Posted in: Movies, NBC, Sony, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL OG Dan Aykroyd: Saturday Night Film "Stand-Alone Masterpiece"

Original SNL star Dan Aykroyd had high praise for Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night,' calling it a "stand-alone masterpiece" and Oscar-worthy.

Director and writer Jason Reitman had a tall task ahead: not only casting fresh faces to play the original "not ready for prime time players" in the upcoming Sony/Columbia Pictures Saturday Night, but he also had to recreate the chaos creator Lorne Michaels went through, fighting tooth and nail to convince NBC to allow the Saturday Night Live premiere to become a reality. Most of the surviving cast have reemerged into the public spotlight with the film's looming release, which includes Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, and Dan Aykroyd as the NBC late-night series reaches its 50th anniversary. Aykroyd, who has worked with Reitman for two Ghostbusters films, offered his review of the biopic on social media.

Original 'SNL' Star Dan Aykroyd Reviews Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night'

Saturday Night was SNL's original title before adding "Live" at the end after purchasing the rights to the title from ABC which canceled Howard Cosell's show in 1976. The bulk of the original cast is represented in the Reitman film including Newman, Morris, Curtin, Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi as they're played by Emily Fairn, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Dylan O'Brien, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, and Matt Wood. Gabriel LaBelle plays Michaels. Not represented was George Coe.

On the Ghostbusters franchise star's thoughts on the biopic, "Cracking a Head to applaud Jason Reitman's triumphant SNL film. Wow! What a propulsive, engaging, funny, beautifully cast and acted, suspenseful, adventurous, music-filled ride. A perfect window into the creative process at its highest level. Pretty accurate too. I was there that night and got to relive it wonderfully again. Congratulations [co-writer] Gil [Kenan], Jason and Blumie [Jason Blumenfeld]. Don't miss it whether you know the show or not. It is a stand-alone masterpiece and surefire candidate for Best Picture."

Saturday Night, which also stars Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Bruan, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons, is available in theaters.

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