BEFORE: I figured I might as well lean into the whole SNL thing this year once I saw how many docs there were, today's film is the latest one, which of course is on Peacock. So I programmed it knowing it had to fit in somewhere, and tried to ignore the fact that I would have to watch it on Peacock, which is very inconvenient. Nevertheless, it seems SNL has taken over, I've not got Bill Murray on top of the leaderboard and Dan Aykroyd is right behind him, I also usually track how many ex-SNL cast members are in each movie, and this one is a lock to win the category this year. Kenan Thompson and carries over from "Being Eddie" and presumably a lot of other people do, too.
It's also Will Ferrell's birthday! I figured with a cast of hundreds here, thanks to archive footage, this was bound to land on somebody's birthday - so a SHOUT-out to Will Ferrell, born 7/16/67, the exact same day as my sister. So, OK, a birthday SHOUT-out to her, too.
I was going to profile South Carolina today, because Lorne Michaels is from Canada, but Chris Rock carries over, too and he is from there - but then I learned that Lorne Michaels has a home on a farm in Maine, as he should, it's a great place to get away from NYC when you need to get away from NYC. So that sure makes the choice easier, I really didn't know how I was going to tie into Maine, which is another state that I have been to - so now I've been to 14 out of 16.
Date admitted to the U.S.: March 15, 1820 (23rd state)
Nickname: The Pine Tree State, well you work with what you have, I guess.
Claim to fame: All those Stephen King stories really happened there, all of them, so I'd stay clear of the whole state if I were you.
Prevalent language: Aah-yup
State Motto: "Dirigo", which is Latin for "I lead" or "I direct". Sure, if that makes you feel better about yourself.
State Flower: White pine cone and tassel - I don't think that's a flower.
State Fruit: Wild blueberry. That tracks.
State Fruit: Wild blueberry. That tracks.
State Fish: Landlocked Atlantic salmon. Not sure that's a thing either.
State Crustacean: Gotta be "Lob-stah"
State Bird: Black-capped chickadee
State Mammal: Moose. I saw a giant one made out of chocolate there once.
State Tree: White pine, as stated.
State Beverage: Moxie, and I am not making that up.
Notable Sports Teams: Absolutely zero.
Fun Fact: Maine used to be part of Massachusetts, which probably was really funky on the map. OK, Here's where Massachusetts ends, and then there's Vermont, there's New Hampshire, and WTF? Massachusetts AGAIN? How the heck did that even work? Back in the day it's believed that Vikings landed there, then the French, who called it Acadia, but the area also included bits of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. At some point the Acadians got kicked out and moved down to Louisiana and their identity name morphed from Acadians to Cajuns. They no longer had access to lobsters but they learned to eat crawfish, the things you learn on the Food Network, am I right?
I went there several times as a kid, my parents had friends in Augusta, and then as a teenager we sometimes went to the beach in Kennebunkport. As an adult I've been back twice, once to Bar Harbor and once to Boothbay Harbor, that's when I saw that giant chocolate moose, one of the best visual puns ever. It might still be there, who knows?
THE PLOT: Lorne Michaels, creator of "Saturday Night Live", offers unprecedented access to his life and process, as the man who built and sustained the institution for nearly five decades.
AFTER: There could be somebody out there who was working on a documentary about Lorne Greene, iconic TV star of the old shows "Bonanza" and the original "Battlestar: Galactica", and that person is very upset that this documentary was finished first and took the one-word title.
But I think this film should be required viewing for anyone in film school (which I think usually places too much emphasis on directing, like there ARE other jobs in filmmaking) or really, anyone who wonders, "What does a producer DO?". Well, a good one does a little bit of everything, they watch the budget, they hire the talent, they sometimes need to corral the talent, they handle the paperwork, they make sure everything is getting done on time, and done legally, and on top of that, they need to be friendly and communicative and smart and able to motivate everyone else to, you know, do their jobs. Lorne Michaels is a very talented, very experienced mega-producer, he's like the top of the pyramid, top of the food chain, he can hire and fire and no longer needs to take instructions from the network, because he's been running "SNL" for so long that he's seen dozens, maybe hundreds of network executives come and go, and he's STILL THERE. NBC decided at some point to leave him alone, for the most part, because it's the best way to get the show done on a weekly basis.
Four former SNL stars get together and do the math, just based on his 45 seasons running the show, how many episodes per season, and then how many sketches get pitched during the weekly writing sessions, and it's a staggering number. This guy has approved thousands of skits and then turned down probably five or ten times THAT number, and then clear the board, we've got to do another show NEXT week, so let's hear some new pitches. It's incredible, I worked for an animation studio for 31 years, and by the end of that period I was looking for a way off that crazy merry-go-round. If you told me I still had to do 14 or 15 more years I think I would have jumped on the subway tracks. Especially all the fund-raising to keep the studio out of debt so I could continue to get paid - working on SNL which gets income from commercials seems like a dream by comparison. But they're also a much larger machine, and it's kind of the same thing we've seen in docs about rock bands, just for TV comedy. Pitch the sketches, pick the sketches, meet the celebrity host, get the costumes ready, build the sets for this week, have a dress rehearsal, have a meeting, fix the show, do the show, have maybe one day off, and then start the whole process again. It's no wonder they take the summer off, but then all those comedy stars probably book movies in the summer, or tour comedy clubs, so really, there's no vacation except for a couple weeks at Christmas and a skip week here and there during the season. You might start to see why the first SNL cast was doing so much blow, it was for the energy boost.
(There's a point in this doc where Lorne Michaels notices during dress rehearsal that host Ryan Gosling has a sore throat, so they frantically try to get a doctor to check him out. Lorne notes that in the old days, they had a doctor on set, but that was probably just for Belushi. You can't be too careful.)
Does a producer also take his cast and host out on Tuesday nights for a nice Italian dinner? Yes, that is something else that a good producer would do. Does a producer also have a very nice second home on a lake in Maine, with a blueberry patch and a barn with goats? Yes, that is something else that a good producer has, but he no doubt earned that. Does a producer have a guy that services his office fish tank, keeping it stocked and clean and making sure the fish are fed? I think you can guess the answer.
The point of the documentary is to get to KNOW the subject, and at the start of production Lorne Michaels was very skeptical - this is a man who has tried very hard over the years to remain anonymous and unknown, which is difficult if he's sometimes on TV or in the news, or in charge of a cast of 12 rising stars and a staff of hundreds. So he can't be unknown, but neither can he be fully known, it's a paradox. I think we learn here what we need to learn, like where did he come from, what does he do for a living, and where does he go to be by himself, and as for the rest, well thankfully there are enough comedians with stories and anecdotes so we can fill in all the gaps. There are two characters in film and TV that are allegedly based on him - one is Jack Donaghy from "30 Rock", played by Alec Baldwin, he's a network executive in charge of a struggling comedy show, so I think we can all see the connection there. The other one is Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies, Mike Myers based that character's accent and attitude on his longtime SNL producer, Lorne Michaels, and sure, I can see it. A good producer might need to be 50% Jack Donaghy and 50% Dr. Evil, at least in terms of someone who wields great power, is not afraid to use it, and convinced that doing so will eventually allow him to take over the world, or at least retire comfortably.
Lorne is 82, by the way - and while I'm identifying people with "Artist Brain" we have to at least consider him for the list. People with severe Artist Brain tend to not retire, because they're convinced that absolutely nobody else could do the job they have, at least not as well as they can do it. In Lorne's case, he might be 100% right, but also, at some point you need to access your physical and mental abilities and think about training a successor. If you enjoy being on the farm in Maine, there are worse endings than going up there and just not coming back. But Lorne is also a New Yorker (born in Canada, but come on, he's a New Yorker now) and it can be very tough to get people who have lived in NYC for so long to leave. He goes to the same Italian restaurant every Tuesday night, for chrissakes, and that maitre d' would take a BULLET for him. So what if he only eats three dishes there? I suspect that once this documentary is seen by a lot of people, that restaurant is going to have to close to the public on Tuesday nights and ONLY serve the SNL cast and crew, if they don't already. Maybe there's a private room in back.
Producers also host meetings - but not too early, especially if they work on a late-night show. Lorne Michaels seems to start his day around 4:30 pm, and I have to respect that. Hey, don't mess with the process if it works. He's also got to play boss, adviser and father figure to a motley, constantly changing crew of needy and messed-up comedians, so again, mad props. I remember the old slogan from Frank Perdue, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." and I think that's somehow applicable here. It takes an extremely calm man to be in charge of the asylum, or maybe he's the craziest one of them all in the end. If only he could somehow become known... oh, yeah, right, that's why we're here.
Quite accidentally, the documentary filmmaker speaking with Lorne while on his Maine farm stumbles upon something quite beauitful - there's a garden of daffodils in it, and it's a wonderful metaphor, Lorne is the gardener who planted the daffodils (or he hired someone to do it, more than likely) and he's tended them over time, they come back every year, and he gets to watch them grow over time. He's hired all the comedians and planted them like seeds in the cast, then he gets to watch them grow if he keeps them protected. It's fine, but I think I like his office fish tank as a better analogy - you choose the fish, you put them in the tank with the other fish, hopefully they don't fight each other too much. You want to feed and nurture them (and their egos) but not too much. And if a fish dies or goes missing, well you just have to restock the tank then, don't you? Sure you want those fish to have a great life, while they're in your tank - but you also have to hope they don't get bored just swimming around the same tank, week after week. Yeah, that sounds a little closer to reality.
Directed by Morgan Neville (director of "The Saint of Second Chances" and "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain")
Also starring Lorne Michaels, Michael Che, Mikey Day, Steve Martin, Laraine Newman, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler (all 7 carrying over from "Being Eddie"), John Alexander, Fred Armisen (last seen in "Spin Me Round"), Ego Nwodim (ditto), Alec Baldwin (last seen in "Framing John DeLorean"), Candice Bergen (last seen in "Sweet Home Alabama"), Dana Carvey (last seen in "Adam Sandler: Funny Guy"), Conan O'Brien (ditto), Timothee Chalamet (last seen in "Marty Supreme"), Chevy Chase (last seen in "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story"), Andrew Dismukes, James Downey, Erin Doyle, Ayo Edibiri (last seen in "Omni Loop"), Jimmy Fallon (last seen in "Rather"), Tina Fey (last seen in "Mean Girls" (2024)), Chloe Fineman (last seen in "Freakier Friday"), Al Franken (last seen in "Love, Gilda"), Heidi Gardner (last heard in "Leo"), David Geffen (last seen in "LennoNYC"), Shane Gillis, Jake Gyllenhaal (last seen in "Ambulance"), Bill Hader (last seen in "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary"), Marcello Hernandez (last seen in "Happy Gilmore 2"), Steve Higgins, James Austin Johnson (last seen in "A Complete Unknown"), Colin Jost (last heard in "The Bad Guys 2"), Erik Kenward, Ed Kostner, Larry Liberstein, Michael Longfellow, Caroline Maroney, Bruce McCulloch (last seen in "Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution"), Mark McKinney (ditto), Martin Short (ditto), Kate McKinnon (last heard in "A Minecraft Movie"), Seth Meyers (last seen in "Martha"), James Andrew Miller, Susan Morrison, John Mulaney (last heard in "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"), Mike Myers (last seen in "Earth, Wind & Fire"), Chris Parnell (last seen in "Ira & Abby"), Paula Pell (last heard in "Inside Out 2"), Maya Rudolph (last seen in "Will & Harper"), Andy Samberg (last seen in "Lee"), Tom Schiller, Streeter Seidell, Sarah Sherman (last heard in "Nimona"), Howard Shore, Rosie Shuster, Paul Simon (last seen in "Roberta"), Emma Stone (last seen in "Eddington"), Lily Tomlin (last seen in Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print"), Betzy Torres, Devon Walker, Kristen Wiig (last seen in "Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story"), Bowen Yang (last seen in "Wicked: For Good"), Akira Yoshimura, Alan Zweibel,
with archive footage of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, Dave Chappelle, Jane Curtin, Andy Kaufman, Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, David Spade, (all 13 carrying over from "Being Eddie"), Laurie Anderson, Matthew Broderick (last seen in "Brats"), Aidy Bryant (last seen in "I Feel Pretty"), Ruth Buzzi, John Candy (last seen in "Draft Day"), Andrew Dice Clay (also last seen in "Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution"), Madonna (ditto), Ellen Cleghorne (last seen in "Adam Sandler: Funny Guy"), Chris Farley (ditto), Phil Hartman (ditto), Chris Kattan (ditto), Jon Lovitz (ditto), Dennis Miller (ditto), Kevin Nealon (ditto), Rob Schneider (ditto), Julia Sweeney (ditto), Joan Cusack (last seen in "Pee-Wee as Himself"), Anthony Michael Hall (ditto), Jan Hooks (ditto), Victoria Jackson (ditto), Denny Dillon (last seen in "Paint"), Robert Downey Jr. (last seen in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps"), Rachel Dratch (also last seen in "Will & Harper"), Will Forte (ditto), Darrell Hammond (ditto), Nora Dunn (last seen in "Chris & Martina: The Final Set"), Chris Elliott (last seen in "Sandy Wexler"), Will Ferrell (last seen in "You're Cordially Invited"), Dave Foley (last seen in "Second Act"), Jeff Goldblum (also last seen in "Wicked: For Good"), Ryan Gosling (last seen in "Child Star"), Elliott Gould (also last seen in "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story"), Tom Green (last seen in "Superstar"), Buck Henry (last seen in "Becoming Mike Nichols"), Martin Herlihy (last seen in "Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain"), John Higgins (ditto), Ben Marshall (ditto), Paris Hilton (last seen in "The Bling Ring"), Arte Johnson (last seen in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"), Punkie Johnson (last seen in "Bottoms"), Leslie Jones (last seen in "A Guy Thing"), Jane Krakowski (last heard in "The Willoughbys"), Matt Lauer (last seen in "Paul Anka: His Way"), Rob Lowe (last seen in "Monster Trucks"), Norm MacDonald (last seen in "Jack and Jill"), Billy Martin (last seen in "Yogi Berra: It Ain't Over"), Penny Marshall (last seen in "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life"), Dick Martin, Tim Meadows (last seen in "Dream Scenario"), Jay Mohr (last seen in "I Am Chris Farley"), Elon Musk (last seen in "Men in Black: International"), Bob Newhart (last seen in "Bathtubs Over Broadway"), Sinead O'Connor (last seen in "Nothing Compares"), Michael O'Donoghue, Catherine O'Hara (last heard in "The Wild Robot"), Cheri Oteri (last seen in "Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything"), Don Ohlmeyer, Don Pardo, Anthony Perkins, Amy Poehler (last seen in "Dear Mr. Watterson"), Hart Pomerantz, Randy Quaid (last seen in "An Accidental Studio"), Rob Reiner (also last seen in Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print"), Tim Robbins (last seen in "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story"), Dan Rowan, Molly Shannon (also last seen in "Spin Me Round"), Charlie Sheen (last seen in "I Am Sam Kinison"), Tom Snyder (last seen in "Beatles '64"), Jason Sudeikis (last seen in "The Book of Love"), Patrick Swayze (last seen in "Brats"), Terry Sweeney, Lee Tergesen, John Tesh, Dave Thomas, Donald Trump (last seen in "Mile 22"), Danitra Vance, George Wendt, Frank Zappa
RATING: 6 out of 10 sketches about the Five-Timers Club
No comments:
Post a Comment