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 in direct contrast to his own—often draws comparisons to Mark Twain's novel "The Prince and the Pauper". First published in 1881, the novel follows the lives of a prince and a beggar—both of them of adolescent age—who use their uncanny resemblance to each other as a premise to switch places temporarily; the prince takes on a life of poverty and misery while the pauper enjoys the lavish luxuries of a royal life. Parallels have also been drawn between "Trading Places" and Mozart's 18th century comic opera "The Marriage of Figaro" in which a servant (Figaro) foils the plans of his