Mr. Saturday Night

This article is about a film. For the Family Guy episode, see Mr. Saturday Knight.

For the Lynyrd Skynyrd song which contains the phrase "Mr. Saturday Night" in the lyrics, see Saturday Night Special (Lynyrd Skynyrd song).

Mr. Saturday Night
Directed by	Billy Crystal
Produced by	Billy Crystal
Written by	Billy Crystal Babaloo Mandel Lowell Ganz
Starring	Billy Crystal David Paymer Julie Warner Helen Hunt Ron Silver Jerry Lewis
Studio	Castle Rock Entertainment New Line Cinema
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	September 23, 1992
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Mr. Saturday Night is a 1992 film that marks the directorial debut of its star, Billy Crystal.

It focuses on the rise and fall of Buddy Young Jr., a fictional stand-up comedian. Crystal produced and co-wrote the screenplay with the writing duo Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. It was filmed from 1991 to 1992 and released on September 23, 1992, by Columbia Pictures.

Co-star David Paymer received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

Mr. Saturday Night details how stand-up comedian Buddy Young Jr. became a television star, with the help of his brother and manager, Stan, but alienated many of those closest to him once his career began to fade.

Through a series of flashbacks, the brothers are seen during childhood entertaining their family in the living room. The older Buddy continues his career as a comic in the Catskills, where he meets his future wife, Elaine.

Buddy's fame grows, as does his ego. He hits the big time with his own Saturday night television show. But over the warnings of his brother, Buddy uses offensive material on the air, costing him his show and beginning his career slide.

As an older man, long past his prime, Buddy is estranged from Stan as well as from his daughter, Susan. A chance at redemption comes out of nowhere when a young agent named Annie Wells finds him work and even gets Buddy a shot at a role in a top director's new film. But the self-destructive nature of Buddy returns, continuing to take its toll on the comic's relationships with his family.

Cast

• Billy Crystal as Buddy Young, Jr.
• David Paymer as Stan
• Julie Warner as Elaine
• Helen Hunt as Annie Wells
• Jerry Orbach as Phil Gussman
• Ron Silver as Larry Meyerson
• Mary Mara as Susan

Box office performance

The film performed poorly at the U.S. box office.^[1] According to boxofficemojo.com it grossed less than $14 million.

Awards

Paymer was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He lost to Gene Hackman for Unforgiven. At the Golden Globe Awards, Paymer was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (again losing to Hackman), as was Crystal for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (losing to Tim Robbins in The Player).

During the Academy Awards the next year, Crystal hosted. When announcing the nominees for Best Film of 1992 during the opening, Crystal added his movie to the list, immediately afterwards adding the line, "I just wanted to see how it feels."

Cameos

Comedians Jerry Lewis, Carl Ballantine, Slappy White and Jackie Gayle appear in the New York Friars' Club scene.

Cultural references

A list of comedy greats is given during Buddy's initial altercation with Annie:

• Harry Ritz
• Jack Carter
• Phil Silvers
• Myron Cohen
• Shecky Greene
• Herkie Styles
• Dick Shawn
• Fat Jack E. Leonard

DVD releases

• 

  June 4, 2002

See also

• List of American films of 1992

References

1. ^ "Weekend Box Office". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-06/entertainment/ca-393_1_weekend-gross. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 

External links

• Mr. Saturday Night at the Internet Movie Database