The single most influential figure in American comedy, Lorne Michaels, creator of “Saturday Night Live,” is also the most elusive. He seldom sits for interviews and when he does, he reveals very little. Finally, with the spotlight turned on him by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville, we learn mainly that Michaels remains as elusive as ever. The new documentary, “Lorne,” shot over two years in the lead up to the show’s 50th Anniversary in 2025, includes little more than anecdotes from cast members as well as footage of Michaels in pitch meetings and script readings.  Michaels (formerly Lipowitz), grew up in Toronto where his father passed away when he was 14 years old. He’s a longtime friend and neighbor of Paul Simon whose apartment he stops by each day to exercise in his private gym. A creature of habit, he regularly eats at the same West Side Italian restaurant and orders the same pasta dish. He keeps a tank full of goldfish in his office and, since giving up cigarettes, munches popcorn through his working hours.  The film outlines the process that goes into the weekly show — the meeting in his office every Monday in which the cast and writers are introduced to the show’s celebrity host, details of which you can find in Susan Morrison’s 2025 biography, “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” or in Neville’s own series, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.” On Tuesday nights, select cast members join him and the host for dinner, an anxious affair since sketches are due the following morning, which means writers and performers stay as late as 4 a.m. working up material.  Lorne Michaels (Courtesy of Focus Features) Michaels’ professional career began alongside his friend, Hart Pomerantz with whom, after graduating college in the mid-1960s, he went to Los Angeles and worked as a writer on “The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show,” followed by the popular sketch comedy show, “Rowan Martin’s Laugh-In.” Next, he and Pomerantz returned to Canada to produce “The Hart Lorne Terrific Hour” which played for two seasons. Returning to LA, Michaels produced several TV specials for Lily Tomlin with whom he worked on “Laugh-In,” winning his first of 24 Emmy Awards. He credits the experience for helping him land “SNL,” which first aired in October of 1975. For TV he produced “SNL” spin-offs like “30 Rock,” “The Tonight Show” and “The Kids in the Hall,” and for the big screen, films such as “The Three Amigos!,” “Wayne’s World” and “Mean Girls.”  None of this is new information. What we do learn from the film is that Tomlin considered firing Michaels, whose Emmy evidently went to his head, and that he once received a threatening letter from imprisoned Manson family member Squeaky Fromme. What we don’t learn is what happened to Hart Pomerantz. The rest can be found on Wikipedia.  The process of putting together an episode of “SNL” is chaotic, including all nighters, building sets on Thursday that are thrown away on Friday, and a dress rehearsal on Saturday night in front of a live audience, after which the show is further refined during a pressure cooker meeting before going to air.  While it could be done more efficiently, “SNL” would no doubt lose its edge, as demonstrated by the few snippets of “The New Show,” a failed pre-taped sketch comedy hour that Michaels produced for nine episodes in 1984. It turns out that chaos is key. Art of any kind, if done right, is messy and inefficient. With so many business grads pulling the strings in the entertainment business, it’s no wonder most film and TV is awful. Businessmen tend to prioritize efficiency. And while zero waste might save money, it’s a fast track to mediocrity.  While Michaels himself gets limited screentime, most of the movie is focused on roundtable and one-on-one interviews with current and former cast members who reveal little about their evasive boss. Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Conan O’Brien and Chris Rock among others do impersonations and offer amusing anecdotes while speculating on what makes the maestro tick. Some differentiate between his polite chuckle and his heartfelt chortle, noting as well that dissatisfaction is generally expressed through a heavy sigh. If that’s as volatile as he gets, then why do they all seem to fear him? The anecdotes we don’t get are in Morrison’s biography, like when he turned to Bob Odenkirk, a writer at the time caught murming to his neighbor during a meeting, and told him, “Odenkirk, if you speak again I’ll break your fucking legs.” Erik Kenward, Steve Higgins and Lorne Michaels. (Courtesy of Focus Features) There are tender times as well, like when John Mulaney recalls his second stint in rehab where he received a phone call from Michaels saying he was free to chat about anything for as long as Mulaney liked, assuring him that he’s there for him.  Unexplored are Michaels’ marriages, first with childhood friend and fellow writer Rosie Shuster, then with model Susan Forristal and currently with former assistant, Alice Barry. His three children also remain off limits. Segments animated by Rob Smigel, famous for SNL’s “TV Funhouse” shorts, are amusing if unilluminating, as is Neville’s visit to Michaels’ blueberry farm in Maine where he talks about getting older and feeling closer to his childhood. When his old friend Steve Martin, who has hosted the show 16 times, asks if, at the age of 80, he plans to retire soon, Michaels indicates no, but looks like he wished he hadn’t been asked.  Neville has made a career of celeb documentaries, a genre that tends to overlap with promotion. His filmography includes “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” about Fred Rogers, “Roadrunner” about Anthony Bourdain, and the Oscar-winning “20 Feet from Stardom” about back up singers Darlene Love and Merry Clayton who performed with some of the most popular musicians of their time.  Most of what the new film offers are humorous anecdotes from comedians who owe their careers to Michaels. No doubt that’s fine with distributor Focus Features, which is owned by Comcast, which owns NBC, which airs “SNL.” What “Lorne” boils down to is 100 minutes of harmless fluff with about as much news-worthy information as a segment of “Weekend Update,” only fewer laughs. 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