Despite not having appeared on Saturday Night Live since leaving the cast in 1984, famed comedian Eddie Murphy left a string of memorable sketches including his version of James Brown, Gumby, Buckwheat and more. After the long running sketch comedy show announced that Murpy would (finally) return for their 40th Anniversary special, many anxiously awaited his return, only to be disappointed by a brief cameo that lasted all of 73 seconds.
Yes you read that right.
Fellow comedian Chris Rock, who joined the show in the early 90s, gave an introduction in which he recounted the road that Murphy had paved for them all before joking “He came out and did a yo mama joke. I’m serious. This was on national TV. He came out and he said, ‘Your mama got a mouth on the back of her neck and the b#### chew like this.”
Murphy then came to the stage to share a few brief words of his own, “This show is such a big part of who I am and my life, and I’m so happy to be back here and it’s just a magical feeling,” he said. “Actually, it feels like going back to my old high school kind of. It’s a good feeling. I’m really happy that so many people here value the stuff that I did 35 years ago on the show. It really makes me really happy.”