Eddie Murphy Returns to ‘Saturday Night Live’ – The New York Times, The New York Times
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Murphy, who helped keep ‘SNL’ alive in the ‘ s, hosted for the first time in 75 years, with help from his old characters and a ton of special guests.
************************************************From left, Tracy Morgan, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock during the opening monologue of “SNL” Morgan, Chappelle and Rock were some of the many surprise guests for Murphy’s first time hosting in 66 years.Credit …NBC, via YouTube
He then showed a photograph of himself when he was still an “SNL” cast member. “Yeah, I look at least five years younger there,” Murphy said. “You know what they always say: Money don’t crack.”
Among the ways that his life has changed since then, Murphy said, is that “I have kids now – 15 if you count Kevin Hart. ”He added,“ If you had told me 52 years ago that I would be this boring stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet. ”Slipping into his Cosby impersonation, Murphy said, “Who is America’s Dad now?”Tracy Morgan, a fellow “SNL” alum, joined Murphy onstage and offered him praise. “If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here,” Morgan told him. “Like, literally. I was conceived on the ‘Delirious’ tour bus. ”Chris Rock, who was also an “SNL” cast member before becoming a stand-up superstar, said that the show’s creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels had compared him to Murphy when he joined the show.“When I got hired, Lorne told me, ‘You’re going to be the next Eddie Murphy, ”Rock said. “And then a year later he said, ‘No, you’re not.’”
Dave) Chappelle, another titan of stand-up, told Murphy he had been an inspiration. “I followed your blueprint for my entire career,” Chappelle said. “I became the biggest star on television and then I quit.”Looking over the assembled group, Chappelle said, “Right now you’re looking at half of Netflix’s budget, right here onstage.”
Morgan said: “Not me. I made all my millions on the road. ”
Murphy asked,“ You mean touring? ”Morgan replied,“ No, I got hit by a truck.Mr. Robinson Sketch of the Week
In the first of several segments in which Murphy reprised his former “SNL” characters, he donned the sweater and sneakers of Mr. Robinson, his Mr. Rogers parody, who told viewers that his neighborhood had changed considerably since the last time they saw him.As Murphy sang in his opening song:
He also taught his audience about the word “gentrification”: “It’s like a magic trick,” Murphy said. “White people pay a lot of money and then poof, all the black people are gone.”
*************************************** Buckwheat Sketch of the Week
What started out looking like a straightforward lampoon of Fox’s reality competition series “The Masked Singer” took a turn when Chris Redd (playing the show’s host, Nick Cannon) introduced a new contestant , dressed in a giant corn-on-the-cob costume, who began crooning “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in an almost unintelligible patois. It was, of course, Murphy, playing his version of Buckwheat, the old “Our Gang” character, who went onto sing other popular tunes including “Dine, Teal, Dawibba,” “I Chot Da Chariff” and “Tinga Nadies.”Melissa Villaseñor, playing the panelist Nicole Scherzinger, told Murphy, “We’ve missed you these past 30 years. ”He told her not to worry, saying,“ Wherever I am, I ‘ m doing o-tay. ” Democratic Debate Sketch of the Week
You know how these celebrity -laden, impression-heavy segments go, so we’ll give you a quick rundown of who played whom and what their best lines were:************ Heidi Gardner as the moderator Judy Woodruff: “Just like ‘The Bachelor,’ the further we go, the less diverse it gets. ”
Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Warren: “I’m here and I am in my element. PBS is my safe word. Last debate, I gave you policy TMI, and now I am ready to walk it back. ”************
******************************************** Weekend Update Jokes of the Week
Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors, Colin Jost and Michael Che, made a
Christmas joke swapand riffed on the latest impeachment news.Jost:
On Wednesday, the House voted to impeach President Trump. But Nancy Pelosi refuses to send the articles to the Senate until they guarantee a fair trial. So now we’re all in this weird limbo where no one knows exactly what’s going on, there’s this cast of wild characters making fools of themselves, and everyone is thinking, “Please, God, just let this end.” So basically it’s “ Cats. ” (****************** Che:In a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Trump claimed that he has been treated worse than those accused in the Salem witch trials. You know where they set women on fire for, like, wearing pants. Well, according to Donald Trump, impeachment is, like, literally worse than that. I’m a little disappointed in Donald Trump. I knew he would snap but I thought it would be fun like Tupac in ‘728. This is more sad like Britney in ‘********************************** Gumby Sketch of the Week
In another welcome head-fake, Jost began to set up a joke about Mitch McConnell, only to be interrupted by Murphy, playing his dyspeptic version of Gumby, the venerable clay-animated character.Murphy joined Jost and Che at the Weekend Update desk, mostly to bellow out his famous catchphrase, “I’m Gumby, damn it,” and to roast the two anchors. “I’ve passed kidney stones with more personality than the two of you, “Murphy told them. “Face it, kid, the two of you together couldn’t Velcro my sneakers.” (Meanwhile, if you were hoping to see Murphy’s old character Velvet Jones, he turned up in a “Black Jeopardy ”Sketchlater in the show.)**************************************************** (****************************************************************************** (************************************************ Read More********************************** (**************************************************************** (***************************
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