Eddie Murphy shined reprising iconic SNL characters, but an original sketch showed why he's special

The A.V. Club

Murphy, returning to his early 1980s stomping grounds to host Saturday Night Live for the first time in 35 years, brought back many of his classic characters: Mr. Robinson, Gumby, Buckwheat and even Velvet Jones. "But the best sketch for those looking to catch a glimpse of the live-wire charisma of Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live had to wait until the very last sketch of the night," says Dennis Perkins. "Murphy wasn’t always handed the best or most suited material to work with back in his 1980s SNL tenure, but damned if he didn’t always find a way to make it pop, and this sketch—with Murphy as a disgruntled Santa’s elf, of all things—harnessed that old magic better than any of his affectionately recreated hits. As the brash and pissed-off elf worker Kiddle Diddles (he didn’t pick his name, dammit), Murphy broke into an on-site (at Santa’s smoking workshop) elf news report to tell everyone, in no uncertain terms, just what global warming-starved polar bears are capable of, especially when Santa cheaps out on the Jurassic Park style perimeter fencing ... There was nobody better in SNL history at jolting sketches alive by sheer force of talent, commitment, and personality, and Murphy kept this sketch striking sparks throughout, demanding to know just what 'the fat man at the North Pole' is going to do about this elven apocalypse, considering that, as he put it in furious summation, 'We’re defenseless, and we’re small, we’re adorable, and we’re chewable!'" Perkins adds that while Murphy had a lovely monologue, last night was just another episode of Saturday Night Live. "I’d like to say that Eddie’s return was triumphant, a show-redefining rocket-boost of the old, show-saving magic," says Perkins. "It wasn’t, but that’s to be expected, I suppose. SNL doesn’t need to be rescued any more, at least in the ratings. I still love Saturday Night Live, as I’ve done since I was allowed to stay up far too late to watch its first incarnation, but Saturday Night Live isn’t here to be reinvented, or changed, not even by someone so instrumental in getting it to where it is. I get sucked in, despite myself, every once in a while, to thinking a truly transcendent comic talent (Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle) will come in to host and bend the show to new shapes, and I’m always mad at myself for being reminded that SNL isn’t really in that business anymore, if it ever was. Eddie’s return was just another season 45 episode of Saturday Night Live. A more than decent one, but just another episode, despite Eddie still—in flashes of the old live TV luminescence—being Eddie."

ALSO:

• Nearly 10 million watched Eddie Murphy's return, SNL's highest-rated episode since Melissa McCarthy hosted in May 2017
• Eddie Murphy's episode was a triumph: "From start to finish, he was smooth, game, and 100% cool–his old characters as welcome as his fresh sketches," says Karen Valby. "The mood of the show was electric, everyone alive to the luck of being a part of this night. I can’t remember ever seeing such genuine delight on faces of the band when a guest host took his opening mark."
• Turns out "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" is perfectly suited for 2019: "While not as spry as the initial iteration of 'Mr. Robinson,' this version possesses all the mischievous machinations of the former," says Ryan McGee. "Whether it involves preying on white guilt in order to steal a neighbor’s television or using the fire escape to avoid a paternity claim, Murphy’s character still employs all the tricks he did back in the early 1980s. What makes 'Mr. Robinson' work is the idea that, underneath this sweet facade, lies someone desperately hanging onto his little bit of an ever-changing world at every moment. The methods by which he does so are often suspect at best, but it makes the character incredibly relatable all the same."
• Murphy's monologue joke roasting Bill Cosby for being in prison was particularly notable: Earlier this year, Murphy -- who played Cosby several times on SNL -- opened up to Jerry Seinfeld about his difficult relationship with Cosby on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. “He had a weird thing with me that he didn’t have with other comics. It was mean,” Murphy said to Seinfeld “He wasn’t doing that with everybody, he was doing that with me specifically. He was shitty with me.”
• Murphy had to be censored after accidentally cursing on "Weekend Update"
• Murphy was also censored for saying "sh*t" during the "Holiday Baking Championship" sketch
• Adam Driver to host SNL for the third time on Jan. 25, with musical guest Halsey
• SNL's cold open tackles the Democratic presidential debate over Trump's impeachment
• Yes, Lizzo's guitarist, Celisse Henderson, was paying homage to electric guitar pioneer Sister Rosetta Thorpe during "Truth Hurts"
• Watch Kenan Thompson and Murphy in cut-for-time "Holiday Gig" sketch
• Watch Murphy, Lizzo and Aidy Bryant in cut-for-time "Aidy Bizzo & Lizzo" sketch