[1] Radner and Michaels and all of the writers involved with the production were alumni from the television program Saturday Night Live.

Originally titled Gilda Radner: Live from New York (renamed Gilda Live for the film debut), it had a steady success as a play but the movie itself and the record as well, both released in March 1980, were complete flops with critics and the public.

More footage for the film was shot at The Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 1979.

The film itself was basically a rehash of Radner's most popular Saturday Night Live characters and sketches.

It included Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, Candy Slice, Judy Miller, Lisa Loopner, Nadia Comăneci, and Rhonda Weiss, and many other skits and performances such as "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals" (which was a little more risque than the original TV version, as this version was the only scene that got the film an R rating), "I Love to Be Unhappy", "Goodbye Saccharine" and "Honey (Touch Me with My Clothes On)".