This and Ghostbusters seems to prove something pretty specific about Jason Reitman: he loves funny things, but is not a funny person, and knows nothing about why things are funny in the first place.
Norm Macdonald, god rest his soul, would have torn this movie to shreds.
There was a NATIONAL LAMPOON (fake) "Letter to the Editor" where Peter Benchley proposes a hacky cartoon about a shark fin in a sea of people which he's sent to both them and THE NEW YORKER, and signs it "Peter 'My Father Was Funny' Benchley".
Wow, maybe it would have been less cruel to make you endure Average Joe.
From what you write it seems like the movie was committed to treating every person involved as incompetent, stupid, and or childish, in-service of further fluffing Michaels, God of comedy and counterculture.
My biggest issues is that these were not scrappy outsiders. The show was the head of the network's idea, and spearheded by Dick Ebersol, the head of late night TV at NBC. Lorne was a hired hand. NBC was fully invested and were willing to give it time to breathe and grow. The cast were all well established in the sketch comedy world. They were, at the time, the best of the best.
If anything Lorne was a bit of a screw up. They hired him on the strength of his work on Laugh-Inn and he took whole bits of the show from it. He couldn't keep the egos in check and was unable to crate a troop of actors as they originally envisioned. Unlike Carol Burnette, Monty Python, Lauguh-Inn they never gelled outside of their own respective cliques and fell apart after 3 seasons, only kept alive by managing to snag some legendary talents (Murphy, Crystal). It's to his credit that after he was fired he was brought back and learned from his failure. This time he found actors who were good collaborators AND managed to lock down their intellectual property created on the show.
Not damning Lorne with faint praise. What he is, in the end, is a man who learned to be a good producer and create an image around himself. It's a career most producers would kill for.
This and Ghostbusters seems to prove something pretty specific about Jason Reitman: he loves funny things, but is not a funny person, and knows nothing about why things are funny in the first place.
Norm Macdonald, god rest his soul, would have torn this movie to shreds.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
There was a NATIONAL LAMPOON (fake) "Letter to the Editor" where Peter Benchley proposes a hacky cartoon about a shark fin in a sea of people which he's sent to both them and THE NEW YORKER, and signs it "Peter 'My Father Was Funny' Benchley".
That's kind of what Jason Reitman reminds me of.
EDITED because "jaw fin"? 🤪
After reading this review, I want Saturday Night, but with the Weird Al biopic treatment.
How the hell did "Austin Powers" end up being a more critical take on Lorne Michaels than this movie?!?
I somehow agree with everything you wrote, but still enjoyed the movie.
Wow, maybe it would have been less cruel to make you endure Average Joe.
From what you write it seems like the movie was committed to treating every person involved as incompetent, stupid, and or childish, in-service of further fluffing Michaels, God of comedy and counterculture.
I wonder how Paul Feig would’ve done in place of Reitman.
You said
"Saturday Night is more respectful of John Belushi than the notorious, reviled biopic Wired, but not by much...."
twice.
NABIN: I LIKE that Belushi's presented as a drugged-up man-baby.... 😁
I love how seriously you take non-serious things. Blessings!
My biggest issues is that these were not scrappy outsiders. The show was the head of the network's idea, and spearheded by Dick Ebersol, the head of late night TV at NBC. Lorne was a hired hand. NBC was fully invested and were willing to give it time to breathe and grow. The cast were all well established in the sketch comedy world. They were, at the time, the best of the best.
If anything Lorne was a bit of a screw up. They hired him on the strength of his work on Laugh-Inn and he took whole bits of the show from it. He couldn't keep the egos in check and was unable to crate a troop of actors as they originally envisioned. Unlike Carol Burnette, Monty Python, Lauguh-Inn they never gelled outside of their own respective cliques and fell apart after 3 seasons, only kept alive by managing to snag some legendary talents (Murphy, Crystal). It's to his credit that after he was fired he was brought back and learned from his failure. This time he found actors who were good collaborators AND managed to lock down their intellectual property created on the show.
Not damning Lorne with faint praise. What he is, in the end, is a man who learned to be a good producer and create an image around himself. It's a career most producers would kill for.
I like the posters.
I particularly like that both of them recall the National Lampoon more than SNL.