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 top ten grossing films for 17 weeks. It went on to earn $90.4 million during its U.S. theatrical run, making it the 4th highest-grossing film of 1983, behind "Flashdance" ($92.9 million), "Terms of Endearment" ($108.4 million) and "Return of the Jedi" ($252.5 million), and the second highest grossing R-rated film of 1983, behind "Flashdance". Adjusted for inflation, the film remains the number 58 highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. "Trading Places" was met with positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 86%, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of