SNL50: Beyond Saturday Nightoffers one of the most in-depth looks yet at the making and impact of the long-running cultural instruction that isSaturday Night Live. The docuseries is told across four episodes, each of which tackles a very different aspect of the show. The first episode is devoted entirely to the notoriously tough audition process prospective cast members endure when trying out forSaturday Night Live, the second reveals a week in the life of one of the sketch show’s writers, the third episode is a deep dive into the making and cultural impact of the famous “More Cowbell” sketch, and the last unearths the untold story ofSNL’s groundbreaking—and widely panned—11th season.
AlthoughSNL50: Beyond Saturday Nightputs an incredible wealth of talent in front of the camera, featuring interviews with dozens of celebrities and cast members, many of the people working behind the scenes are just as accomplished. The show’s Executive Producer, for example, is Morgan Neville, the award-winning documentarian whose work includes20 Feet from Stardomand the Mr. Rogers documentaryWon’t You Be My Neighbor?Neville also spoke withScreenRantabout directing thePharrell Williams LEGO biopicPiece by Piece.
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ScreenRantspoke with Morgan Neville about his work as Executive Producer ofSNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.Neville discussed includingoriginal audition tapesfrom people who didn’t eventually make the cut, how the subjects of the series’ four episodes were chosen, and more. Neville also touched on his own longtime fascination withSaturday Night Liveand explained why Lorne Michaels’ presence in the docuseries is limited.
Morgan Neville Talks Shepherding SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night As Executive Producer & Picking Its Episode Topics
“There’s Something Addictive About It”, Says The Filmmaker
I had the pleasure of speaking with you aboutPiece by Piecea little bit ago, and I remember you saying you loved to work with and interview creative people and feel inspired by them. Did you get to do that at all as an Executive Producer on this, or was there something else about the role you appreciated?
Morgan Neville: No, I didn’t talk to any creative people making this. That’s a joke. Yes. I mean, everybody at SNL is creative, meaning not just the performers and writers, but the costume department and the set department. It’s like, “Let’s put on a show”—that kind of attitude every week. There’s something very addictive about it. What’s interesting is how many people have been here for years, or decades, behind the scenes. People don’t want to quit the show because making it is unlike anything else in our culture.
For me, it’s trying to figure out what that thing is and trying to channel it into these films and this series. I loved doing it. It was also a chance to bring in a bunch of other great filmmakers I love like Marshall Curry, Rob Alexander, Neil Berkeley, and Jason Zeldes to come up with different slices of SNL history as opposed to some kind of blanket history. You could never do 50 years in a film anyway, so [it was like], “Why don’t we just tell more specific stories that are interesting?” and I loved that approach because we get to be specific in a way that helps you understand the creative choices that get made.
That leads into the thing I was going to ask, which is that the first two episodes feel like what you would expect someone to want to make something about, which is the writing and the casting. How did you land on spending a full episode on [“More Cowbell”] and a full episode on season 11?
Morgan Neville: I had the idea to do an episode about cowbell in the very beginning. I love that super deep dive into minutiae because sometimes through the really specific, you get the universal, and you learn things like the fact that Will Ferrell changed his sweater in the cowbell sketch between dress and air to put on a smaller sweater so his stomach hung out. Of course that’s a genius decision, but that’s a costuming decision. When else are you ever going to talk about that? So being able to get into that kind of detail—I actually love that. The comedy nerd in me geeks out on that completely.
And Season 11 is a totally untold story of SNL, not to mention that Francis Ford Coppola directed an episode of SNL in the middle of the season in what has to be the most avant garde and weirdest episode of SNL ever, which nobody remembers. It was such a weird time and moment that I didn’t remember that, but going back and watching that just blew my mind. It’s those kinds of stories that are fun to excavate.
Neville Discusses Elusive Interviews With Lorne Michaels & Spurned Potential Cast Members Like Stephen Colbert
Neville & Co. Interviewed “A Crazy Number Of People” For The Docuseries
I was watching this whole series waiting for interviews with Lorne Michaels. I was like, “Is it going to happen? Does he want to do this?” He shows up in the last one, finally. [To that,] how do you decide who to ask to speak to about what, when you have this huge talent pool and so many different potential avenues?
Morgan Neville: I feel like, for most people at the show, Lorne is like the Wizard of Oz. He’s the man behind the curtain. And I felt like, for these episodes, that keeping him as that kind of figure worked well. Plus, Lorne doesn’t love to talk about all this stuff, too, although everybody else loves to talk about it. We had an embarrassment of riches because people who have been through this show love to talk about this show.
If anything, the hard part was [figuring out] how we stop interviewing people, because I would love to hear from more people, but at a certain point, it just doesn’t all fit. We interviewed more than 60 different people for the show—I think even more than that. If I think about it, maybe it’s 60 cast members. It was a crazy number of people, but that’s the thing. At least by focusing it, it didn’t feel like we were trying to be comprehensive. We were just trying to be specific about the show, and that was a fun approach.
I really enjoyed watching audition segments for people who didn’t make the show. How hesitant were people like Jennifer Coolidge or Kevin Hart to have those out there, and did anybody say no to that?
Morgan Neville: I’m trying to remember. I think people were okay with us using clips. Not everybody was dying to go on to talk about failing at their audition. A couple of people did, like Stephen Colbert. [On] Wikipedia, there’s an entire page dedicated to people who auditioned for SNL and didn’t get it, and you look at that page, it’s like a Murderers’ Row of comedic talent. That alone could be its own film—just the 150 people on that list.
It’s more like we had to represent every type of experience people had with the show, and even with auditioning, [there are] all those different eras and emotions. That was the thing that really surprised me about the auditions—how emotional people got watching them. I imagine, if you’re a comedic performer, that is the biggest moment of your life when you’re auditioning for SNL. I think there are a lot of people who had a hard time watching themselves going back.
Neville Shares His Takeaway From Documenting SNL
“It’s Trying To Capture Something Magical”
When we spoke aboutPiece by Piece, I remember you saying your takeaway was kind of about listening to your own uniqueness and stripping away the noise. What did you take away from diving into the world ofSNLand helping make these four episodes?
Morgan Neville: That’s a good question. I always learn so much from doing things like this. I’ve been a comedy nerd my whole life, and I’ve always wanted to do more about comedy. There’s a kind of lack of preciousness in [SNLwhere] you can put everything into a sketch, people will love it at read-through, and it may die on air and you just say, “Oh, well, there’s next week.” There’s an attitude about moving on that I really respond to.
It’s not about everything being perfect all the time, because with a live show that’s made in a week, it’s never going to be perfect, and perfection isn’t necessarily the goal. It’s trying to capture something magical and something that you can’t control, and I kind of like that. I feel like that’s more of a documentary thing. It’s not the scripted thing. It’s like jazz. It’s like you’re just trying to capture a certain moment that happens [because of] a bunch of ways you can never describe, and that’s kind of what comedy, at its best, is too.
About SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
SNL50:BeyondSaturdayNightis a four-part docuseries honoring the legacy of SNL, with over 60 contributors, including SNL alumni, and covering decades of SNL history. Spotlighting some of the show’s most iconic elements, each episode delves into the rich history of SNL and pulls back the curtain on the audition process, the writers’ room, the fan favorite “More Cowbell” sketch and the pivotal season 11.
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
Cast
SN50: Beyond Saturday Night is a four-part docuseries that honors SNL’s legacy, featuring over 60 contributors. It examines the audition process, the writers’ room, iconic sketches like “More Cowbell,” and pivotal events like Season 11, providing an in-depth look at the show’s rich history and influence.
