Old school Saturday Night Live fans rejoice!
Eddie Murphy will return to the scene of the crime—the same sketch comedy show where he killed audiences before becoming an international box office superstar.
When the legendary funnyman returns as host to SNL on Dec. 21, he will be bringing some classic material with him.
While promoting his latest film, the Rudy Ray Moore biopic Dolemite Is My Name, Murphy said that he will revisit some of his beloved characters from his earlier years as a breakout cast member of the Lorne Michaels-created series.
During an appearance on Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Friday, the Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner said “SNL is such a big part of who I am” and also said he “would imagine” revisiting his legendary impersonations of clay animation character Gumby or Buckwheat, which was the lone afro-clad character child actor Billie Thomas portrayed in the Little Rascals’ short films Our Gang during the 1930s.
Throughout the early 1980s, the Brooklyn native hammed it up and kept viewers in stitches with his masterful performances with an assortment of characters with spot-on impressions of music legends such as James Brown and Stevie Wonder.
The comic genius even delivered his own take on the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood host Fred Rogers with a hood-centric skit titled Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood.
And truly before his time, the Beverly Hills Cop star was the subject of a hilarious skit called “White Like Me” in which he attempts to expose the amazing privileges of being white in America—way back in December 1984.
The Dec. 21 hosting gig will mark Murphy’s very first time hosting SNL in 35 years.