Eddie Murphy Triumphantly Returned To Saturday Night Live, 35 Years Later

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Eddie Murphy finally returned to Saturday Night Live last night Dec. 21, and it was well worth the wait. Murphy brought back some of his class characters and invited some Black comic royalty along for the ride, and Lizzo did her things as the musical guest, too.

You knew you were in for a treat (after a hilarious cold open tied to the latest Democratic debate) when we finally got to see Murphy front and center for his monologue. But after a funny Bill Cosby jab, Murphy was playfully interrupted by Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle (and Kenan Thompson, too). It was actually Chappelle who may have had the line of the moment when he said half of Netflix’s budget was on stage, but then Morgan may have stolen that moment.

Then there were the classic characters a new generation of viewers may have been seeing for the first time. Buckwheat and the problematic Velvet Jones were cool, but the funniest were easily Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, where the title character was now dealing with gentrification, and return of Gumby to the Weekend Update.

In “Black Jeopardy,” Velvet Jones was still living in the 80’s.

But Murphy just didn’t fall back on the OG classics. The “North Pole News Report” saw Murphy as a Black elf detailing what went down during a massacre, by polor bear, at Santa’s workshop.

As for Lizzo, kicked a rocked out version “Truth Hurts,” while sporting some Dapper Dan-style Gucci drip and “Good As Hell” which is her latest single although you’ve surely been hearing it for months, watch on the flip.