Although The US has produced some great TV over the years, it’s not really known for its live output, other than sports.

There is one show however, that although hasn’t travelled particularly well, has become an institution in its home land.

The show is Saturday Night Live, which is now in its 50th season, and this is its origin story of sorts, as it follows the few hours before its very first episode broadcast in 1975, that very nearly didn’t happen.

The clock is ticking and the studio is in chaos. It’s down to Lorne Michaels (Gabrielle LaBelle), the producer and creator of the show, to try and make sense of it all, and make sure that both talent and crew are all pulling in the same direction.

But as Lorne soon discovers, it’s like corralling bees, as no one appears to know what they doing, or supposed to be doing. And it’s not helped by the fact that the show is currently three hours long, which is awkward for a 90-minute slot.

With the network breathing down his neck, a crew who aren’t happy to be there at such a late hour of the weekend, and eccentric comedians such as John Belushi (Matt Wood) and Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun) to try and contain and control, Lorne more than has his hands full. But the main question is, will the show go on - literally?

The show is undeniably an institution stateside that has made careers for many of the cast that have appeared on it over the years. This first episode was key however, not only for Lorne, but for many of its cast members, that included Dan Aykroyd (played by Dylan O’Brien), Chevy Chase (Played by Cory Michael Smith), Gilda Radner (Played by Ella Hunt) and Billy Crystal (played by Nicholas Podany).

It’s certainly a nice change of pace for director Jason Reitman, who thankfully gives himself a break – and us – from the mediocre Ghostbusters reboot he’s been peddling for the last few years, and sees him return to more emotional content like his early work (Juno, Up in the Air etc.).

He captures not only the mood of the seventies, but also, and more importantly, the kinetic energy that comes from producing a comedy on the seat of your pants. His camera rarely stops moving, trying its best to keep up with the Lorne Michaels character as he whizzes around Studio 8H like a pinball.

It’s a film that owes a lot to the likes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Newsroom - and therefore by extension their creator Aaron Sorkin – as it certainly borrows heavily from his stylings, capturing the frenetic frisson that comes from live TV.

It also serves as a reminder that Jim Henson (in another role for Braun), and his Muppets, appeared on the first show, but never took off going forward, which kind of worked out for Henson in the end.

And although it doesn’t have the cultural sway here as it does in the US, Reitman’s film still delivers the thrill of what it must have been to be TV pioneers of a generation.