As Saturday Night Live’s historic S50 continues (along with the developing Morgan Wallen x SNL story), we’ve learned much about the series’ history. Many of the alumni, along with some of SNL's greatest stars, have recounted a range of anecdotes, including Bill Murray. The veteran comedian shared the specific skit that he thought helped his take-off. The revealing but humorous bit included castmate Gilda Radner, the evening’s host, Buck Henry, and himself.
Ahead of the release of Murray’s second 2025 movie schedule titled The Friend, he and his co-star Naomi Watts were guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. During the regular After Show interview on YouTube from the Bravo series, Cohen asked the Studio 8H alum if there was a sketch he knew would help elevate his name. The funnyman jumped right in with an answer, noting it was a scene involving himself with a shower microphone and the aforementioned duo above. The trio played on a classic troublesome marital bit but turned casually on its head, he recalled:
I did a shower mic scene with Gilda and with Buck Henry, where I played a guy with a shower microphone. You ever see those soap shower mics? Well, I had a shower mic, and I was singing with the shower mic, ‘I want to bring in my wife!’ And it’s Gilda, you know, and I’m doing this thing, and then [I say,] ‘She’s cheating on me with this guy right here.’ And then I bring in Buck Henry. So there’s the three of us in the shower, I’m doing this thing with them. It worked. It worked very, very well. It was very, very powerfully funny. And it was like, ‘Ooh.’ It was that good, it was really good.
The gag sounds like an amusing time (and is available to stream with a Peacock subscription), especially in the earlier days of the iconic late-night series. I can only imagine watching these two goofballs with the guy who adapted The Graduate for the big screen live. The sketch he remembered does have a great premise, and I’m sure audiences of the time locked in to the matter once they realized what was going on. And, regardless if it was the spark, both of those Not Ready For Prime Time Players have become unmistakable names in the comedy world.
The Ghostbusters actor officially joined the sophomore season (after being cut from Season 1 due to budget cuts) and stayed until 1980. As we all know, his career exploded, and he became one of the biggest stars during the thick of his popularity. But along the way, we saw some different sides of the A-Lister, including some scandals on various sets and with a few peers. Murray has been intentionally moving to make amends with the beefs, but in the meantime, showed up for the big SNL reunion show, which was a pretty emotional and nostalgic experience for him.
Still, it’s nice to know that the Groundhog Day star recognizes that his work on Saturday Night Live was instrumental to advancing his career. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone, specifically fans of the show like me, that the sketch he cited involved Radner, though.
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