SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night

This is an invaluable behind-the-curtains chronicle. We often talk about how so many streaming documentary and dramatic series wear out their welcome and are stretched too thin; in this case, I would have loved another four episodes.

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night takes a refreshing approach to Saturday Night Live’s history, and we hope that we see more episodes going forward, even if they have to change the title to SNL51, SNL52, etc.

When it sticks to its generalized praise, SNL50 simply feels like its screaming loudly in an echo chamber. But when the project truly does go beyond the usual Saturday-night liveliness and excavates the good, the bad, and the ugly of an impressive run, you really do feel like its honoring the whole history of a show that didn’t just change television, but also the culture itself, one “Live From New York!” at a time.

“SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” is a fascinating dissection of the series’ later years. .... “More Cowbell” makes a little too much out of the sketch (particularly when there are others that deserve the micro-surgery) but it shows how that defining moment can be the difference between success and failure.

A glossy love letter to a hallowed institution. But it’s at least a pleasantly watchable one, thanks to its genuine enthusiasm for its subject matter, as well as to the sheer number of famously charming A-listers paying their respects.

“Saturday Night Live” means so much, to so many people, that even when “SNL 50: Beyond Saturday Night” avoids addressing anything that may have complicated those feelings, its thorough devotion to “SNL’s” better nature proves hard to shake.

A series of four random hourlong documentaries that comes out on Peacock tomorrow, with each one looking at the show through a different narrow lens. As with all projects like this, the quality level varies with each installment, but they’re all unified by one major thought: ain't SNL great? .... Without Michaels attempting even a cursory discussion about the show, it makes documentaries like these feel weightless and unfinished.

The four-part docuseries is hit-and-miss, but maybe that’s fitting since the unevenness mirrors the show itself.