On October 11th, 1975, television changed forever. NBC premiered a revolutionary concept. It combined a bunch of young and innovative comedians who would perform sketches written during the week. The show, commanded by the young Canadian writer Lorne Michaels, was Saturday Night Live. Fifty years later, SNL became a place where comedians would launch their careers, writers would sharpen their pens through short sketches, and musicians would present their music to a massive audience. The show evolved into a blueprint for a successful variety show, and those excerpts of the programs would become crucial pieces of popular culture. On the fiftieth anniversary of the legendary show, directors Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Oz Rodríguez come together to analyze the musical performances in
The variety show, which aired on NBC and is now streaming on Peacock, goes through the history of music in the program. The documentary starts with a seven-minute introduction that mashes up different performances and combines songs. The inventive editing explores the vast archive of fifty years worth of material. In fairness, the opening is the most creative aspect of the special. For the rest of the length, it becomes a standard TV documentary. Thompson and Rodríguez structure in blocks that work independently. A vignette separates each block, which marks the break for an advertisement. The directors organize their subjects through the theme of the specific segment. It is a varied horizon of themes that use the telling of different celebrities to explain a particular historical moment.
For example, they divide the musical guests and the cast members at the time. One piece is about The Lonely Island, a comedy troupe by Adam Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer. It explores how the trio revolutionized the program by expanding their musical gags to YouTube, a recently created platform at the period. Their SNL Digital Shorts would hit with songs like I’m on a Boat with T-Pain, D*** in a Box with Justin Timberlake, and I Just Had Sex with Akon. The moment analyzes the contributions of the group to evoke different styles of music for sketches and how they would become comedy classics.
Furthermore, there is also a diving into the controversial performances in the show. Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine talks about their performance in 1996. When Steve Forbes, who had recently run for the Republican spot for the presidency, hosted. They wanted to play with an upside-down American flag in their amplifiers, but the producers blocked their idea of showing it. The rejection of their political statement made one of the band members throw the flag at the Forbes family, and NBC took them out of the building. Morello’s interview is counter-opposed by Michaels’s statement that he never banned anyone from the show, but Rage never performed there again. And Morello even remembers the Sinead O’Connor performance, in which she ripped a picture of the pope when singing an acapella hymn against child abuse. O’Connor suffered a boycott for her political statement, and her career never reached the same heights in posterity.
The film presents fascinating anecdotes about the production and logistics of the performances. It even shines a light on the crew that usually does not get a chance to speak: producers, sound mixers, musical supervisors, etc. However, not every block lands its ideas properly. A piece on the impersonations of famous singers and the musical guests participating in sketches drags the rhythm of Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. Towards the end, there are fascinating topics such as performing during the pandemic. It shows how Morgan Wallen lost a booked appearance because of violating the COVID rules, but this gets rushed by a David Grohl interview that feels isolated from the rest. A couple of these enchanting moments dwindle due to an editing that does not know how to use the interviews. Some of the artists feel randomly used in the segments, boosting the feeling of disconnection.
Saturday Night Live is one of the most crucial TV programs ever in the history of American broadcasting. It launched multiple careers and delivered iconic performances and sketches that would become part of popular culture. Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson and Oz Rodríguez join forces to compile fifty years’ worth of music in the documentary Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music. The editing drags a heavily dense film and makes it appear longer than it is. However, the luxurious archival of NBC and interviews with legends like Maya Rudolph, The Lonely Island, Bill Hader, and Eddie Murphy deliver an entertaining program for the show fans.
‘Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music‘ is now streaming on Peacock.
Learn more about the documentary, including how to watch, at the Peacock site for the title.
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