Why I think they're going to announce it when Finn hosts SNL
The movie Saturday Night is about the first ever SNL episode.
They were under threat of being turned off completely and nobody even knew if the show was actually going to go on bc they were still putting it together down to the last second.
They were building sets on show night- cutting it down to the wire, things were literally falling apart, people were quitting, They didnt know what order the sketches were in, they didnt know which sketches they were doing because the creator was being pressed to cut some of it to make it fit into the time slot. They didnt know where their actors were, they didnt even know if they HAD actors. Keep in mind Saturday Night is us walking through the 90 minutes before it went live.
The creator dealt with people doubting his vision because he really did not look like he knew what he was doing in their eyes, and there was no script.
Not only were the execs ready to rerun a tape of the tonight show to fill the time slot so at any moment if they need to cancel the show, they could, they also never intended to let them go to air at all. Thats how little faith they had in this creator.
Im not getting into commedia dell'arte because im not the most educated on the subject but the jist is, a live comedic performance with a cast of characters that are immediately recognizable and each have a fixed role in the story. These characters each have their own specific archetypes that are used to critique social roles and provide social commentary about everyday life in Italy at the time, under the guise of comedy and romance.
Here he is using it to provide commentary about ads and commercials on TV in the seventies. In the documentary, the duffers use it to provide commentary about AI and the film industry as a whole. THEY are the "suffering writer/director" archetypal character being used to critique other filmmakers making these mistakes.
This was after the creator, Lorne, tried to pitch the show to a room full of suits. He (whether that was the plan or not) heavily relied on his actor to charm the room so he looked more competent. After this scene, this man immediately tries to poach the actor and bring him to a better place.
In the documentary (and beyond that too) seemingly the duffers relied on their actors to actually make the story what it is. Somehow they werent the ones who thought about the characters the scenes OR the songs. It was all just "suggestions" from their actors that they put in, and no real storytelling from THEM.
(The last scenes of the show being a suggestion from Noah? Like they wouldnt already know what the end of the show was going to look like?)
Theyre facing censorship problems, complete lack of faith, and pushes for live advertisement via product placement that enrages actors and creators alike. They were, quite literally, set up to fail.
"We know what it is, we just havent written it down yet."
Actors who know they're about to be sidelined/their scenes cut. (And they do). Im going to pivot now bc i think we get the point by now.
Here's where Finn comes in.
Theoretically the big issue people have with conformitygate is that there's no real advertisement for it, so how would anyone know/whats the point/they wouldnt do all this and spend all this money if they werent going to make SURE people watch it.
Finn opens the movie handing out flyers to their "variety show" and nobody takes the bait, we dont see a single person take a flyer from him.
He is LITERALLY the guy bringing in the audience. This is NIGHT OF, 90 minutes before showtime. Not a single audience member. And we check back in an hour later, exactly the same place he left off.
THIRTY MINUTES BEFORE IT AIRS. NO AUDIENCE. Lorne even stole all the flyers in that last frame, so there isnt even something to hand out. (The show is over, so there isnt even something to advertise.)
"5 to 10 minutes guys, let's keep these vibes going!"
