We’ve already had a movie about the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live” — one that most moviegoers ignored.

We’re about to get a live, three-hour, prime-time special celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary on Feb. 16, and a special looking at its past musical acts before that.

If that’s not enough, Peacock streaming service last week debuted “Beyond Saturday Night,” a four-episode look at the sketch comedy show’s history.

Any documentary about “Saturday Night Live” airing on a streaming service owned by the same company that owns NBC is sure to be guilty of hagiography, and anyone hoping for sharp criticism of Lorne Michaels and his decisions helming the series over 45 of its 50 seasons will need to look elsewhere.

It doesn’t even skewer those who ran the show in Michaels’ absence from 1980 to ’85. If Jean Doumanian was mentioned, I’ve already forgotten it, and Dick Ebersol is referenced briefly in episode four.

That said, “Beyond Saturday Night” at least takes a different approach than might have been expected in celebrating the show’s legacy. Instead of a chronological history focused on different eras and divided into four parts, each hour-long episode has a different theme.

Part one, “Five Minutes, concentrates on the cast selection process. Cast members spanning the show’s history talk about their intimidating auditions — getting five minutes to do five characters for Michaels and a couple of other staff members, who all sit there mostly silent, even if they think the performer is funny.

The best part is watching Amy Poehler, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner and others watch and comment on their auditions, oftentimes footage they’ve never seen before. The combination of embarrassment, tears and, occasionally, pride they feel while watching the video is touching and endearing.

It also includes audition clips of some of the people who weren’t hired and went on to successful careers (Jim Carrey, Jordan Peele, Donald Glover, Stephen Colbert).

Part two, “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room” may be the most entertaining for the hardcore comedy junkies. It’s a detailed look at the show’s creative process using last season’s Feb. 3, 2024, episode hosted by Eyo Edebiri (“The Bear”).

It starts with that first meeting with the host, followed by a late-night writing session to craft a sketch that will please the host and get laughs at the table reading the next day. Then comes the wait to determine the dozen or so ideas from the 40 to 45 heard that will survive beyond the table read to get sets built and costumes made.

The writers shepherd their sketches throughout that process and have significant control over the final product. But if they don’t get laughs at dress rehearsal or fit with Michaels’ vision for that week’s show, several will get axed and be seen by viewers who tune in at 11:29 p.m. Saturday.

I’ve read books and articles that chronicled that structure, but the documentary did a better job of conveying how stressful and frenetic the work environment must be.

Say there’s 10 sketches (and pre-taped bits) an episode, 20 episodes a year and this is the 50th season. That’s about 10,000 sketches. Picking an all-time best sketch is folly, but “More Cowbell,” the focus of part three, is a pretty good choice.

The third installment takes a deep dive into the evolution of the sketch (the initial kernel of an idea started when Will Ferrell was a teenager) to its production (Christopher Walken wasn’t the first host the sketch was pitched to and, believe it or not, it wasn’t a cowbell in the original sketch) and its lasting legacy. Hearing members of Blue Oyster Cult and the producers of the song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” argue about who played the cowbell (if it was a cowbell) and who’s responsible for adding it to the arrangement only adds to the entertainment value.

One aspect that makes it a good choice is that it’s recent enough (it first aired April 5, 2000) that nearly everyone involved still is alive and able to share stories about it. The only minor complaint is that it’s a bit repetitive following episode two because it recaps the different steps a sketch goes through from pitch to premiere.

The final installment is called “The Weird Year” and looks at the 1985-86 season, when Michaels’ returned to helm the show when it was on the brink of cancellation and the rocky transition year that followed, marred by a cast that didn’t gel, clashes between writers and performers and mostly scathing reviews.

And those who watch “Beyond Saturday Night” on Peacock will be happy the streaming service also contains all 50 seasons of “SNL.” I’m definitely going to go back and watch the Francis Ford Coppola-directed episode from that “weird” season.

Now if only they’d do a part five on the evolution of “Weekend Update” over 50 years …

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com