Watch the First Trailer for 'SNL' documentary 'Live From New York!'

Meriah Doty
·Editor
Updated

The 40th anniversary party for Saturday Night Live keeps on rolling. Here you can see the first trailer for the forthcoming documentary Live From New York!, which aims to put to the iconic show into perspective.

“This is an art-house-style documentary,” longtime SNL costume designer and a producer on the film Tom Broecker tells Yahoo Movies. “The show continually morphs into what the world is becoming,” he adds, pointing to the emergence of SNL’s digital shorts in this age of viral Internet video.

There are some surprises in store, he assures. Cast members new and old — from current talent Leslie Jones all the way back to SNL originals, like Laraine Newman — offer commentary alongside such former hosts as Candice Bergen and John Goodman, and even public figures like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But Broecker doesn’t want to reveal too many names, insisting there are other famous figures in the doc “being kept under wraps.”

The film offers a look at what it takes to make the show from week to week and also offers snippets of longtime staffers, some whom have worked at SNL during all four decades of its existence. “The show breeds loyalty,” says Broecker, a 20-year SNL veteran.

Though Live From New York! doesn’t rehash behind-the-scenes scandals, we managed to get one juicy story out of Broecker… about Sarah Palin. When Palin went on the show in 2008, he had to help convince her to wear the same exact suit dress as her impersonator, Tina Fey. “By that point her image had already changed and she had started wearing some different things… Once we talked her through it and convinced her it was important to the comedy [that Palin wear the identical outfit] she understood.”

As for the 40th anniversary special, a ratings juggernaut, Broecker admits he still hasn’t seen it. “We were so busy backstage working, making sure everything was going smoothly… I still have it on my TiVo and I still haven’t watched it yet.”

Live From New York! opens at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Wednesday.