Eddie Murphy Returning to “Saturday Night Live” After 30 Years

Eddie Murphy is returning to "Saturday Night Live" for the first time in 30 years. The Oscar nominee will help the late-night sketch series celebrate its landmark 40th anniversary along with several other former cast members this February. The last time Murphy was on "Saturday Night Live" was in 1984.

"It just never worked out where the timing was right for me to do it," Murphy told NewsOne about his absence from "SNL." "They're having a 40th anniversary...I'm going to that. And that will be the first time I've been back since I left."

Murphy was a cast member from 1980-1984.

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"Saturday Night Live" is bringing home all of its former cast members and writers to celebrate the big anniversary. Molly Shannon confirmed to Vanity Fair that she'll be attending. But what does the anniversary special entail? That's a good question. When asked if there'd be sketches, Shannon said she didn't know.

"I don't think so. Because I think they are getting everybody's schedules together so we get there Saturday and the show is Sunday," She told Vanity Fair. "So who knows if it is clips? I actually don't know."

NBC announced plans for the three-hour event in April.

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"'Saturday Night Live' is an institution unlike anything else in television history," Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement in 2014. "The many brilliant ‘Not Ready for Primetime Players' over the years is a who's who of film and television comedy for the last two generations. The roster includes everyone from the iconic first cast in 1975 to household names ranging from Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, and Adam Sandler, to Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers—to name only a few. This brand, which is still one of the highest-rated comedies on television, was the brainchild of Lorne Michaels, who still presides over the whole enterprise today. This special is just one of the many ways we plan to celebrate 'SNL's' historic 40th season next year."

The one-night only event airs Sunday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. with a red carpet special starting at 7 p.m. on NBC.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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