Jason Reitman's SNL Movie Has Succession's Nicholas Braun Playing Two Very Different Comedic Geniuses

While we wait for the 50th season of "Saturday Night Live" to begin, complete with Maya Rudolph returning as Vice President Kamala Harris, another era of the late night sketch comedy series will soon be getting the spotlight too. Jason Reitman, director of "Juno" and "Up in the Air," is digging back into the annals of comedy history with his latest cinematic effort, "Saturday Night." The film will chronicle the relatively short window of time leading up to the October 1975 premiere of "Saturday Night Live," though the series wouldn't debut with that full title, premiering only as "Saturday Night." 

"Saturday Night," described as a "comedy-thriller" by Reitman himself, promises to dig into all the behind-the-scenes chaos and drama that led to the breakthrough live comedy experiment that would become a late night staple and spawn some of the biggest names in comedy, starting with the Not Ready for Primetime Players like Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, and of course, the legendary John Belushi. They'll all appear in the movie, played by various actors both known and somewhat unfamiliar, but there are plenty of other famous faces kicking around in Studio 8H of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Saturday night too. In fact, two legendary comedic geniuses will be played by the same person.

Previously, we'd heard "Succession" star Nicholas Braun would be making the jump from pathetic corporate weasel to playing the iconic Jim Henson, creator of the beloved puppet characters known as the Muppets. Some of Henson's characters appeared in the premiere episode of "SNL" back in 1975, and we'll see Braun as Henson alongside them (as shown above in a photo from Vanity Fair's first look at the film). But on top of that, the actor will also be playing another comedy stalwart from the era: the enigmatic and unpredictable Andy Kaufman. 

In the debut episode of "Saturday Night," the show did not yet have the tight format we're familiar with today. George Carlin did stand-up several times throughout the episode instead of just at the top of the show in a monologue, Albert Brooks had a pre-taped short film, there were two musical guests, and showrunner Lorne Michaels threw in some adult puppetry into the live sketch comedy line-up, courtesy of Jim Henson.

Henson's contribution marks the debut of The Land of Gorch, a murky prehistoric-like fantasy realm featuring puppet monsters who were members of a royal family. All of the characters, from King Ploobis to a servant named Scred, are obnoxious and often inappropriate. By today's standards, it's all relatively tame, but for the late night TV of the era, it was definitely edgy, typically dealing with drugs, sex, and alcohol. Basically, they're the opposite of the Muppets in almost every way, and that includes not being particularly funny.

Here's an example of the Land of Gorch from one of the early episodes of "SNL" in 1975:

Though Henson was a master of comedy, he clashed with "SNL" writers over the sketch's vision. Staff writers Michael O'Donoghue, Alan Zweibel, Al Franken, and Tom Davis often tried to avoid writing them, and due to Writers Guild of America rules, Henson and his fellow puppeteers couldn't write the scripts themselves. Because of this creative impasse, they're largely considered to be the worst part of the first season of "SNL," yet the Land of Gorch is featured in every first season episode. Thankfully, Henson and "SNL" eventually parted ways, which led to the creation of "The Muppet Show," and the rest is history.

I'm not sure how much of the behind-the-scenes tension we'll see between Henson and the "Saturday Night" writing staff in Jason Reitman's movie. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more of a runner where we intermittently see Braun as Henson, arguing with one of the aforementioned writers or just trying to work out other assorted details before the sketch goes live. Either way, it'll be great to see Henson portrayed during this key step in his career.

Speaking of memorable moments...

Controversial comedian Andy Kaufman was also part of the inaugural episode of "Saturday Night Live." This is where the comedian's famous lip-syncing routine to the tune of the Mighty Mouse cartoon theme song debuted. Kaufman stands awkwardly next to a record player on stage, and he only lip syncs to the lyrics, "Here I come to save the day!" The rest of the time, he simply stands on stage sheepishly, sometimes appearing to have mistakenly anticipated a lip sync cue or taking a sip of water. It's a brilliant piece of alternative comedy before alt comedy was even really a thing. Sadly, the bit is not officially available online due to music rights, but it's still kicking around the web:

What's interesting is that our first look at Braun as Kaufman on the set of "Saturday Night" shows him doing that famous bit. Since the movie is supposed to be focusing on the time leading up to the premiere of the first episode of the series, I assumed we wouldn't actually see any of the famous sketches from the premiere recreated. Perhaps we'll see bits and pieces of the episode as the show begins. Maybe only part of the movie unfolds before the premiere, and the rest of it happens behind the scenes as the show is airing. However, it's also possible that this could merely be the dress rehearsal before the live show, and we won't actually see any of the show's proper premiere play out in the film. Unfortunately, the Vanity Fair article doesn't clarify the situation.

Kaufman would go on to have a complicated history with "SNL." Due to his brilliant but misunderstood comedic exploits away from the show (chronicled in Milos Forman's biopic "Man on the Moon," starring Jim Carrey), Kaufman became quite controversial, and "SNL" created a hotline for the audience to essentially vote on whether Kaufman would be allowed to come back on the show. Nearly 200,000 viewers called to demand that he not return, and that was the end of the road for Kaufman's time at "SNL."

The cast of "Saturday Night Live" and the contributions of Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman aren't the only famous faces we'll see portrayed in Jason Reitman's film. Matthew Rhys ("The Americans") is playing comedian George Carlin (seen above), the show's first host. Musician Jon Batiste (who provided the score for Pixar's "Soul") is playing Billy Preston, one of the show's musical guests. Nicholas Podany ("Hello Tomorrow!") will also appear as Billy Crystal, who was famously cut from the first "Saturday Night" episode, much to his chagrin. And J.K. Simmons will play Milton Berle, in a moment that actually didn't happen on the night of the premiere, but has been conflated into the story for an extra nugget from "SNL" history.

As for the rest of the "Saturday Night" cast, we'll see "The Fabelmans" star Gabriel LaBelle playing Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman as producer Dick Ebersol, Rachel Sennott as writer Rosie Shuster, Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Taylor Gray as Al Franken, Mcabe Gregg as Tom Davis, Tommy Dewey as Michael O'Donoghue, and more. 

"Saturday Night" is slated to hit theaters on October 11, 2024, but it's anticipated to premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Stay tuned for more.