The Unconventional Marriage of Lorne Michaels and Rosie Shuster in Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night”
Jason Reitman’s upcoming film, “Saturday Night,” portrays the unconventional marriage and professional relationship between SNL creator Lorne Michaels and his ex-wife Rosie Shuster. Despite being married when the first episode of Saturday Night Live premiered in 1975, their relationship is depicted as civil and nearly platonic. The film highlights their shared love of comedy, which brought them together and led to the creation of Saturday Night Live.
The film shows Shuster having an open affair with SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd, which does not seem to deeply affect Michaels, who was aware of the affair. The situation on set is tense, but Michaels’ focus remains on his vision for the show.
The story begins with the meeting and courtship of Michaels and Shuster, who grew up together in Toronto. They attended the University of Toronto and continued to write comedy sketches together until they graduated in 1966. Michaels moved to Los Angeles to start his comedy writing career before creating Saturday Night Live in New York in 1975.
“Saturday Night” is set to premiere in 2024, with a runtime of 109 minutes and directed by Jason Reitman. The cast includes Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels and Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster.
