I enjoyed 'Saturday Night', a 2024 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman about the night of the 1975 premiere of NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live. The film captures the frenetic insanity that took place days and hours just before the very first Saturday Night live broadcast.
Now, two new documentaries explore the first 50 years of 'Saturday Night Live.'
The four-part "
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night," now streaming on Peacock, comes from Morgan Neville, who's as interested in the creative process as he is in letting people tell their own stories.
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years Of SNL Music premiers tonight (Monday - 1/27/25) on NBC. Just like 'Saturday Night Live', the show is free on over-the-air TV. The documentary will start streaming on Peacock on Tuesday. Weekly episodes of SNL are also available on YouTube, look for it there if you miss the NBC airing and don't subscribe to Peacock.
NBC's "Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years Of SNL Music" comes from Ahmir Questlove Thompson, who's both a musician and a music historian.
Fresh Air's Terry Gross interviews Ahmir Questlove Thompson and discusses his SNL documentary along with his musical influences starting as a young child watching SNL's first episodes. It's a great interview.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/27/nx-s1-5275491/questlove-snl-music-documentary
Media critic David Bianculli reviews both of the documentaries, he is a big fan.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/27/g-s1-44897/two-new-snl-documentaries-celebrate-50-years-of-music-laughs-and-insights
