How I wish I could tell you I loved Saturday Night --- a countdown story set during the 90 minutes before the first live Saturday Night show on NBC in 1975. I loved the idea because I so fondly remember the first season, in my own young adulthood, when no matter where you were or what you were doing, you turned on NBC at 11:30. Saturday Night crams almost everything that happened during the first year into the alleged 90 minutes leading to the first show. Skits performed much later get rehearsal time. Actors impersonate Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Lorne Michaels. Actress Rachael Sennott comes off best as Lorne Michael's soon to be ex-wife, writer Rosie Shuster. The impersonation roster goes on and on, including J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, and a threatening phone call from Johnny Carson --- did Dana Carvey do the impersonating? I'm afraid Saturday Night, the movie, is about as disappointing as Saturday Night Live, the show Lorne Michaels produces 50 years later - a safe attempt that often falls flat too often. Saturday Night.
