday Night in 1975 after Dick Ebersol hired Lorne Michaels to create a new piece of late-night programming. The importance and legacy of the sketch comedy show grew in the decades that followed, with it becoming a place where many famous comedians, such as Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, and Adam Sandler, became breakout stars.

While multiple Saturday Night Live skits became movies over the years, it took until 2024 for a movie to be made specifically about the show itself. Directed by Jason Reitman, Saturday Night tackles the true story of the show’s origin, bringing in a cast of young, rising stars to play some of SNL‘s most important cast members, creators, and more. The movie is about the 90 minutes leading up to the debut of Saturday Night Live‘s first episode, making the film responsible for telling the true story and events as accurately as possible.

Saturday Night Is Based On The True Story Of SNL’s First Episode

The Debut Came On October 11, 1975

The true story that Saturday Night revolves around are the events that occurred on October 11, 1975. This is the night that the first episode of the show that became known as Saturday Night Live aired on NBC. At the time, it was known as NBC’s Saturday Night because ABC already had Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on the air. NBC’s need for Saturday Night Live came from Johnny Carson’s request to not do live shows on a few weeknights and the company no longer wanting to air re-runs of earlier episodes of The Tonight Show in those slots.

The original goal for NBC’s Saturday Night was to be a 90-minute variety show for late-night audiences, and Lorne Michaels worked on its development during the mid-1970s. The show was finally ready to go in 1975 after ᴀssembling a cast of young comedians, who became known as The Not Ready for Prime Time Players, and a talented writers room. Although Saturday Night Live evolved into becoming a full sketch show with one celebrity host participating in the sketches and a musical guest, the show originally was more divided between the host’s abilities, sketches, and musical performances.

Who Was Part Of SNL’s First Episode In 1975

The First Cast Members & Guests

The first episode of Saturday Night Live included the core cast members who would mostly be around for the entire first season or beyond. The Not Ready for Prime Time Players included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, George Coe, and Michael O’Donoghue at the start. Coe did not return after the first episode. There were also a number of uncredited cameos from Richard Belzer, Tom Davis, Audrey Peart Dickman, Al Franken, Neil Levy, Don Pardo, Tom Schiller, Paul Simon, Akira Yoshimura, Alan Zweibel, Jaqueline Carlin, Wendell Craig, and Clifford Einstein.

There were also several other individuals involved in Saturday Night‘s first episode who were not part of the main Saturday Night cast members. Comedian George Carlin was the host, while Billy Preston and Janis Ian were the musical guests. Comedians Valri Bromfield and Andy Kaufman also appeared to do solo sketches and routines. Billy Crystal was originally scheduled to have a set as well, but his was cut from the live show.

What Sketches Were Done On SNL’s First Episode

An Iconic Sketch Began

Saturday Night‘s first episode was very different from what the show became, as the sketch comedy was split up by different comedic and musical performances. There were still a few typical sketches that were done. O’Donaghue and Belushi did the cold open called The Wolverines. Sketches known as New Dad, Trial, Victims of Shark Bite, Jamitol, Triopenin, Bee Hospital, Academy of Better Careers, Home Securities, and Triple Trac were all included. Jim Henson and The Muppets even contributed by doing The Land of Gorch. Pre-recorded sketches with Albert Brooks and one called Show Us Your Guns also were aired.

The most notable of the sketches included in the first episode of NBC’s Saturday Night is the first edition of Weekend Update. Chevy Chase and Herb Sargent were responsible for creating it. Chevy Chase was the Weekend Update anchor for the entire first season and a few in season 2. The segment became a staple of the show, appearing in every single episode of Saturday Night Live since then.

Did NBC Want Lorne Michaels & Saturday Night Live To Fail?

The Movie Suggests So

One plot point in Saturday Night is the suggestion that NBC wanted Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live to fail. Although the movie chronicles the true story of SNL‘s origins, there is no evidence to suggest that the studio wanted Lorne Michaels’ show to be anything other than a success. NBC needed Saturday Night Live to fill a big hole in its programming schedule after Johnny Carson’s request.

While giving a relatively unproven producer and cast of unknowns the responsibility of replacing a time slot Carson occupied was certainly a risk, the suggestion that NBC was secretly rooting against the show’s success is just for narrative purposes. It gives Lorne Michaels and the entire success of Saturday Night Live a bit more of an underdog success story feeling. That said, NBC probably did have some doubts about the show’s long-term viability and did not think it would run for half a century and spawn a movie like Saturday Night.

How Accurate Saturday Night Is To The True Story

The film takes a lot of creative liberties with the true story

While Saturday Night does capture an authentic sense of the chaotic energy leading up to the premiere of the first episode of Saturday Night Live, the film does alter several true story details and even creates completely new scenes that never happened. Scenes such as John Belushi ice skating at Rockefeller Centers twenty minutes before the first SNL episode went live in Saturday Night‘s ending,

Milton Berle flashing Chevy Chase after hitting on his fiancée Jacqueline Carlin, Johnny Carson’s intimidating phone call to Lorne Michaels, and host George Carlin getting lockjaw from doing too much cocaine never actually occurred. There were also several true and somewhat accurate moments in Saturday Night whose timing and emphasis were altered in order to fit into the film. Chevy Chase got into a fight backstage with Bill Murray, not John Belushi, during season 3 of SNL, although Belushi was said to have instigated the confrontation.

Lorne Michaels had considered hosting the Weekend Update segment at one point in the show’s development, but it was established beforehand that Chase would anchor the classic sketch. The set designers were laying brick on the set hours, not minutes, before the first Saturday Night premiered. Michaels did hire writer Alan Zweibel after meeting him at a bar, but not on the night of the Saturday Night premiere covered in prop blood.

What The Original SNL Cast Has Said About Saturday Night

Dan Aykroyd Loved It, But Chevy Chase Hated It

The reaction to Saturday Night was mixed from the surviving original cast members. The filmmakers should be credited for going to the source to get the information, making Lorne Michaels their first contact. However, at the same time, they had to make some changes to ensure that the movie was entertaining, including adding things that happened later in history to the day of the premiere. This caused some people to praise it and others to criticize it. Dan Aykroyd praised the movie, calling it a “stand-alone masterpiece” (via The Hollywood Reporter).

“Cracking a Head to applaud Jason Reitman’s triumphant SNL film. Wow! What a propulsive, engaging, funny, beautifully cast and acted, suspenseful, adventurous, music-filled ride. A perfect window into the creative process at its highest level. Pretty accurate too.”

However, one of Aykroyd’s former cast members was not as kind. Chevy Chase was not entertained by Saturday Night and told director Jason Reitman as much (via Entertainment Weekly). “Chevy loves to say the thing you’re not supposed to say — to the extreme,” Reitman said. “Chevy comes in to watch the movie, and he is there with [his wife] Jayni, and they watch the film, and he’s in the group, and he comes up to me after, and he pats me on the shoulder and goes, ‘Well, you should be embarrᴀssed.'”