Eddie Murphy

Recently, the criminal action against Bill Cosby reached a verdict:  guilty of sexual assault.  And this is apparently not the first or only victim.  As yet he has not been sentenced, but that hearing will be coming up soon enough.   So we’ve moved beyond mere allegations to an actual conviction by a Pennsylvania jury. 

This reminded me of Eddie Murphy’s earlier comedy routine in which he made fun of Cosby chastising him for using foul language in his comedy act (Raw, 1987).   This is the one which starts with Murphy (as Cosby) declaring that, "I would like to talk to YOUUU [dramatic pause] about the things that you say [another dramatic pause] in your show."  To date, Murphy’s only crime has been an accusation, which fell short of a criminal act, much less a conviction, of picking up a transvestite, Shalimar Seluli, in 1997.  Murphy’s story is that he was only giving the person a ride.  Given his history of heterosexual relationships and no other accusations of similar behavior, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. Think of him as an unsuccessful Uber pioneer.

According to deposition transcripts of civil actions against Cosby for similar behavior, this pattern of behavior goes back to the 1970s.  So it was going on when Cosby criticized Murphy.  SMH.

Anyhow.  I still consider myself a big fan of Eddie Murphy even though his more recent track record of performances has been less than it was back in the 80s, when he was at his peak. 

Basics.  Born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island.  Consider him a New Yorker.  Amen.

Saturday Night Live.  He was on the show from 1980 to 1984 and among its best stars at the time.  His major characters were Buckwheat (“O-tay!”), Gumby, and Velvet Jones.   I’m ambivalent about SNL.  I’d say the quality of the actors generally exceeds the quality of the writing, and Eddie Murphy is no exception.

48 Hours.  His first major role, while he was still on SNL.  He and Nick Nolte try to track down a criminal (James Remar).  Entertaining and worth watching. 

Beverly Hills Cop.  Now there are three, with a fourth due out.  His character is from Detroit but goes to L.A. to solve crimes, assisted by the uptight locals, Judge Reinhold being the more amusing of the two.  Serge was also funny.  I’m not as much a fan of the films as others might be, but I still like them.

Trading Places & Coming to America.  These are my two favorites.  In “Trading Places” he teams up with SNL comrade Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis to take down the Duke Brothers.  In “Coming to America” he teams up with Arsenio Hall to find a suitable bride to be his queen.  Where?  In Queens, of course. 

Stand-up.  I never had the pleasure of attending his shows and being stunned speechless by his bad language, but two of them made it to high quality performances caught on VHS/DVD:  Raw (1987) and Delirious (1983). 

Shrek.   Although his more recent films have been poorly received – though I haven’t seen the “Dr Doolittle” ones – he’s been stellar as Donkey in the “Shrek” films.  Hell, l like Donkey far more than Shrek (who, let's face it, is essentially just a big green asshole), and I’m sure many others feel the same way.

Dreamgirls.  I saw this once and forgot about it.  He actually has a dramatic role he does extremely well, similar to Adam Sandler’s performance in “Spanglish”.   Worth checking out for him alone, though his character is second tier in terms of importance.

Vs. Richard Pryor.   Murphy cites Pryor as a major influence.  For that matter, he also cites Cosby.  As for Pryor, I’ve never been a fan of his and don’t really care for any of his comedy or movies.  He seemed more mean spirited than funny.  I will make one exception and strong recommendation, though:  check out “California Suite” (1978), which has him teamed up against Bill Cosby.  While there are plenty of other stellar teamups in this film, e.g. Maggie Smith (Professor McGonegall from “Harry Potter”) & Michael Caine, Jane Fonda & Alan Alda,  Walter Matthau & Denise Galik, I thought the Cosby vs. Pryor matchup was the funniest.   

Saturday Night Live

A few years ago, I asked my secretary at the time, Carolyn (Vietnamese name Phuong), if she’d seen SNL the weekend before.  Huh?  Blank stare.  Apparently she didn’t know what Saturday Night Live was.  Since I don’t recall many Asian – much less Vietnamese – cast members on SNL, I suppose this makes sense.  But she was one of those Viets who doesn’t watch ANY American TV. 

 Beginnings.  It began in October 1975, started by Lorne Michaels, who had much more hair back then.  He’s still prominent on screen.

 70s. This is considered the “classic” era, though to me the sketches are not that much funnier than 80s and 90s era SNL, to the point where these should be considered special.  The highlights, of course, are Ackroyd & Curtin’s “Coneheads” and their bickering back and forth on Weekend Update, plus the various “samurai” sketches with John Belushi as shouting “MAMA SAN!” and attacking something with a samurai sword.  Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Lorraine Newman, Garrett Morris (token black!), Steve Martin (common guest) are the classic cast members.

 80s.  This era includes Jim Belushi, Rich Hall, Joe Piscopo, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Brad Hall, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Billy Crystal, and Martin Short.  This era gets forgotten, but it’s no worse than the 70s or 90s era which get more attention.  Most of the alumni of this era went on to bigger and better things, most notably Eddie Murphy (who was great as “Velvet Jones” and “Buckwheat”) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, better known as “Elaine” from “Seinfeld”.  Harry Shearer is a regular voice on “The Simpsons”, and teams up with Guest and McKean for Spinal Tap and various Guest movies.  I liked the “Run, Jump, and Throw Like A Girl Olympics”, Martin Short’s Ed Grimley sketches (brought over almost verbatim from SCTV), and Billy Crystal’s “Fernando’s Hideaway” (“you look MAH-velous!”).  Piscopo did a great Frank Sinatra impression.  

 90s.  This era’s better cast members were Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Jan Hooks, Victoria Jackson, Dennis Miller, Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, Chris Rock, Tim Meadows.  Oddly, this is now considered quasi-classic, thanks to “Wayne’s World”, which was not only well done as sketches, but successfully translated into a full-length movie.  Dana Carvey’s “Church Chat” was quality, the obvious “Wayne’s World” sketches (Wayne: “No way!” Joe Perry: “Way!”), Dennis Miller’s Weekend Update, and Hartman’s great impressions of Reagan and Clinton – and Sinatra (to Jan Hooks, as Sinead O’Connor: “what’s with the bald chick?”).  I was disappointed that they cut the Reagan Iran-Contra sketch short on the Best of Phil Hartman compilation.

 00s.  Darrell Hammond (actually been on since 1995), Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Cheri Oteri, Jimmy Fallon, and Tracy Morgan are the best known cast members of this era.  Here I felt the quality began slipping considerably – particularly Ferrell’s inane recurring cheerleader sketches with Cheri Oteri.  Too many sketches had me wondering, “is THAT the punch line?” with only the opening sketch, ending in “live from New York, it’s SATURDAY NIGHT!” being any good.  One of the better ingredients of latter-day SNL is the TV Funhouse, with the “Ex-Presidents” and “Ambiguously Gay Duo”. 

 Musical Guests.  I really can’t stand 95% of these, as they’re usually some mainstream pop band who don’t offend anyone.  My favorite was Faith No More, who played in December 1990.

 Style.  It wasn’t slapstick; it wasn’t dry; it wasn’t nearly as oddball as Monty Python; it wasn’t risqué.  Really, SNL humor is middle of the road, marginally controversial, standard issue American humor.  It’s nowhere near as clever as “The Simpsons”; nowhere near as controversial as “South Park” or “The Family Guy”; and only sometimes, not consistently, laugh out loud funny.  Because it’s on network TV it has to go by the NBC censors, so even live the language wasn’t particularly obnoxious.  One element I found was consistently the funniest was the political humor, and the fake commercials.  

 Recurring characters.  As mentioned earlier, Belushi’s Samurai; Bill Murray’s lounge singer (who I hated); Billy Crystal’s Fernando; Eddie Murphy’s Buckwheat – and foul-mouthed Gumby; the Coneheads (top quality); Wayne & Garth; the Church Lady; Chris Rock’s Nat X (zzz); Julia Sweeney’s androgynous Pat; Rob Schneider’s Richmeister “making COPIES”; Martin Short’s Ed Grimley (“…you know!”).  The list goes on…

 Unscheduled cameos.  This was probably the best: when the person being parodied would suddenly arrive on set.  Janet Reno showed up during Will Ferrell’s “Janet Reno’s Party Machine”; Steve Martin crashed David Spade’s Hollywood Minute (which dismissed him as a “has-been”); John McLaughlin crashed Dana Carvey’s Halloween version of The McLaughlin Group (“WRONG!”); Bob Dole challenged Norm McDonald that “Bob Dole does NOT speak in the third person!”  Also quality were Paul Simon (singer) and Paul Simon (senator) showing up at the same time.

 Great Political Parody. Darrell Hammond nailed not only Bill Clinton, but also Al Gore.  Phil Hartman did a good Clinton, but his Reagan was stunning.  I never cared for Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, as there was zero resemblance.  Dan Ackroyd was great as Jimmy Carter (“you’ve got the brown acid.  Do you have any Allman Brothers?”) and Bob Dole (“PIERRE DuPont!”).  Dana Carvey killed as Ross Perot and George Bush Sr.  Ferrell, of course, nailed George W. Bush.  More recently, Fred Armison (sic) does a passable Barack Obama, and Amy Poehler captures Hillary Clinton’s acid cynicism (though she’s better as Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas).  Debates are always well done, and even quasi-political characters are nailed down (Darrell Hammond as Tim Russert, asking McCain if he’ll run in 2004 if Bush “forgets to run”).

 SNL is best condensed into “Best of” the top actors, but unfortunately there is no “Best of Darrell Hammond”, which is a shame, as he’s competitive with Will Ferrell and others who do have their own.