Bill Murray Insists ‘SNL’ Is Just As Funny As It Used To Be, Regardless Of What Fans Think

Comedian Bill Murray insists that the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live” is still funny, despite many viewers voicing their disagreement lately.

The “Ghostbusters” star, once a regular on the show, discussed his thoughts on a recent episode of Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast.

“People always give me a hard time about, ‘Oh, the original show was so great and it’s lousy now,’” Murray said, per Variety. “And I say, ‘No, it’s not.’ The show that’s on now, they do stuff that’s just as good as anybody ever did, all the time.”

The actor also said he would “certainly” come back to help celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary next year, the outlet noted.

“I told ‘em I’d like to host one this year. So maybe if I get organized,” said Murray. “I think I did it two other times when I was there. I’d like to try it one more time. It might be the last time to try it.”

The “What About Bob?” actor also revealed who he thought the best host of the show was. “There’s only one that stands above all others,” Murray said. “It was Ray Charles. [He] completely buries every other entertainer I’ve ever met or worked with or read about.”

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He went on, “Ray Charles knew all his lines cold. Ray Charles came in and played solo, he played with The Raelettes, he played with his scepter and he played with the ‘Saturday Night Live’ orchestra. And he may have played with his quintet as well. And he killed and murdered every single one of [his performances].”

“At the end of that show, they play that song and saxophones playing and you’re like ‘Hey man I had a great week,’” Murray said. “You’re up there on the stage and you’re waving at people—I did not want to stand on that stage. I had no business being on that stage with Ray Charles.”

The show debuted in 1975 and has helped launch the careers of dozens of comedians. During the lead-up to the 2024 election, “SNL” was criticized for making jokes about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

The show also scheduled Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for a last-minute appearance the weekend before the election, which backfired when NBC was forced to give Trump equal airtime after a Sunday night football game. 

Sunday Night Football regularly attracts more than 20 million viewers, while the ratings show that “SNL” recently attracted 5.6 million viewers for its season premiere.