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On Sunday, October 23, Bill Murray was honored with the Kennedy Center‘s 19th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Murray is the latest honoree, following in the footsteps of Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Carole Burnett and Tina Fey. The ceremony will finally debut on PBS on Friday, October 28. Read on for a preview of the show and to learn when it airs.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is an annual award the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. began in 1998, with Richard Pryor as its first honoree. Murray’s ceremony includes appearances from Emma Stone, Aziz Ansari, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Hader, Ivan Reitman and Sigourney Weaver. Even Miley Cyrus, who co-starred with Murray in Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, was there to pay tribute to Murray in song.
“As a previous recipient of the Mark Twain Prize, I’d like to say to you, ‘Welcome to the club,’ and to the Kennedy Center, ‘Really?'” Steve Martin said during the ceremony, notes USA Today. “I think you and I are about as close as two people can be, considering that one of them is you.”
Murray picked up his award at the end of the ceremony and paid tribute to his older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray. “My brother had more guts than anyone I ever knew, and the only reason I’m here tonight is because of the guts of my brother Brian. “He’s been waiting a long time to hear that,” Murray said, mentioning how his brother supported the family after their father died.
DATE: October 28, 2016.
TIME: 9 p.m. ET
CHANNEL: PBS (To find out what your local PBS station is, click here to go to PBS.org and click “Look up a new station.” Enter your zip code or state to search.)
SYNOPSIS: Bill Murray is honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at a gala featuring Dan Aykroyd, Aziz Ansari, Roy Blount Jr., Bill Hader, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Brian Doyle Murray, Paul Shaffer and Sigourney Weaver. From the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.