By John Corrado

★★★ (out of 4)

Through interviews with creator Lorne Michaels, as well as appearances from both former and current cast members, Live From New York! explores the storied beginnings and cultural importance of Saturday Night Live, over the past forty years.  After recently premiering at Hot Docs, the film is opening today at the Carlton Cinema.

Although briefly touching on the arguably sexist attitudes of their early years, and the lack of more diversity in the cast, Live From New York! is meant as an overview of the show first and foremost, and it’s pretty successful as that.  The most affective scenes focus on how the cast and crew responded to the events of 9/11, when New York suddenly became anything but funny.

Director Bao Nguyen has put together a well assembled and easily entertaining film, that offers a polished look at the rich history of SNL, with the chance to hear behind the scenes insights from some of the funniest people around.  For a behind the scenes documentary, Live From New York! is pretty fun and entertaining.