After 50 years of celebrating cinema’s icons on broadcast network television or cable, the American Film Institute’s biggest award moved this year to Netflix to honor the one and only Eddie Murphy. The comedy superstar has been a big-screen fixture since his breakthrough debut in 1982’s 48 Hours. and several of his co-stars over the decades, as well as comedians influenced by him, showed up to toast him.

AFI LIFE ACHIEVMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO EDDIE MURPHY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

The Gist:  Mel Brooks, a past honoree of the American Film Institute, opens the special in a separate segment to argue for the importance of laughter onscreen and in real life, before pivoting to the man of this hour. “But tonight, beyond the echo of laughter, we honor a man full of greater surprises and one who broke barriers to drive culture forward,” he says of Murphy.

A long list of luminaries then pay tribute to Murphy, in between movie montages. The somehow omnipresent Kevin Hart shows up first to break down the origins of Murphy’s first, middle and last name. Tracy Morgan recalls just last year getting to play in an SNL50 sketch alongside Murphy, only Murphy was impersonating Morgan. Robert Townsend talks about the moment he showed Murphy the scene in Hollywood Shuffle where they poked fun at how show business viewed Murphy in the 1980s, and how Murphy responded by asking Townsend to direct his concert film, Raw.

Judge Reinhold tells a story about the first day he met Murphy on the set of Beverly Hills Cop. Arsenio Hall thanked Murphy for casting him several times over in Coming To America.

You may have heard the news that Dave Chappelle offered to revive Chappelle’s Show if Eddie Murphy agreed to play the parts made famous by his late brother, Charlie Murphy. Chappelle also remembered roasting Murphy in The Nutty Professor before realizing it was Murphy?!

The montages cover all the hits and then some: 48 HRS., Beverly Hills Cop, Coming To America, Harlem Nights, Vampire in Brooklyn, Boomerang, The Nutty Professor, Mulan , Shrek, Dreamgirls, Bowfinger, Dolemite Is My Name and more.

As Kenan Thompson tells Murphy early on in the ceremony: “We celebrate you tonight but truthfully we’ve been celebrating you for a long time, man.”

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What Comedy Special Will It Remind You Of? It’s a reminder of other recent celebrations for Murphy, from last year’s Being Eddie documentary on Netflix to the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony honoring him back in 2015.

Memorable Jokes: Things ramp up close to the hour mark once Mike Meyers shows up in Shrek makeup, followed by Jennifer Hudson singing with a full band.

Did you know that Martin Lawrence’s daughter married Murphy’s son? Sometimes comedy family becomes actual family, which is a long way from how it started.

Our Take: The best parts of this tribute come from Murphy himself, offering context in offstage interviews that demonstrate how some of his acting and comedic choices matter within the history of cinema. Almost like the kinds of things you want out of the American Film Institute!

Learning how John Landis gave Murphy the idea to break the fourth wall in Trading Places, and how Murphy cited Charlie Chaplin for doing it first, and how looking directly to camera established a deeper, quicker emotional connection with audiences. Hearing Murphy contrast Beverly Hills Cop‘s Axel Foley to how Sidney Poitier’s detective had to behave differently in the white society of In The Heat of The Night. Citing Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove for Murphy’s own love for hiding in disguises; and then realizing just how much effort and expertise it took Murphy to film all of the individual family members at the dinner table during The Nutty Professor. Or even hearing Murphy cite Robin Williams in Aladdin for changing the way everyone thought about animated voiceover roles, eventually leading to Murphy’s Donkey in Shrek. These are the lessons that remind us just how great Murphy was and is.

On the other hand, there are some wild choices in this ceremony. Eva Longoria shows up since she co-starred with Murphy in a Prime Video movie from last year. Mr. Church also gets more screen time than anyone might remember.

And there’s way too much time devoted to Murphy projects that weren’t films. It’s one thing for one of the presenters to recall Murphy’s stand-up, or Saturday Night Live, or even his hit single, “Party All The Time.” But this is not the place to dwell on those things. Even if it’s the only reason why Stevie Wonder showed up.

Perhaps the funniest unintentional choice in this event is seating Byron Allen directly behind Murphy, resulting in so much screen time for the guy behind Comics Unleashed.

But even when the ceremony might stray too far from the theme, Murphy always brings it back into focus. In his acceptance speech at the end, he riffs hilariously about the award itself and the occasion, and he has obviously done his homework. He knows how previous winners such as Mel Brooks or last year’s honoree, Francis Ford Coppola, were both 86, compared to Murphy, just 65 and still “looking like myself.”

“Sometimes they let you wait until you get real old to get this award,” he said. We’re all glad they didn’t make him wait that long.

Our Call: Whether you already know all of Murphy’s roles and quotes by heart, it’s still great to reminisce, even if this tribute reminds us all that he definitely should’ve won the Oscar for Dreamgirls. The Mark Twain Prize and the AFI Life Achievement Award will have to suffice for now. STREAM IT.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.