It was a night of superstars at SNL50, marking the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, but none shined brighter than Eddie Murphy.
The 63-year-old Murphy, an SNL alum who waited 30 years to return to the NBC series because they made a joke at his expense during a rough career stretch, was at his best during a “Black Jeopardy” sketch on Sunday night’s broadcast.
The long-running and popular bit, hosted by Kenan Thompson, had Murphy playing former cast member Tracy Morgan — while standing next to the real-life Morgan.
“Welcome to ‘Black Jeopardy,’ the only ‘Jeopardy’ where every single viewer fully understood Kendrick’s halftime performance,” said Thompson at the top of the sketch, before introducing the panelists, which included Leslie Jones.
Related: Watch Billy Preston Perform ‘Nothing From Nothing’ on Rebroadcast of Very First ‘SNL’ Episode
Murphy perfectly captured Morgan from his first line. His spot-on impression of the comedian’s voice rang out in the panelist intros: “Big dog gonna make some big money!”
Thompson then asked, “Now wait a minute, Tracy. Don’t you already have a lot of money?”
“You gotta have a lot of money if you live like I live,” Murphy as Morgan responded. “I eat four-cheese lasagna. If they only got three cheeses, I ain’t eating it.”
“I refuse to ingest three cheeses,” Murphy added.
Later, Kenan Thompson turned to the real-life Morgan, who was playing a panelist named Darius.
“Darius, Tracy, y’all seem like you might be related,” Thompson quipped.
Murphy piped up, “Well, James Earl Jones is my biological father. James Earl Jones impregnated my mother on the set of [the film] Claudine. You know what? We might be related.”
Morgan acted annoyed, “I don’t see it.”
There were two more surprises in the sketch. Chris Rock took over from Thompson as the host for one question, and Tom Hanks appeared as Dave, a MAGA hat-wearing white contestant.
Watch the sketch below from SNL50:
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