Saturday Night

"Saturday Night Live" fans are in for a real treat.

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“Saturday Night Live” was an institution in the Toombs household like it was in a lot of other homes across America. My folks watched the show from the get-go and would often recall their favorite sketches from their favorite performers to me years later.

As a tween it was a treat to watch the likes of Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers and Adam Sandler. In my teens and early 20s I glommed onto the likes of Will Ferrell, Tim Meadows and Tracy Morgan. Women justifiably came to the forefront of “SNL” in the aughts and 2010s with the likes of Tina Fey, Kate McKinnon, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig killing it on a weekly basis. My interest in the show has waned some in recent years, though I’ve still enjoyed rap videos made by the Lonely Island and Pete Davidson and “Weekend Update” as hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che.

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” (now in theaters) chronicles the 90 minutes of chaos that proceeded the show’s first live airing on Oct. 11, 1975 (49 years ago today!). A lot of folks have referred to the film as a stressful experience and I can certainly see that perspective, but knowing that “SNL” would not only ultimately succeed but flourish for almost 50 years helps alleviate the tension. I mostly just enjoyed hanging out with this motley cast of characters.

Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is the 30-year-old wunderkind producer of what was then known as “Saturday Night.” It’s Michaels’ responsibility to corral his cast and crew into making a cohesive 90-minute show with the assistance of his estranged comedy writer wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) and his page of a cousin Neil Levy (Andrew Barth Feldman).

Comedic genius-in-the-making John Belushi (Matt Wood) is refusing to sign his contract. Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) is hitting on anyone wearing a skirt … including Shuster and castmate Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn). Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) is busy showing off his arm candy Jacqueline Carlin (Kaia Gerber) and talking shit to his fellow castmates … most especially Belushi. Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) and Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) are struggling with what their place on the show is as a black man and a woman, respectively. Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) appears to be the amiable one of the bunch – going along to get along.

Guest host George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) doesn’t want to be there. Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun) needs pages for himself and his Muppets. Andy Kaufman (also Braun) keeps appearing and disappearing. Musical guest Billy Preston (Jon Batiste, who also scores) tries to help Morris loosen up by giving him drugs.

Certain factions of the National Broadcasting Company want Michaels to fail – they’re embodied by executive Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe). Other younger elements are in Michaels’ corner such as Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman).

I don’t know if it’s that I watched “Saturday Night” in New York City at an Alamo Drafthouse and briefly met Spike Lee before my screening, but I had a fantastic time with the film. The script from Reitman and his co-writer/co-producer Gil Kenan is sharp. The cast is uniformly great with standouts being LaBelle (after essentially playing Steven Spielberg in “The Fabelmans” and Michaels here, I can’t wait to see what youthful creative visionary of the ‘70s this talented young actor will tackle next), Sennott, Braun and the heretofore unmentioned Tommy Dewey as loudmouthed head writer Michael O’Donoghue (this dude looks and sounds so much like Joel McHale I thought he was McHale for a hot minute).

I laughed. I cried. I had a blast and a half. “SNL” fans are in for a real treat.