Groundhog Day

"Groundhog Day" (1993)

The character: Phil Connors

What about him: A cynical TV weatherman who becomes stuck in time, destined to live the same day over and over again. Punxsutawney Phil becomes Beckett's Godot.

Murray moment: "This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing ... moretheir butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Well, it used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to eat it. You're hypocrites, all of you!"

Analysis: "Groundhog Day" is another conceptual showcase for the kind of improvisational comedy that Murray and director Harold Ramis were trained for at Second City. Here, the premise itself resembles an improv sketch exercise, as Murray gets to restart each day from scratch, working different comic riffs on the same basic structure.

(Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection)