Saturday Nighthas quickly become one of the most anticipated movies of the fall season, but has been getting some blowback on how it handles the depiction of Muppets creatorJim Henson. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film chronicles the ninety minutes before the first episode ofSaturday Night Liveaired. Following a report bySlateregardingSaturday Night’s depiction of Jim Henson andThe Muppets, various Muppets fans took to social media to express their displeasure with the early reviews for the film.
InSaturday Night, Jim Henson is played bySuccessionstar Nicolas Braun (who also plays Andy Kaufman in the film), is depicted as being a straight-laced member of theSaturday Night Livecrew who in the film is treated as a joke, often the source of ridicule, with Henson’s collaborator and fellow Muppet innovator Frank Oz being present but never being given a line of dialogue. An excerpt fromCracked’s reporting on Jim Henson’s depiction inSaturday Nightgained plenty of traction when it was shared byKermitment - A Muppets Podcastsaying,“This review of ‘Saturday Night’ from Cracked pretty much confirms our worst fears about the film.“The accountMuppet Historywrote,“If you think Jim Henson was a square. Then you have completely missed the basic concept of Jim Henson.”
Here are some other reactions to the news, with many frustrated by the depiction, while others are open to the film’s interpretation since it does match how the Saturday Night Live writers treated Jim Henson at the time.
Jim Henson’s Complicated Relationship on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night
By the time Henson joined the cast ofSaturday Night Livein 1975, he had already established himself thanks to hisgroundbreaking children’s seriesSesame Street, which made some of his Muppets household names. Yet Henson always knewThe Muppetsas a concept could be more than children’s entertainment and hoped to bring them to primetime television in adult-oriented programming. Henson and his Muppet crew were only part of the first season ofSaturday Night Livewith a series of sketches calledThe Land of Gorch, although the writers ofSNLhated writing the segments with Michael O’Donoghue, played by Tommy Dewey inSaturday Night, famously saying “I won’t write for felt.”
After a hostile first season andThe Land of Gorchsketches being universally panned by critics, Henson and company departedSNLand launchedThe Muppet Showin September 1976. The series became a major hit, running for five seasons and launching a massive multimedia franchise that still runs today.
Saturday Night’s True Story & How the Actors Compare to the Real SNL Cast
Retelling that chaotic night the first SNL episode hit America, this film is set to do well. But will it do the real SNL story and cast justice?
Henson is a beloved entertainment figure and certainly has a lot more positive goodwill thanSaturday Night Livecreator Lorne Michaels. Hence, it makes sense why fans obviously would be upset at Saturday Night’s depiction of Henson being a joke within the film. However, it is worth noting that many commenting have not seen the film. While the film might portray Henson as a stiff, that might not be the movie casting judgment on him, but more having the audience be aware of the dramatic irony of what the future holds for Henson andThe Muppets. This will certainly become more clear when the movie opens in theaters.
Saturday Nightopens in theaters on June 09, 2025.
