3 Characters Eddie Murphy Should Revive in His ‘SNL’ Return

Saturday Night Live - Eddie Murphy as Santa
Preview
RM Lewis Jr./NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/GETTY IMAGES

After 35 years away, Eddie Murphy is coming home to Studio 8H to host this week’s Christmas episode of SNL.

Save for a brief appearance on the show’s 40th anniversary special in 2015, this marks the first time the Oscar-nominated alum has returned after his 1980–84 star-making stint as a regular.

Since he’s already confirmed he’s “trying to figure out some reason” to revive his iconic characters, including the three below, we’d like to pitch the following.

Mr. Robinson

Given that Tom Hanks (David S. Pumpkins himself) loves to drop in on the show, how about he brings his big-screen version of Fred Rogers from A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood by to learn some life lessons from Murphy’s streetwise take on the beloved children’s TV host? That would be neighborly, for sure.   

Buckwheat

(RM Lewis Jr./NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Sure, the Little Rascal (above, with Mary Gross as Alfalfa) was famously killed off in the “Who Shot Buckwheat?” skits of 1983. But holograms of dead celebs are all the rage now, so it would be “Otay!” if they went that route. Or, perhaps the album Buh-Weet Sings gets rereleased with newly discovered tracks.

Gumby

(Ken Regan/Camera 5 via Contour by Getty Images)

He’s Gumby, damn it! And it would be damn awesome if our favorite foul-mouthed bendable got his own Joker-esque movie trailer like last month’s gritty Oscar the Grouch short starring host David Harbour. Maybe Joe Piscopo can make a surprise appearance to trot out Pokey again!

Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC