Saturday Night's Legacy
An inside look into the show that changed our understanding of...everything
Welcome to From the Teacher’s Desk, where we take turns further reflecting on our episodes and applications to the classroom.
I vividly remember the first time I ever watched Saturday Night Live. I was in junior high and on a church youth event nearly an hour and a half away from my home in Riverton, Wyoming. We had to be up for church the next morning, but our hosts turned on the TV to watch the latest episode of SNL. It was the early 90s, a time many consider a golden era for the show. As a naive middle schooler, I laughed with my peers, even as much of the humor went over my head.
It was my first introduction to SNL, but as a teenager, it certainly wasn’t my last experience with the actors and the characters they created to satirize every aspect of our lives. It became integral to my understanding of politics and pop culture as I moved through adolescence into adulthood.
So when my husband and I saw the preview for a movie based on the creation of the late-night show, we decided a date night was in order. And we weren’t disappointed.
It’s Saturday Night
Jason Reitman’s film Saturday Night opens on October 11, 1975 - exactly 90 minutes before the first-ever broadcast of Lorne Michael’s new show is supposed to go on air. The initial SNL greats run across the screen as backstage erupts in chaos. Andy Kauffman aimlessly wanders from room to room. Chevy Chase loses his girlfriend in the rush to rehearse. Guest star Jim Henson keeps begging for his script pages and complaining about the way cast members are disrespecting his Muppets. John Belushi stomps off to skate in the rink right outside of Rockefeller Center.
And Lorne Michaels has a three-hour show that he has to cut down to 90 minutes all while keeping his cast together, dealing with the network censor who wants to cut out most of the jokes, and fighting a network that wants to see him fail.
Perfect Timing
Comedy is all in the timing.
I felt Lorne Michaels’ stress and anxiety as he anticipated everything that could possibly go wrong while constantly putting out fires. As an audience member, I was counting down the minutes until showtime with the characters, nervously anticipating the next shoe drop.
This is a movie about a comedy show that has been successful for decades because of its ability to perfectly time its satire and parody with the cultural moment while finding comedians who fully understand the role of timing in telling a joke. As a result, the 90-minute pacing of the movie wasn’t just about storytelling; it was symbolic of the show as a whole.
Creativity At Work
One of the more interesting reveals in the film is Michael’s inability to verbalize what his new late night show is. He has a concept in his head. He has a big, talented cast and brilliant writers. But he still cannot tell the NBC executives what they should expect from the show he is still honing down to 90 minutes of airtime. It isn’t until his back is against the wall and they are minutes from having the entire launch replaced by Johnny Carson that he is finally able to paint a picture of the show’s purpose.
Isn’t that a lot of creative work? When we sit down to create art or compose music or write a book, we might have an idea of what we want it to be or how we want it to impact others, but we can’t quite explain what the final product will look like. The journey to completion is almost as important as the finished art. Saturday Night demonstrates this in real-time.
Timing and the Classroom
There are a lot of ways to teach the importance of timing in your classroom.
When I taught Romeo and Juliet, one of my favorite assignments was having students complete a timeline of events. It helped them visualize the frantic pace of two teenagers falling in love and losing their lives to their families’ feud.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is another excellent piece for discussing pacing in a story.
Finally, if you are looking for dramatic pieces, I personally enjoy David Ives’ All In the Timing, a book of one-acts that highlights the importance of timing in both comedy and general storytelling.
Something I’m currently loving
After an initial start two years ago, my husband and I couldn’t resist the rave reviews for Rings of Power. We finally decided to just sit down and watch it without our kids. We weren’t disappointed by our entrance back into Middle Earth.
There are creative twists and turns, and I have enjoyed watching the process of the creation of the Rings of Power. I’m even feeling inspired to reread Lord of the Rings in 2025.
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