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SNL 40 was massive, a three-hour show with famous SNL greats in every seat in the house. But the good stuff is always what happens off camera, no? The sketches that got axed, the hand-wringing, the reunion gossip. Instead of waiting a few years and pulling together a snoozy documentary of what really happened leading up to the Sunday night broadcast, Norm Macdonald went ahead and revealed all on his Twitter feed Wednesday night. That's right, Macdonald, who spent four years as a face of Weekend Update on SNL before getting the boot in 1997 ("they said I wasn't funny") only to return as a host in 1999, just went ahead and put it out there, 140 brutally honest characters at a time.
The biggest reveal of all? He and the writers tried desperately to get Eddie Murphy to play Bill Cosby during the 'Jeopardy' segment.

"Among many other things, this show was to be the return of Eddie Murphy. Eddie, the man who, in Lorne's absence, kept the show alive. Singlehandedly," he tweeted. "To every comedian who ever performed on SNL, what Eddie accomplished was unthinkable. Every Saturday Night at 11:30 Eddie Murphy, a kid, would fill 90 minutes with comedy. Impossible. The last anniversary was the 25th. Eddie did not attend due to a remark by David Spade. David is a very kind man, but his remark was not. So Eddie never came back. Until last week."

Here's what they pitched:

A video daily double. The category would be Potent Potables, a common one on Jeopardy, but one we somehow had never done. And the idea was that it would be a bar set. And the idea was that Cosby would be mixing a drink in a video that was taped 6 months ago. It was perfect. It was all Steve Higgins idea. At the end of the sketch, Darrel would choose potent potables. Homebase would be dressed as a bar. The iconic doors would open and on to home base would step Eddie Murphy. The audience would know what to do. Why is Eddie wearing a multi-colored sweater? He steps behind the bar, begins mixing a drink. The audience covers the fact he has not spoken. When he speaks, he is Cosby. Eddie Murphy doing a perfect Cosby impression. The audience does not let him finish. The sketch ends. The show, for all intents, ends. All the impressions are forgiven.

They tried everything – even Brett Ratner.

The first thing to do is cut down the number of contestant/impressions and the second is to contact Eddie and to convince him to do it. The middle man to talk to Eddie was Brett Ratner, a cool guy who knows a great deal about comedy. He was with Eddie somewhere. So, the talks were underway. "Brett says Eddie doesn't feel comfortable", "Eddie says 'maybe it's ok since he's doing pre-allegation Cosby." And on and on it went. I had not spoken to Eddie or Brett Ratner. I was dead sure Eddie would do it. Most others were not. Still, there was so much work to do.

Cut to a scene in Eddie's dressing room. Go, Macdonald:

It's my job to talk him in to doing Jeopardy. We talk in his dressing room a good hour. When it's over, I'm convinced he'll do it. He doesn't. He knew the laughs would bring the house down. Eddie Murphy knows what will work on SNL better than any one. Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down. Eddie Murphy, I realize, is not like the rest of us. Eddie does not need the laughs. Eddie Murphy is the coolest, a rockstar even in a room with actual rockstars. Quite a week.

Source: usatoday.com

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