Saturday Night

The documentary follows how a single episode of a television programme is put together. It starts with the Monday idea meeting, then the writing marathon on Tuesday night, the read through on Wednesday, the cuts on Thursday, rehearsal on Friday and the live broadcast on Saturday night. The camera is there all week. James Franco directs. He was the guest host that week and filmed with his own crew. The best thing in it is the writing. Around forty sketches are written, most are cut at the read through, and what survives changes again in rehearsal; why a joke stays or goes becomes visible. What the narrative shows is the pressure of time. The programme goes out live, and that determines the whole order of production; the last changes are made hours before air. The camera stays a long time in the writers' room, and the tension, competition and exhaustion there are directly visible. The critical distance is limited; the programme is filmed from inside its own production and difficult questions are not asked. It is short and the structure is linear. Who it is for: anyone curious about comedy writing and how television is made. Who it is not for: the context is missing for someone who does not know the programme, the narrative is confined to one week, and there is no critical content.