'SNL' star Michael Che recalls most 'scary' episode with legendary host

Michael Che is revealing the most tense stint he did on Saturday Night Live in his 11 years being on the show.

Che was super nervous when SNL legend Eddie Murphy returned to host the show after boycotting it for 35 years.

"The Eddie Murphy show was the most tense start to a show I've ever been a part of," Che reveals in Netflix's Being Eddie documentary. "It was like scary almost, like this had to go well and we would be letting down Eddie Murphy if it was bad."

Murphy borke out as a comedian through his SNL role and carried the show from 1980 to 1984. He split with it when David Spade poked fun at his movie Vampire in Brooklyn’s failure at the box office by calling Murphy a "shooting star."

When the beloved comedian returned to host the Dec. 21, 2019, show, the pressure was on. But the comedian wasn’t into doing a monlogue, which all hosts traditionally do.

So SNL boss Lorne Michaels had the idea to bring back former cast members Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan and frequent host Dave Chappelle, all of whom took heavy inspiration from Murphy in their own comedy careers. 

Current SNL star Kenan Thompson also joined them on stage for the opening, which became a historic moment for the show.

"Seeing Eddie Murphy in Studio 8H, it's like I can't explain," Chappelle remarked in Being Eddie. "It's like being on safari and seeing a lion in the wild."

Chappelle was also heard gushing about it in behind-the-scenes footage from a rehearsal of the monologue, saying, "This is one of the most exciting things I think I've ever done. Honestly."

Che also noted how over the moon the comedians were to join Murphy in his return to SNL.

"There was a moment in the rehearsal, my dressing room had Chappelle and Chris Rock, they were calling their moms to tell them that they was doing the Eddie Murphy show," Che recalled. "In my dressing room I'm watching them kind of geek out."

"It was one of the greatest SNLs ever," Rock said in the film. "And I walked over to Lorne Michaels when it was over, and I said, 'You should quit right now. It's not gonna get any better than this.'"