For the final episode of 2019, Eddie Murphy returned to the Saturday Night Live stage to play the role of host 35 years after he last made a regular appearance on the sketch comedy show. Murphy is widely regarded as one of the show's most successful stars to catapult off SNL and in his return, he delivered on a legacy performance that found him picking up old sketch characters while also reflecting on the success that he's shared with his peers.
“It’s good to be here,” said Murphy said during his opening monologue. “This is the last episode of 2019, but if you’re black, this is the first episode since I left back in 1984.”
His opening remarks would soon be supplemented with a photo of Murphy as a teenager when he first joined the SNL cast: “You know what they always say: money don’t crack.”
His monologue was filled with plenty of surprises as Murphy brought out his peers Dave Chappelle, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and Kenan Thompson.
"You’re looking at half of Netflix’s Budget right here on stage," Chappelle quipped at one point.
Murphy went on to reflect on his success as a family man over the years, acknowledging his 10 children, bringing the total to “11 if you count Kevin Hart."
“If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I wouldn’t have took that bet," Murphy admitted. "Who is America’s dad now?”