‘Saturday Night Live’ is an American sketch comedy show that began airing on NBC in 1975. ‘Live From New York!’ examines the show’s impact in comedy, pop culture, media, and politics for the past 40 years. The title of the documentary is derived from a catch phrase spoken in nearly every season of the show. The phrase “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” is usually spoken by a host, cast member, or a special guest. Special guests include past presidents, celebrities, and politicians. ‘Live From New York!’ hit theaters on Friday, June 12.

IMDb rated the film 7.5/10 based on 33 user ratings. Metacritic gave the film a Metascore of 51 based on 19 critics. It received 7 positive reviews and 12 mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes rated it 50% on its Tomatometer with an average rating of 5.9/10 based on 34 reviews. Its Audience Score is 85% with an average rating of 4.2/5 based on 144 user ratings. The film runs for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

‘Live From New York!’ stars Dan Aykroyd, Alec Baldwin, James Belushi, Candice Bergen, Tom Broecker, Dana Carvey, Chevy Chase, Billy Crystal, Jane Curtin, Pete Davidson, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Al Franken, John Goodman, Christopher Guest, Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond, Leslie Jones, Chris Kattan, Taran Killam, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Lovitz, Norm MacDonald, Steve Martin, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, Dennis Miller, Garrett Morris, Bobby Moynihan, Laraine Newman, Don Novello, Conan O’Brien, Cheri Oteri, Jay Pharoah, Joe Piscopo, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Rob Schneider, Paul Shaffer, Molly Shannon, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, Robert Smigel, David Spade, Jason Sudeikis, Jorma Taccone, Kenan Thompson, Justin Timberlake, and Sasheer Zamata.

The film was directed by Bao Nguyen. The producers of the film are Hyunjoo Kim, Sarah Cowperthwaite, Owen Moogan, J.L. Pomeroy, Tom Broecker, Dolly Hall, and Demetra Stavrakas. Cinematography is by Caleb Heller and Bao Nguyen. It was edited by Mari Keiko Gonzales and David Osit. Sound is by Ian Gaffney-Rosenfeld, Jon Moore, Benjamin Nimkin, and Allan Zaleski. Camera was handled by Adam Uhl and Vince Pham. The film was edited by Molle DeBartolo and Christian G. Farfan. Music is by David Osit and Peter Rotter.

Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes:

“An enjoyable but unenlightening encomium,” wrote John DeFore from Hollywood Reporter.

“An amorphous, superficial but sporadically very funny recap of 40 years of 'SNL' and American history in a surprisingly conventional form,” wrote Ronnie Scheib from Variety.

“Live From New York!" has its merits - plenty of entertaining stories from the performers and writers, and from the show's guiding genius, Lorne Michaels, about "SNL's" amazing four-decade run,” wrote Walter V. Addiego from San Francisco Chronicle.

“There are enough good times consistently evoked by this film - decade after decade - to convince even skeptics that "Saturday Night Live's" highest highs may be yet to come,” wrote Michael O’Sullivan from Washington Post.

“It was time to destroy TV," recalls Chase about the 1975 launch. The irony is that "SNL" ended up reaffirming it instead,” wrote Ty Burr from Boston Globe.

“The movie contains enough warmth, humor and nostalgia to prove an affable if unremarkable snapshot,” wrote Gary Goldstein from The Los Angeles Times.

“If you simply love the show, and want a movie about how it has reflected - and, rarely, helped change - attitudes about sex, gender and race, then "Live From New York!" may fit the bill,” wrote Stephen Whitty from Newark Star-Ledger.