Eddie Murphy 1982. Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982, Christmas episode of "Saturday Night Live", but became too ill to host, so Murphy took over. He became the only cast member to host while still a regular. Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The following year, Murphy starred in "Trading Places" with fellow "SNL" alumnus Dan Aykroyd. The movie marked the first of Murphy's collaborations with director John Landis (who also directed Murphy in "Coming to America" and "Beverly Hills Cop III") and proved to be an even greater
Trading Places further commented on the cast by favorably commenting on acting as "engaging", stating that "Murphy and Aykroyd are perfect foils for each other", that they're both capable of being "specifically eccentric", that "they both play characters with a lot of native intelligence" and concluding that "It's fun to watch them thinking." Commenting on Bellamy and Ameche in the roles of the Duke brothers, Ebert called their involvement in the film "a masterstroke of casting." Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" repeated some of Roger Ebert's sentiments stating that "Preston Sturges might have made a movie like "Trading Places" -