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Saturday Night Live - The Best of Eddie Murphy

Saturday Night Live - The Best of Eddie Murphy

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Comedy At Its Best
Review: After 5 years of classic comedy, "Saturday Night Live" entered a cold streak in 1980. Heavyhitters like John Belushi and Gilda Radner were replacd with Gail Matthius and Charles Rocket, and Jean Domanian (and later Dick Ebersol) replaced the show's guiding force, exceutive porducer Lorne Michaels. The results: bad reviews and the show's worst ratings. The show needed someone to revive the show's magic. Someone who could elicit guffaws in even the worst sketch. They found that in 19 - year old comedian Eddie Murphy.

Murphy's best moments in his 3 - year stint on the show are all on this 28 - sketch set. Whether you enjoy "Buckwheat", "Gumby", or "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood", there'll never be a more comprehensive Eddie Murphy/"SNL" retrospectie. Also, a lot of less popular sketches are here. "Buckwheat Shot" and "Buckwheat Dead" (one of the few 2- part "SNL" skecthes) is among the show's greatest staircal news parodies. Eddie does the Little Rascal flawlessly, while Joe Piscopo does a dead - on Ted Koppell. (Piscopo is actually in most of the sketches, probably because he brough out the best in Murphy). Also, a variety pf his classxci impressions are here: Desmond Tutu, James Brown, Stevie Wonder (the real wonder pops up in the final sketch), Jesse Jackson and others. I wish they'd included his Michael Jackson impression, though. Another plus: Eddie's hilarious Little Richard Simmons, a sidesplitting amalgam of Little Richard and Richard Simmons that most likely inspired Dana Carvey's Carsenio. And the classic short film "White Like Me" is here. The makeup artists did a great job of making Eddie look white.

This dvd is also special because it's Eddie's cleanest material aside from "Shrek" and "Doctor Dolittle". Aside from a few curses, everything here is tame compared to his movies and standup routines. I suggest this dvd for all comedy fans. Also, get the other "SNL" dvs.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but could be better
Review: Although this video contains most of the good stuff, and eliminates some of the bad(most notably the jazz musician skit)
that was included in the original release, conspicuous in its absence is the Prose and Cons bit, featuring Murphy as inmate Tyrone Green, and his masterpiece C-I-L-L My Landlord. Buck wheat, James Brown, and Mr. Robinson are all accounted for, and Gumby is a new addition to this collection. The lesser known skits are quite hilarious, particularly White like me, The Tooth Fairy, and Murphy as Michael Jackson describing his sexual prowess with women, a skit which features an excellent Liberace impression by SCTV's Dave Thomas. Overall, an hysterical video which stands shoulder to shoulder with the other SNL vids.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: EDDIE!!!
Review: Eddie Murphy is one of the best comedians of all time. i give this dvd, no doubt, 5 of 5 stars

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great DVD
Review: Eddie Murphy joined the cast when hey needed him most. The original cast had left, and the new cast wasn't drawing much laughs. So they hired 19 - year - old Eddie, and voila, the show was saved. Murphy spent three seasons on the show and performed as a variety of different characters.

The opening sketch, "Buckwheat Sings", has Murphy as Buckwheat, and he captures him perfectly. It's funny to hear him sing "Three Times A Lady" and "Bette Davis Eyes" in his own language. Buckwheat also appears in anaother skit with the Duwpemes, and Murphy does a rather messed - up version of "Reach Out And Somebody's Hand".

This is not all the classic sketches. Velvet Jones, the author of several different sexual novels is shown in 3 very funny sketches. His potrayal of Clarence, the lost fifth Beatle, had me in stitches. And who can forget "White Like Me", the famed film in which Eddie Murphy goes undercover as a white man.

There are other great sketches as well. Mr. Robinson, Gumbi, and a host of others. It's also very appropiate with the exception of the explicit Velvet Jones sketches, which a choice word beginning with "h" more than once. Still, excellent.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greatest videos ever!!!!!!!
Review: Eddie Murphy truly shines in this collection of SNL sketches. Move over Jackie Gleason, I think this video deserves the title The Great One. One highlight to look forward to is Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood. Eddie is hilarious as an adult version of Mr. Rogers, and the sketch features a cameo by Mr. T. Another classic is James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party, although it s actually quite short. A gem that is not as famous is a sketch called Rock and Roll And Then Some, with Joe Piscopo as host. Eddie plays his guest who claims to be the 5th Beatle. It really is a hilarious sketch. They even poke fun at the "Paul's Dead" hoax, which is a great part of the sketch. Opie's Back is also a hilarious sketch, and I think the rest of it should have been included. Finally, there is the legendary White Like Me sketch, where Murphy becomes a white man and finds that whites and blacks are still different. So overall, this is a very good video.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clean Eddie Murphy
Review: From 1980 to 1984,Eddie Murphy portrayed real celebrities on NBC's Saturday Night Live such as Stevie Wonder and Bill Cosby. I remember one sketch where Stevie teamed up with Frank Sinatra(Joe Piscopo). Murphy's tenure was exactly the same as Piscopo's. Murphy's Gumby sketches are cool also. Murphy's fame and popularity on SNL brought him to Hollywood like his predecessors Dan Aykroyd,Bill Murray,Chevy Chase and the late John Belushi. While on SNL,Murphy filmed the Paramount movies BEST DEFENSE with the late Dudley Moore and TRADING PLACES with Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis. After 20 years since leaving SNL,Murphy remains strong in Hollywood.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Eddie WAS Saturday Night Live!
Review: Hands down, one of the funniest of the SNL alumni(if not THE funniest!), and this collection shows us why. His impressons of Stevie Wonder, Ali,Jesse Jackson and James Brown had me in hysterics! I first saw this video when i was 13, and 9 years later I'm still laughing! It's up there with "Raw" and "Delirious", minus the F-word. Definitely a must have for anyone who enjoys a good laugh or two...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Total Ripoff
Review: I agree that this was a total rip off. One would assume that a DVD version of a show would have all the same contents as the VHS version if not more. I was shocked to find out about the missing episodes. Unfortunately I didn't read the reviews before purchasing it so tough luck on my part.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone - get the VHS version if you can.

While we're on the topic of comedy shows. Does wnyone know if Roman Atkinson live will ever be out on dvd?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I Agree, The 1989 VHS Was Better!!
Review: I bought this DVD hoping it would be the same as the 1989 VHS released by Paramount that was produced by Eddie Murphy Television in association with NBC Productions. I was so disappointed in the DVD, but I did see one skit that made it worthwhile. It is chapter 25, which is about the man who killed Buckwheat, John David Stutts. I had never seen this before as it was not on the 1989 VHS release. It cracked me up!!

I would also like to add a few skits from the 1989 VHS that were not included on the DVD but should have been:

1 - "Guy Talk", with Eddie Murphy as Michael Jackson & Dave Thomas as Liberace talking about "guy stuff".

2 - "Rock & Roll (And Then Some"), with Eddie Murphy as the sax player kicked out of the Beatles by Paul & John. This is the skit in its entirety. It is on the DVD, but it is edited and different music is used. It appears they could not (or did not try to) get clearance to use the Beatles music.

3 - "James Brown Is Annie", with Eddie Murphy as James Brown as Little Orphan Annie singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" complete with a horn section and backup singers.

Granted, if you have never seen the 1989 VHS there are a few funny skits on the DVD and you will be satisfied with it. But for those of us who have something to compare it to, hopefully Eddie Murphy Television will release a "Best of Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live" DVD with everything!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: RIPPED OFF!
Review: I gave this DVD 4 stars the first time it was released and 1 star the second time. I bought it the first time it was released. When I saw the different cover and the words "bonus editon", I assummed it contained the missing episodes fans were requesting that weren't on the first DVD. Wrong. There were too many great episodes missing: "Guy Talk" with Michael Jackson, "Ronald Reagon is My Father", "Cotton Land", "Tyrone & His Reggae Band" and more. Thank goodness I rented this one first, but I still feel cheated. What do fans have to do to get what they want?


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