WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Saturday Night.

Saturday Night portrays Lorne Michaels planning to anchor SNL’s first Weekend Update segment before handing it over to Chevy Chase. Jason Reitman’s 2024 docudrama follows the chaotic 90 minutes before the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. Michaels, played by Golden Globe nominee Gabriel LaBelle, leads the ensemble cast of Saturday Night, which also features Cory Michael Smith portraying Chase.

Throughout Saturday Night, Lorne has to wrangle his wild SNL cast and make critical decisions that would determine the success of the sketch comedy show’s first NBC broadcast. Saturday Night depicts one of those crucial choices that required Michaels to swallow his pride and hand the Weekend Update anchor role to Chase just minutes before the show went live. While it made for one of the more interesting scenes in the film, the actual occurrence went down slightly differently.

Lorne Michaels Didn’t Want To Cut Other Actors’ Material While Leaving Himself In For Weekend Update

Michaels Was Focused On Showcasing The Wide Range Of His Cast’s Talents

Lorne Michaels’ decision to remove himself as the Weekend Update anchor was made partly due to his consideration for the cast members. According to The New Yorker, “It would be awkward to cut other people’s material while leaving himself in. That, he said, would be “’a little too Orson Welles, even for me.'” While Michaels was the creator of the show, he was well aware of the wealth of comedic talent that surrounded him during SNL’s first episode, including Jon Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Laraine Newman.

Weekend Update has been a staple of Saturday Night Live for 50 seasons based on Michaels’ decision in 1975. In retrospect, he was wise to allow Chase to take the reins of Weekend Update, considering the comedian’s meteoric rise soon after SNL premiered. Michaels was also smart to allow his cast members to display his vision for Saturday Night Live rather than try to do it himself. It further demonstrates how keen Michaels’ eye was for talent. Many of his castmates were also actors who landed movie roles from SNL, which Michaels was not interested in personally as a producer.

Michaels Had Chevy Chase Anchor Weekend Update Because Of How Often He Made Him Laugh

Saturday Night Depicts How Gifted Chase Was At Getting Laughs

Chase was originally hired as a writer on SNL but Michaels had him anchor Weekend Update because he made him laugh a lot around the office. This sentiment is highlighted throughout Saturday Night, seen in moments when Michaels admires Chase’s stage presence and expert ability to get the people around him to laugh. Chase saves Michaels during a speech to NBC’s executives during a crucial scene in Saturday Night. This exemplifies how Michaels recognized how hilarious Chase was and humbly determined that Chase would be a better fit than him for the Weekend Update job.