Fans of comedy history know that Saturday Night Live is no stranger to behind-the-scenes drama and unexpected twists, especially in its early years. However, Jason Reitman’s latest film Saturday Night brought a new perspective on the first episode of the legendary sketch show. The 2024 movie takes place in the 90 minutes before the first episode aired, and shows a young Billy Crystal being cut from the broadcast a mere minutes before air time. Now, the iconic actor is sharing what actually happened on that influential night in 1975.
What Saturday Night Showed Of Billy Crystal’s Experience On The First SNL Episode
In the movie, Crystal is played by Broadway actor Nicholas Podany, who shows what the performer was up to in the hour before the broadcast. Crystal was an up-and-coming stand-up in his 20s, with great physical comedy instincts. He is seen rehearsing a sketch that took place on an African safari, and potato chips were used to imitate the crunch sound of his footsteps. Ultimately, Crystal was not able to get his sketch down to the runtime Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel LaBelle) is hoping for, and the young comic was cut from the broadcast.
Saturday Night showcases a spot-on performance by Podany, who transforms into the When Harry Met Sally… actor. He sounds just like Crystal and dresses exactly like the performer did in the 1970s. He embodies his quick wit, and also delivers quite an emotional performance, as he is one of the few people that didn’t get a happy ending in the film. While every SNL performer gets their due, there is something so special about this storyline, especially considering the massive success Billy Crystal had in TV and film in the years following this rejection.
What Actually Happened To Billy Crystal Before The First Episode of SNL
Crystal recently sat down on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk to the titular host about his new miniseries, Before. Meyers also asked the City Slickers star about his experience working on SNL before it aired, and eventually being cut from the broadcast. Crystal confirmed that this did actually happen, and at the time it felt like a career ender because the hype around SNL was so big. He explained:
I thought my career was over. I was very new to the stand-up world, only like 6 to 8 months. And then that summer, I was working at Catch A Rising Star, which was one of the first of the clubs[…] And I met this young producer named Lorne Michaels, told me about this show, and loved what I did, and I get booked on the very very first show. Friday night was a dress rehearsal [and] my thing did really well. He asked me to take all this time out and I couldn’t to make the piece work. And I didn’t have anything else because I was so new in my world. So I ended up being [told] at 8 o’clock that I wouldn’t be in the show.
This story is pretty close to what was portrayed in Saturday Night. Yes, Billy Crystal was cut for time on the first episode of SNL because he couldn’t shorten his piece. However, the actor was cut early in the evening, around 8:00 pm, which was three and a half hours before SNL went to air. This differs slightly from the timeline portrayed in the movie.
Adjusting this for drama is understandable and the tighter timeline emphasizes the pressure and “last minute” feel of the show. Also, if the movie kept things true to life, Crystal wouldn’t even be in the film, which would rob the audience of a great storyline, especially considering the star that Crystal became in the aftermath.
You can see this storyline and more perspectives on this fateful 1975 evening in Saturday Night which is now available to rent on Amazon. Fans of Billy Crystal can also see him in his latest project, Before, which is currently streaming with an AppleTV+ subscription. Also, he along with many other SNL alum will be at the 50th Anniversary special, which will air on February 16, 2025 on NBC, and will also be available with a Peacock subscription.