clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
Will you help keep Vox free? Vox's journalism is free, so that everyone can understand our world. Reader support helps us do that. Will you give today?

Filed under:

Norm Macdonald explains why Eddie Murphy didn't appear in SNL 40's Celebrity Jeopardy sketch

By Emily St. James
Emily St. James was a senior correspondent for Vox, covering American identities. Before she joined Vox in 2014, she was the first TV editor of the A.V. Club.

Norm Macdonald, who starred on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1998, returned to help out with the writing of the SNL 40 special that aired February 15, 2015.

Here are some of the highlights of his story, which ran for over 100 tweets. The "Higgins" of the story is Saturday Night Live writer Steve Higgins, while the "Lori Jo" is Lori Jo Hoekstra, a producer who has worked with Macdonald on SNL and several of his projects since leaving the show. When he refers to asking Martin Short for permission to "steal" Celebrity Jeopardy, he means that Short was a cast member on the influential sketch comedy show SCTV, where the idea originated (as Macdonald explains).

The story involves Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, and what sounds like an absolutely insane writing process. Read the unabridged version at Macdonald's Twitter feed, and check out the final skit here.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Next Up In Culture

The Latest

The Supreme Court seeks a middle path between following the law and blowing up the government

By Ian Millhiser

Nikki Haley’s “rise” and the Republican flight from reality

By Zack Beauchamp

What Matt Rife’s baffling Netflix special tells us about comedy

By Aja Romano

US life expectancy no longer catastrophic, now merely bad

By Keren Landman
Play

Why cheating is allowed on game shows

By Phil Edwards

Alex Murdaugh stands guilty of killing his wife and son. That’s just scratching the surface.

By Aja Romano