Despite actor Bill Murray's high exposure and national success on television's Saturday Night Live and as the semi-delusional greenskeeper in the golf classic Caddyshack (1980) the enduring gift he had bequeathed to popular culture by the 1990s rested in the image of his smug and arrogant weatherman who, inexplicably one February 2, wakes up in the town of Punxsutawney and finds himself having to relive the day over and over again, until he recognizes the folly of his ways. The transformation of weatherman Phil into a loving, caring human being takes place in Groundhog Day (1993), an inventive "feel-good" fantasy with a message that springs from the tradition of Frank Capra and captivated cinema-going audiences. In the film, Murray demonstrated that he could be equally effective as a Mr. Nasty or a Mr. Nice, and earned serious plaudits.

When the network executives of NBC's Saturday Night Live...