Eddie Murphy Was Supposed To Appear In #SNL40’s ‘Celebrity Jeopardy,’ According To Norm Macdonald

One of the biggest disappointments during the epic Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special was Eddie Murphy’s uneventful appearance after more than 30 years away from the show that he saved while it simultaneously launched his career. According to Norm Macdonald — who is in the midst of a long and interesting twitter binge about the history of the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch and the process of creating the #SNL40 version — that wasn’t always the plan.

Before we get to what Macdonald and SNL producer/sketch co-writer Steve Higgins envisioned, let me provide a little context. As Macdonald tweets, the hardest part of pulling off the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch was the third podium. Macdonald’s Burt Reynolds and Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery impersonations were never an issue and always meant to be more than mere impersonations.

For the 40th anniversary, though, Macdonald and Higgins would have to work in “10 or 12” impressions, which Macdonald called “bad news” since the “rhythm would be gone.

Thankfully, Higgins had a great idea that would have absolutely brought the house down.

So, why didn’t it happen? According to Macdonald, Brett Ratner was the middle-man between SNL and Murphy for the sketch, but Murphy wasn’t comfortable.

Obviously, we know that Keenan Thompson did a great job as Cosby and the sketch did kill, but it would have brought the house down with Murphy as Cosby. And now we know, thanks to Norm Macdonald.

Update:

Macdonald got back around to wrapping up the Murphy story, letting it be known that it was his job to try and convince Murphy to do it.

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(Source: Twitter)