By Stuart Shikano
Saturday Night Live, the iconic late night sketch comedy show, has been on the air for 45 years. It started as a countercultural sketch comedy show and somewhere along the line transformed to cultural institution. It’s birthed so much talent throughout the decades and the beautiful thing is once a cast member leaves the show, no matter how much time has passed, they can always come back. And, they usually do.
Saturday, December 21, 2019 was another example of a cast member returning to host. But not just ANY cast member coming back to host. Arguably the funniest, most talented, and best SNL cast member ever. A man who saved the show after Lorne Michaels and the original cast and crew left. A man who deserves credit for SNL becoming known as a cultural institution instead of that irreverent, funny show from the ’70s. The legendary and multi-talented Eddie Murphy.
Eddie was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980-1984. That means that Eddie started when he was 19 years old and left the show at 22 years old. Eddie blew up quickly after getting on SNL, starring in classic comedy films like 1982’s 48 Hrs. and 1983’s Trading Places. He also released his classic stand-up special Delirious. After leaving the show, the success for Eddie kept going with 1986’s The Golden Child, 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II, the 1987 stand-up comedy theatrical film Eddie Murphy: Raw, and 1988’s Coming to America. Eddie also had a hit song called “Party All the Time” that peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Eddie hosted the show for the first time while he was still a cast member. He did so to fill in for his 48 Hrs. co-star Nick Nolte on December 11, 1982. It made sense; they are both in that movie. Eddie hosted for the second time two seasons later on December 15, 1984. This was the first season after Murphy left the show. Then after that, the only time he appeared at SNL studios was at the SNL 40th Anniversary show in February of 2015.
So, Murphy hosting the 2019 Christmas show was a huge deal. It was announced early, people were very excited, and we all had it as something to look forward to for a long time. And, it didn’t disappoint. Eddie Murphy killed it. Eddie delivered some funny jokes in his monologue, before comedy heavyweights and Eddie Murphy comedy offsprings Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle interrupted his monologue. Each guy asked Eddie if he got their sketch “suggestion.” As funny as all those moments were, Chappelle had the funniest cameo, in my opinion. Then finally, Kenan Thompson stopped Beck Bennett from talking, and joined the four comedians on stage. It was a wonderful sight to see five hilarious and accomplished performers all on stage together. It was one of those moments that will turn into a photograph and circulate for many, many years.
As the show went on, Eddie reprised classic characters like Mr. Robinson, Buckwheat, Gumby, and Velvet Jones. SNL did a great job of bringing back Eddie’s old characters while referencing current events and trends. For instance, Mr. Robinson discussed gentrification in the Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood sketch, Buckwheat appeared on The Masked Singer, Gumby mentioned musical guest Lizzo and roasted Colin Jost and Michael Che on Weekend Update, and Velvet Jones referenced Instagram in the Black Jeopardy sketch.
SNL also did some new SNL Christmas-themed sketches that killed. One was a Holiday Baking Championship parody featuring horrible bakers, one was a family Christmas dinner sketch poking fun at the appearances vs. reality of any family, and one was about elves being attacked by polar bears.
In my opinion, every sketch in the episode worked. I laughed throughout the whole show. Gumby is a personal favorite of mine and my favorite SNL character. I had never really thought about seeing Eddie do that character again until I found out he was hosting and, it was something that they had to do. It was wonderful to see Eddie do all his old SNL characters and just to see him hosting SNL, in general.
35 years is a long, long time. But, Eddie made his way back home to Saturday Night Live. I love seeing former SNL cast members return to the show. SNL welcomes them with open arms and, it is usually an emotional and meaningful event for the person returning. Last season, but earlier this year, Adam Sandler hosted for the first time, and it was his first appearance on the show (excluding the SNL 40th Anniversary show) since 1995. That was another fun, nostalgic episode.
Being on SNL is like playing for the Yankees. The New York Yankees’ history goes so far back. The Yankees’ history can be divided into all sorts of eras with different legends. Yankee Stadium has always and still does welcome back the legends from their franchise history. It doesn’t matter what decade a legendary Yankee played in, their name lives on through retired numbers, plaques, and monuments in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. They also will return for number retirement ceremonies, championship anniversaries, and other ceremonies. All these people are part of the Yankee legacy. People will have different favorites, usually based on the time they grew up in. But, at the end of the day, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettite are all Yankees. The connection to the franchise never goes away.
The connection to SNL never goes away for its cast members. That goes for everyone, whether we’re talking about Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Norm Macdonald, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Tracy Morgan, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, or Jason Sudeikis. Some were on in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, or ’10s, but they’re all part of the SNL legacy. And they can all come back.
People will have different favorites, usually depending on the cast they were watching when they were growing up. But, the fact that there’s always a cast of talented people that people respond to is incredible. Decade after decade, there’s always a new cast, new stars being born, and new favorites for the people at home.
I remember seeing Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd return to play the Wild and Crazy Guys in a 2013 episode hosted by Justin Timberlake. It was crazy because they did those characters in sketches from the ’70s, but this is the show they did that on. So, they could return around 40 years later, and do that on the same show in the same studio. It’s crazy that that much time can pass and the same people can come back and slip into their old characters. It’s remarkable that we have a show where something like that is possible.
This is the only show where things like that can happen. Bill Murray can just pop back in, Eddie Murphy can return to host after 35 years, Adam Sandler can return to host after 24 years, Tina Fey can pop back in, Bill Hader can come back and do some sketches. Even in the Eddie Murphy episode, Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen returned to do the cold open. They’ve both made numerous cameos since leaving the show and, I think it’s great that the former cast members can really do that any time they want or any time an opportunity for them to return arises. The community aspect of SNL is amazing. So any time we see a former cast member return in some form or fashion, it’s important to note that these people are all part of the same show’s history and legacy, no matter the era.
It must be a special thing to come back to the place where you got your start. The cast is different, the writers are different, the times are different, and you’re different. But, it’s the same city, the same location, the same studio, and it airs at the same time on the same night. I bet old memories and old feelings come back as the host comes back. For x amount of years, this is where they went to work each day, had fun, were stressed out, were exhilarated, performed a lot of sketches, did a lot of shows, and made themselves a household name. We all watch it as entertainment, but they were living it. This is an old chapter of their lives and one they always have the option of revisiting. That’s a rare thing in life.
StuartTheWW 