Chris Rock tried to get Lorne Michaels to go out on top.
Netflix’s new documentary, Being Eddie, chronicles the legendary career of Eddie Murphy, covering the Nutty Professor star’s return to host Saturday Night Live, more than three decades after his last appearance at Studio 8H.
Murphy served on the show’s cast from 1980 to 1984, and is largely credited with saving the sketch program during a time of rocky ratings while its creator had stepped away. After his final episode on Feb. 25, 1984, Murphy returned to host just 10 months later, now a bona fide movie star thanks to Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop. But then he didn’t return for 35 more years, after feeling burned by a joke made at his expense by David Spade on a 1995 “Weekend Update,” referring to the alum as a “falling star.”
So when Murphy came back to host in 2019, it was an event for fans and cast members alike.
Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Eddie Murphy (center) hosts ‘SNL’ joined by Tracy Morgan, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Kenan Thompson
In the doc, Murphy explains that it was Michaels’ idea to ask Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Tracy Morgan to join his monologue, in addition to current cast member Kenan Thompson. Each comedian is interviewed in Being Eddie, and all expressed their excitement at taking part in the episode with the comedy icon.
Rock said the show went so well, he recommended Michaels — long rumored to be retiring “soon” — use it as a swan song.
“It was one of the greatest SNLs ever,” Rock recalled in the film. “And I walked over to Lorne Michaels when it was over, and I said, ‘You should quit right now. It’s not gonna get any better than this.'”
Michaels did not take him up on the offer, and is currently overseeing the Emmy-winningest show’s 51st season.
Morgan said after the episode, he helped remind the Coming to America star how far he’d come.
“I said, ‘Eddie.’ He looked at me and said, ‘What’s up?’ I said, ‘Your life just came 360. This is where it all started,'” the 30 Rock star remembered.
Murphy was only 19 when he first joined SNL and proved so popular — with characters like Buckwheat and Gumby — that he became the first and only person to host the show while still a member of the cast (after his 48 Hours costar Nick Nolte dropped out last minute in 1982).
“Going back to Saturday Night Live was a great experience,” Murphy shared in the documentary. “My creative energy, everything had been turned back up to 10.”
Netflix
Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Tracy Morgan backstage at ‘SNL’ in ‘Being Eddie’
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His experience returning to host proved so positive for the star that he returned again during the show’s 50th anniversary special earlier this year, appearing in two sketches, including “Black Jeopardy,” where he impersonated Morgan.
“I just did good stuff on this show,” Murphy tells Entertainment Weekly of his overall legacy on SNL. “Me and John Belushi, you know, we’re like Stymie and Spanky from Little Rascals.”
Although it’s another Little Rascal that he’ll remain forever linked to in the minds of all SNL fans.
NBC Eddie Murphy returns as Buckwheat on ‘SNL’ in 2019
Being Eddie is on Netflix now.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly