Building the World of Saturday Night

By Mychael Bates

I’ve always been a huge fan of Saturday Night Live, since the beginning of 1975. For me, SNL introduced a new form of television I had never experienced. The show being late was a chance to watch unknown, groundbreaking television without the constraints of a bedtime for school the next day. Reliving and discussing the various sketches with friends at school created such fond memories. So, to be given the opportunity to work on such a special project with such incredible artists was a pleasure.

It was a treat to be able to bring to life and really shape the essence of some amazing “Not ready for prime  time players,” such as John Belushi, Chevy Chase (who I later worked with on Fletch Lives), Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd (who I worked with on North), Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. These were iconic characters I grew up with, and now I had the chance to step into their world and help bring it to life. I knew it would be a high task to do the show justice, and accuracy down to the smallest details would be important, even and especially, including the chaotic background action that defined the world of SNL.

When I started prep on Saturday Night, I immediately reached out to Larry Demmler, the Property Master of SNL since 1978. I went to New York to meet up with Larry and Wally Ferensten, who was in charge of SNL cue cards, to tour the actual Property Department and cue card station. It was very cool to see exactly how they prepare, their technique, and how they run the show. I got to meet Akira “Leo” Yoshimura, the longtime art director from the beginning, and we had a great chat. I got a perspective only he could provide. I actually stayed for the live on-air show and was treated like a king! They were all so nice, and that trip really shaped my research and process of how I approached the show.

Larry was an invaluable resource. I explained to him the scope of the various props we would need to create, and he started the process of obtaining scripts, schedules, and show rundowns—anything he could get his hands on from that time. He shared many behind-the-scenes photos of the crew and stagehands throughout his decades-long tenure. He explained how loose it was in the early days. Everyone had friends dropping in to visit and check out the dress rehearsals—and with no credentials! That would never be possible today, but it was a very trustworthy time in the late ’70s and ’80s. No computers or social media posts to worry about—the good old days!

I knew it would be essential to the design of the show to get the show’s iconic props absolutely right, including Andy Kaufman’s 1950’s portable phonograph, which takes center stage in a pivotal moment near the end of the movie. Talking to Larry, it was in an NBC archival museum, and chances of obtaining it were slim. Next, I reached out to Property Master Emily Ferry of Man on the Moon to see where she obtained it. Unfortunately, she had used the original as they still had it at Studio 8H at that time. With vital preparation assistance from my friend and fellow Property Master, Brad Einhorn, we were able to locate and acquire many period-correct parts and materials for the RCA Victrola SES 4 phonograph. I then had one manufactured from scratch with 3D-printed parts replicated from archival photos and knobs and motors from what we sourced. It came out as an exact replica, and Jason Reitman, our director, was extremely pleased with it.

Acquiring the Muppets was a challenge as we had to go through Henson Productions to remake exact replicas from that time period. After reaching out to the Jim Henson Museum in New York City, our producer, JoAnn Perritano, made an agreement with the foundation to use the original Muppets. What an awesome idea! And yet, I had flashes of everything that could possibly go wrong on a film set, and I could never be responsible for something happening to one of those original Muppets—they are relics of filmmaking history. It became clear it was too much of a liability to obtain the originals, so we agreed to have them remade to the exact specs of 1975. That was a challenge. Muppets are unique in their construction and materials, requiring a whole different layer of research in the best way to approach their manufacturing. I reached out to Brad Elliott, a Property Master who used to work in the Muppet Workshop, and was able to provide an essential insight into those particulars to allow us to create Muppets that would live up to the authenticity required for our Jim Henson.

The control booth was a very technical challenge. Our video playback technician, Matt Morrissey, had the challenge of syncing all the television monitors with our live cameras, as well as having period-correct commercial ads playing. We shot the movie in 16mm film, so the challenge of using stock footage and live feed simultaneously needed to work seamlessly. The set was a bit confining, so we had to have long, continuous takes prepared in advance so the actors could move from the control booth to the set and continue with the scene without cutting.

In a show of unique challenges, the band’s instruments were no exception. John wanted to score the film’s music on set with the actual hero instruments, so they had to function perfectly. Kenny Cresswell of Avatar Music ATL sourced mostly all the vintage instruments, and it took several weeks to acquire the correct drum kit, guitars, amps, and accessories. Steve Morrow, our sound mixer, recorded all the music after wrap into the night. Those who stayed really got to experience something very special. Bill Preston’s Clavinet keyboard was played by the amazing Jon Batiste, and Christopher Griffin was able to provide the period correct 73 Martin D18 for Janis Ian. Jon really took it to another level.

Researching, finding, designing, and building the props an actor holds in their hands is certainly the work of the Property Department most often discussed, and often ends up the focus of the shot. However, there is a whole other layer of props that often goes unnoticed, which is kind of the point. When the background of a show requires knowledge of special skills, a Property Master often takes on the role of training them through use of their props so they can seamlessly fill the world, giving it life and movement that blends with what the cast is doing without being distracted. A properly trained background breathes life into the world rather than distract from the main action of the story. One of the most inspiring elements of working on Saturday Night was how we were able to train the key background in how to work and function as New York stagehands. We trained them for a month before shooting in a background boot camp, showing them how to move walls swiftly and safely, work the booms and cameras, how to paint and hang wallpaper, rig lighting and, most importantly, lay bricks. The bricks were all custom made, real and foam, as we had so much action with them, and that could be dangerous if not properly considered. Of course, that made it ironic to me when the movie several times pointed out the show used real bricks as a part of their set being essential to their stage design. Putting the finishing touch to the background was adding all the layers of their period-accurate tools of the trade onto their costume so every role from the makeup artists with their brushes to the booth operators’ headsets were exactly what they needed to sell their roles. Seeing these people morphing into New York stagehands was quite impressive, and Jason constantly praised them for all their dedication and hard work. It was not an easy task to pull off and look believable, and I’m quite proud of what we accomplished. Saturday Night builds its world through a 90-minute window into a madhouse of controlled chaos. Our intense work with the background supplied that chaos, and it paid off in spades.

At the end of the day, a Property Master is only as good as its crew, and I had an incredible crew who were absolutely instrumental to getting all the important details correct: Eliot Levin, Kemper Harris, Michael Heath, Chance Satterfield, and my secret weapon, Matt Feresten. Matt was Wally Feresten’s son and helped so much with the cue card props. Wally helped me obtain period-correct Marsh M99 markers, inks, and original cue cards used on SNL. Matt wrote all the dialogue and kept them looking correct. He helped train the background cue card artist on how to space the words correctly, and how they are held above camera and pulled as the dialogue was read. Minor prop but major impact to authenticity. Same with the paper. The scripts and pages were so important to Jason as the actors used them throughout. We had to have our original, which was given to me as a digital document, retyped with a period-correct IBM typewriter that we purchased online. The layout and fonts were also important to Jason, and he was extremely pleased with the time and effort we took for the execution of the pages and schedules. Even the paper we used was from the ’70s as the paper of today is very bleached and white. Jason really wanted that muted beige color of the time. With a lot of effort, we found stock from many sources throughout the state to deliver on this important layer that helped the actors connect with the film’s time period.

The layered nature of Saturday Night meant that interdepartment collaboration and coordination of vision was so important. Production designer Jess Gonchor was such a delight and just so nice—very involved and supportive of the Property Department in all that was needed. Graphics, manufacturing, rentals, instruments…anything in front of the camera, Jess took the time to look over and approve. He had a lot of trust in my abilities, so it was nice to have the creative freedom to go after many of my own ideas. “Keep it fun” was Jason’s motto, so Jess and I followed that with open arms. Our set decorator, Claudia Bonfe, was so helpful with all the details. She had an amazing crew led by Susan Tanner—a pleasure to work with. Claudia and I worked together to bring elements from across all departments to life. Products of the time, stage equipment, and character needs were all important to make the world believable.

Remember, most of these background performers have never portrayed studio technicians, so giving them all the tools and settings helped them become a solid background essence to our principal actors. Claudia found a great run of the show bulletin board for the show’s segment cards. We made two of them magnetic with thin cork overlap to attach metal push pins so when later in the film, Lorne felt pressured by his staff about the show running too long, he could violently swipe all the segment cards off the board.

Being a part of this iconic project was both challenging and rewarding. I am so pleased with how it turned out, and very lucky to have had Jason trust me and my amazing crew to be a part of this very special film.

Check out the rest of the Spring 2025 Issue of Prop Culture here.