As Eddie Murphy thanks the audience for tuning in to "The Eddie Murphy Show", Steve Martin comes on stage to express his displeasure that he was not chosen to host. Aside from Merry Christmas, Dammit!, this is probably the most famous moment of the entire episode, and it ends the show on a strong note.

Don Pardo announces upcoming rebroadcasts of the Howard Hesseman and Bill Murray shows before complaining about how lonely it is in his announcer booth.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Probably the most well-known episode of the season, as well as an important turning point for both SNL and Eddie Murphy, this actually comes off as merely an okay episode. The peaks are above average and the valleys don't seem as low as they normally were, but I found a lot of the show was merely good instead of great, and the second half of the show is significantly weaker than the first. However, as a host, Eddie Murphy handled himself well; he still feels part of the cast as opposed to being a host, but he rose to the occasion nicely.

This begs the question: how would the show have played out if Ebersol convinced Nolte not to bail, or if Piscopo hosted as Sinatra as he wanted to? I doubt the show would have been as memorable or as strong with Nolte (especially if he spent the week enjoying the NYC nightlife). A full show of Piscopo's Sinatra would have been overkill; SNL would have a few shows featuring hosts doing the entire show in character, but those normally don't work because it requires the entire show to be based around the same character.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

Steve Martin's cameo during the goodnights

Merry Christmas, Dammit!

Monologue

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

Herpes Gone Bananas

Clysler-Prymouth

Hairem Scarem

Rubiks Grenade

parts of Saturday Night News

MVP:

Eddie Murphy

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN

cast

Robin Duke : 3 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Hairem Scarem]

: 3 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Hairem Scarem] Mary Gross : 5 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Hairem Scarem, Herpes Gone Bananas, Joy Of Christmas (rerun)]

: 5 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Hairem Scarem, Herpes Gone Bananas, Joy Of Christmas (rerun)] Brad Hall : 2 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News]

: 2 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News] Tim Kazurinsky : 3 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Herpes Gone Bananas]

: 3 appearances [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Saturday Night News, Herpes Gone Bananas] Gary Kroeger : 2 appearances [Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again]

: 2 appearances [Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again] Julia Louis-Dreyfus : 4 appearances [Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Hairem Scarem, A Special Christmas Message]

: 4 appearances [Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Hairem Scarem, A Special Christmas Message] Eddie Murphy : 6 appearances [Substitute Host, Monologue, Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Hairem Scarem, Herpes Gone Bananas]

: 6 appearances [Substitute Host, Monologue, Merry Christmas, Dammit!, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again, Hairem Scarem, Herpes Gone Bananas] Joe Piscopo: 3 appearances [Merry Christmas, Dammit!, Clysler-Prymouth, I Came, I Saw, I Came Again]

crew and extras:

Seth Green : 1 appearance [Joy Of Christmas]

: 1 appearance [Joy Of Christmas] Lee Mayman : 1 appearance [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again]

: 1 appearance [I Came, I Saw, I Came Again] Clint Smith: 1 appearance [Merry Christmas, Dammit!]

guests

Lionel Richie : 2 appearances ["You Are", "Truly"]

: 2 appearances ["You Are", "Truly"] Harry Anderson : 1 appearance [Guest Performance]

: 1 appearance [Guest Performance] Steve Martin: 1 appearance [Goodnights]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

April 2, 1983

September 24, 1983

December 31, 1983

December 28, 1985

Known alterations:

Clysler-Prymouth and A Special Christmas Message removed

Saturday Night News edited.

Reach Out and Touch Someone (from 02/06/82) and Hitchcock Hygiene (from 01/29/83) added

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here