James Franco’s Lost SNL Doc Yanks Back NBC’s Comedy Curtain

James Franco was never a Saturday Night Live cast member. He instead came up in comedy through the Judd Apatow crowd, opting for movies instead of the weekend NBC mainstay. Of course, Apatow’s signature is the heart behind his simple comedies, reflected by how many of his primary actors — Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen — have gotten critical recognition for their dramatic work following their appearances in his films.

While James isn’t universally respected for all the arts he tries out, one early example of his directing work shows Franco’s talent for telling a story — this time about what has happened on Saturday nights at NBC for more than 40 years.

After James had already gained notoriety for his roles in Judd’s comedies, he went to film school at New York University. One of his early documentary projects was to follow SNL cast member Bill Hader. When Franco got clearance to follow the entire production of SNL for a week, he decided to expand he project, capturing SNL is its frantic seven-day glory. In a recent interview with Wall Street Journal, James talked about the stress that the SNL cast feeds on to churn out the show every week.

“I think that approach – the ‘All night writing sessions on Tuesday’ – it just becomes a tradition. That’s the way it’s done. I don’t understand why they don’t write on Monday and during the day on Tuesday. In my documentary, people like Will Forte, they just thrive on that. That’s the rhythm they’ve gotten into. I guess someone like Will Forte will have some of his best ideas at eight in the morning. Part of it is going through the event at night like a madman.”

It took James nearly five years to secure distribution for the project due to red tape at NBC. Though according to some early reviews, the documentary’s quality could have also been a factor in the delay. Rolling Stone complained that Franco’s novice fingerprints are all over the SNL doc.

“For all its vaunted subject matter, Saturday Night looks like what it is — the work of a first-year filmmaking student. It’s all shaky handheld camera work, some of it in grainy black and white for no apparent reason. Franco doesn’t really know when and where to edit himself, and as an interviewer, he doesn’t ask anything like tough questions; [James] is a besotted fanboy, getting to hang out on the set of the show he loves. Still, Franco’s workmanlike, fly-on-the-wall approach isn’t distractingly bad, and he manages to capture a lot of pretty cool moments [of Saturday Night Live].”

[Image via NBC]

James Franco’s Lost SNL Doc Yanks Back NBC’s Comedy Curtain is an article from: The Inquisitr News