Eddie Murphy returned to host “Saturday Night Live” after leaving the show 35 years ago.
In his opening monologue, as the crowd cheered his name, Murphy joked about how long it’s been since he was on the show. The comedian said it was great to be back for the Christmas show and the last show of 2019, then adding, “But, if you’re black, this is the first episode since I left back in 1984.”
He then went on to talk about his growing family, saying he has a new child, and is now a mostly stay-at-home dad. Though he did plug his two latest projects: “Dolemite Is My Name” on Netflix and the just-finish “Coming to America” sequel.
He joked when he was on the show, he would not have thought he’d be a father with ten children and compared himself to another famous, but disgraced comic.
“If you told me 30 years ago that I’d be this boring stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I wouldn’t have took that bet,” Murphy said, adding an impersonation of Cosby, “Who is America’s dad now?”
In “Eddie Murphy Raw” from 1987, Murphy talked about getting a call from Cosby in which Cosby berated him for cursing on stage and said he was a bad role model.
Murphy was joined on stage for the monologue by former “SNL” cast members Tracy Morgan and Chris Rock, comedian Dave Chappelle, and current SNL-er Kenan Thompson. The comediana shared jokes and zingers, including “Right now you are looking at half of Netflix’s budget right here on stage,” said Chappelle.
For the show Murphy brought back several of his “SNL” characters, including Mr. Robinson, Gumby and Buckwheat.
