It seems like there’s a new celebration of the “Saturday Night Live” legacy every other month at this point. Last year, there was the late-night variety show’s 50th anniversary special, a star-studded affair with cast members old and new, celebrities aplenty, musical performances, sorely missed recurring characters from the days of yore, and plenty of jokes at the expense of the show’s creator and producer, Lorne Michaels. To accompany the special, Peacock aired the four-part docuseries, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” diving deep into aspects of the show fans don’t often get an intimate glimpse of.

Then, there was “Ladies and Gentlemen . . . 50 Years of SNL Music,” a feature-length documentary directed by Questlove about the show’s truly iconic and totally unique musical performances. And then there was the 2024 narrative feature, “Saturday Night,” where a slew of young actors and comedians stepped into the shoes of the not-ready-for-primetime players cast in the series’ first season, documenting the lead-up to the first-ever episode in real time. In Morgan Neville’s new documentary about the man, the myth, the legend Lorne Michaels, fittingly titled “Lorne,” talking heads muse that “little in TV has been explored as much as that first season [of ‘SNL’].” And Michaels himself — that is, when Neville gets him mic’ed when he’s not trying to give the cameras a slip — seems to agree.

Neither Michaels nor Neville seems particularly interested in spending this documentary rehashing those early days of “SNL.” (Though the documentary does retread some of the ground covered in the recent docuseries about the show.) Rather, they’re keen to offer a backstage glimpse into the series’ extensive, storied production process to highlight why “SNL” has stood the test of time in ways that NBC-sanctioned media can’t always give audiences. It’s not exactly raw, but it is unapologetic; a more authentic and appropriately ridiculous look at the only show of its kind to last this long. (Focus Features) Lorne Michaels stars in director Morgan Neville’s documentary “Lorne” “Lorne” speeds past the horror stories of coked-up late writing nights and overworked employees.

Those tales are all par for the course at this point. The film isn’t excusing these rough working conditions, but it’s not a puff piece, either. Instead, Neville tries to communicate his subject’s belief that the best, strangest and funniest ideas come from the most unexpected places.

“Lorne” frames Michaels as a caring but stoic presence, as tender as he is esoteric. More critically, the film questions how and if “SNL” can continue without Michaels, stressing that he is the key ingredient to the show’s success. At times, it feels like a victory lap, the most flattering possible portrait of a man who might be toying with the idea of going out while he’s still on top.

But when Neville digs deep down to the heart of the matter — when he gets Michaels talking, or points his camera in the right direction at a precise moment — he captures the spirit of “SNL.” This isn’t just a late-night comedy variety show, and it’s not enough to deem it a major cultural institution, either. “Saturday Night Live” still sparks the imagination and drives the conversation after all these years because it’s writer-focused. It’s a series exploding with ideas and risks in equal measure.

The show lives and dies by the people behind the camera, not in front of it. And in a culture so hellbent on idol worship and exhausting discourse, where every blemish is smoothed out or screamed at, “SNL” still offers us something scrappy and unvarnished. No wonder we can’t seem to stay away, no matter how hard we try.

Related “Saturday Night Live” has a middle ground problem Even those familiar with the process at “SNL” will find Neville’s depiction of it fascinating, even somewhat novel. “Lorne” walks viewers through the Monday-to-Saturday schedule, interspersed with memories from cast members, writers, producers and NBC execs past and present. The film emphasizes the pivotal importance of each day’s routine, without making it look as stressful as it’s known to be.

“Lorne” speeds past the horror stories of coked-up late writing nights and overworked employees; those tales are all par for the course at this point. The film isn’t excusing these rough working conditions, but it’s not a puff piece, either. Instead, Neville tries to communicate his subject’s belief that the best, strangest and funniest ideas come from the most unexpected places.

Often, that’s during Tuesday writing nights, where writers typically work until sunrise. “The unconscious takes over,” Michaels says. When the film cuts to the pages of a sketch-in-progress, closing in on the words “VFX: Medium Fart,” one wonders whether the fart was a risk Michaels was ultimately happy with or if, in the case of thousands of other sketches, it was cut. The truth of “SNL” is that there’s no way to really know for sure if it will play with an audience until