"Live From New York!" is what I would call a hybrid documentary. It's interesting and completely uninteresting at the very same time. You sit there with a smile on your face, but you keep waiting for the good stuff to show up.
It never does.
Director Bao Nguyen allegedly had full access to anything SNL from long time producer Lorne Michaels. Extensive clips and the cooperation of mostly anyone ever associated with the show. And, at the end of ninety minutes, you wonder just what Nguyen did with that privilege. You wind up being subjected to the cardinal sin of any documentary.
You learn nothing new.
Sure, it's always fun to see the legendary clips again but they zoom by so fast that you don't have a chance to laugh one more time. Naturally, a great deal of time is spent with the first cast better known as the five "golden" years of SNL. You see their screen tests and hear their thoughts on their place in TV history.
But I didn't hear anything that I didn't already know.
Then, almost mystically, the years after that cast left are virtually blown off by a simple statement that they were "the anti-golden years." The story picks up almost ten years later when the likes of Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman arrive. Say what? For me, I would love to know more about those alleged failures. I remember the first replacement cast and crew was so inept that the f-bomb would occasionally get on the air. Is there more info about this? You won't find it in this film.
Indeed, I personally thought that the 1984-85 SNL season, which was not shepherded by Lorne Michaels but Dick Ebersol, ranks among the best. It features lots of hilarious character-driven sketches with the likes of Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Billy Crystal, and Martin Short. You see virtually nothing of this. No talking heads. No Billy. No Marty.
Meanwhile, an inordinate amount of screen time is paid to the lack of racial diversity amongst SNL cast members. Except they certainly found enough of them to interview for over twenty minutes. Hmmm.
There's also an uneven dose of attention paid to all the politicians that made cameo appearances on SNL, which shows you just how badly our leaders have sunk in an effort to get the 18-34 year-old vote. Sure, SNL has an innate ability to reach a wide variety of demographics. But, the filmmakers here take that a little too seriously and they obviously spent way too much having midnight cocktails with Lorne.
And where are the stories about all the drug use in the early years? That would have been captivating. Perhaps they were not included because one of the eager participants back then is current US Senator and resident asshole Al Franken.
Don't get me wrong. Our TV lives have been enriched for forty years thanks to SNL. But, let's be realistic. It will never ever be as good as the first five years. And I have always argued that the show should be only a half-hour long. Think about it. Every sketch after 12:15AM is terrible. Usually the only reason to watch is for the opening. And, frankly, most of the cast members now phone it in. This documentary does include a quick interview with the most important guy on the crew --- the dude that prepares the cue cards. Watch a current SNL and then view an episode from thirty or forty years ago. You see how much more rehearsed the cast was then.
But that's not anything you would see in "Live From New York!" This film is basically a love story and nothing more. As a result, it's a documentary that falls down faster than Gerald Ford...I mean...Chevy Chase.
LEN'S RATING: Two stars.
Dinner last night: Bacon wrapped hot dog at the Dodger game.
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