The comedian brought back some of his most iconic characters, including Mister Robinson and Buckwheat.

Welcome back toSNL in Review, my fellow Coneheads!

Tonight is easily one of the most importantSaturday Night Liveepisodes in recent history.

Yes,THEEddie Murphy.

Cue the montage reel.

JoiningSNLat 19, a star at 20, a superstar by 21.

Its one of the most impressive and meteoric comedy careers in the history of Hollywood.

After all likeJ.LoandScarJo Murphy is amidst an Oscar campaign.

He and none-other-than fellowSNLalum Adam Sandlerwill be competing for the fifth Best Actor slot.

Its a packed year.

AndGary Kroegerjoined the cast just as Muprhy was approaching superstardom.

Given they worked with Murphy while he was on the show, heres their predictions for tonight.

I doubt youll seeLittle Richards Simmons.

you’re free to already feel the energy in the crowd.

Kate McKinnons wonky Senator Warren joins Colin Josts stilted Mayor Pete and Bowen Yangs Andrew Yang.

The bang is glued, girlfriend!

says Rachel Dratch as Senator Klobuchar.

Shes a national treasure.

Fred Armisens Mike Bloomberg is also back hes played the NYC Mayor a few times before.

(Note: Chris Kattan initially played Bloomberg back in 2001 on Weekend Update!)

it’s possible for you to see him as an extra in the last Gumby sketch.

Maya Rudolphs Kamala Harris also stops by and kills.

She gives a shout out to tonights musical guest, Lizzo, AKA Bad Bitch.

Its a shame the real Kamala flamed out so badly Rudolph is amazing as the former California AG.

And in the biggest surprise Jason Sudeikis is back as Biden!

Hes great, and captures the vice president in a way Woody Harrelson could not.

Finally, Alec Baldwin appears as Trump somehow, McKinnon pops up as Pelosi!

She leads the LFNY call-out, swinging her legs over the podiums.

As weak as the Baldwin moment is, everyone else does pretty well.

(Blink, and Cecily Strong stops in as Tulsi Present Gabbard too.)

He shows his headshot as a 19-year-old from when he first joined the show.

Even I wouldve took that bet.

But let me tell you, Whoo IS Americas DAD NoW?!

he chimes going into his Bill Cosby impression scathing.

Hes been dunking on Cosby since hisDeliriousdays.

He even played Cosby during his second Update appearance.

Murphy is joined byDave Chappelle,Tracy Morgan, andChris Rock, pitching him sketch ideas.

Murphy plays the straight man here mostly.

I love the shout out toDolemitehere, by the way a great comeback movie.

I am glad Netflix is honoring Murphys legacy now the love is real at 8H, clearly.

Now hes back, and it barely registers 35 years have gone by.

He was also 19.

So he was young he had not been punched around or told no.

He had not gone through all that yet.

When youre 19, youll jump on a table and break into Elvis.

He wasnt afraid of anything, and was ready to take the world on.

Laurance recalls: I was having a conversation with him one day up in the office.

I remember laughing and saying, you may be incredible but you aint Richard Pryor, pal.

He kind of laughed, but that was his mindset back then.

He always knew he was special.

He wasnt just going to be a stand-up comedian at the Improv.

He was right, of course.

I remember that he would sign his name on everything.

It was almost as if the scene would have to hold until the audience stopped clapping.

The monologue ends with a Joe Piscopo shout out!

Hes apparently traveling and was not invited to the show.

Too bad no Dion and Blair reunion I guess!

Mister Robinsons Neighborhood

Gentrification is the name of tonights episode!

White people pay a lot of money and puff!

Mister Robinson meets Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner, who live where his friend Frankie used to smoke crack.

Personally, I miss the grainy analog appearance of the original sketches.

It does not quite feel the same spirit-wise with todays crisp digital feed.

But man, this is awfully fun, from SQUATTERS RIGHTS to Chris Redds 23andMe test.

(One quibble: I dont think Murphy necessarily needed the wig the character stands without it.

Matthew Laurance says Mister Robinson was his favorite Murphy character back in the day, as well as Buckwheat.

Holiday Baking Championship

Cakes based on childhood memories is the premise of this cooking show.

It starts off fairly conventionally.

Murphy is the second contestant, baking Sonic the Hedgehog.

It is a monstrosity literally, it speaks evil, backwards devil talk.

And finally Eddie drops an S-bomb on live TV.

Its just fun having back.

Home for the Holidays

Murphy and Rudolph play parents during the holidays.

Their positive speechifying is contrasted with the harsh realities of spending time with the family.

We have seen similar shorts like this before Emma Thompson, Amy Schumer.

Interesting that they plugged Murphy in.

I am reminded of Murphys words during the monologue hes truly a dad now, enjoying the ride.

Its heartwarming to watch especially as hes someone who came-of-age on the show.

The Masked Singer

A spoof of one of the strangest shows on TV.

Murphy is the Corn but actually, it is Buckwheat!

This is much warmer and sillier than that piece of political satire.

Its also been a bit controversial some smoke around Truth Hurts actual authors.

Of course, theres no denying Lizzo slays.

This has been an exceptional year for live performances atSNL.

I would very much enjoy watching a Lizzo cover of Party All The Time, TBH!

Weekend Update

Jost jumps into the Trump impeachment, replaying clips like hes onTalk Soup.

(HisCatsdescription really fitsSNLtoo, doesnt it?

I genuinely thought was where they were going.)

Suddenly, yes BINGO!

Murphy shows up as Gumby.

I saved this damn show from the gutter.

…Shame on you Lorne Michaels!

I love how meta this is.

He calls out everyone, including Murphy himself.

He seems way more comfortable here than he was doing Robinson or Buckwheat.

For some reason, this has always held a special affinity.

One nitpick: Murphy used to paint his face green back in the day, right?

He turned to me and said, Thats what theyre going to say too.

Pete Davidson shows to talk about how hes destined to become the next Daniel Tosh once he leavesSNL.

Next, Jost and Che hit each other again with their segment where they write one anothers jokes.

This is a wild Update… and thats before Cecily returns as a vomiting Jeanine Pirro.

Shout outSNLwriter Gary Richardson in a cameo as the cue card guy, by the way!

The timing generally feels off, which is surprising as Black Jeopardy!

has killed in the past.

We first saw it in 2014, and most recently last year.

(I did like the Instagram hoe line.)

AndSNLgets a bunch of Cat digs in this episode!

Lizzo Good as Hell

This beat always reminded me of College Trilogy-era Kanye West.

This song was first released in early 2016.

Its Obama-era, yall.

Maybe a little bit of Hide Your kids, hide your wife!

StandardSNL Murphy seems to be having fun, but thats about it.

Final Thoughts

-Very commendable!

We got four classic Eddie Murphy characters his Catskills entertainer old-time legend Gumby felt the most natural for 2019.

Kroeger says Murphy always did characters and imitations that were beyond his years.

(Note: check out ourstill-relevant interview with Robin Duke, another Murphy-era cast member.)

-My soundtrack for tonight?

Eddies1985 classic album,How Could It Be.

For some reason, this pop culture artifact really drives home what makes Murphy such a legend.

-Thank you to Patrick Weathers, Matthew Laurance, and Gary Kroeger for their stories and firsthand insights tonight!

The lesson to trust yourself, your instincts, and to move without fear.

-What did you think?

Did Eddie Murphy C-I-L-L in hisSNLreturn?Vote here!

Enjoy the break and see you back for anAdam Driver episodenext month.