Bill Murray gave the 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' writers a pep talk to raise morale

Speaking on 'The Drew Barrymore Show', Bill said: "Well, they were having a meeting and I just sort of walked into the meeting, you know.

"It's [producer] Lorne [Michaels'] meeting, and he's sitting there; his feet on his desk, and there were all the writers sitting in the room and it was grim. It was very grim. It just felt very heavy."

The 'Ghostbusters' star was "really excited" for the special, having seen some of the preparations, and he wanted everyone to realise "how beautiful" the programme would be.

He said: "I just tried to share with them how beautiful it was going to be, you know? What a wonderful responsibility it was going to be how many people were going to watch it and love it and that I thought it was destined to be extraordinary success."

Bill said 'Saturday Night Live' star Tina Fey "really enjoyed" his pep talk, which the 54-year-old actress previously described as "lovely".

He continued: "But Tina really enjoyed that and I guess other writers, too. It seemed like they just needed a little kick, a little boost."

The 'Groundhog Day' actor emphasised he "wasn't acting" during his pep talk, and added the writers "certainly delivered" on the show.

While host Drew Barrymore hailed Bill as "a legend at 'SNL'", the 'Charlie's Angels' star stayed humble and insisted the series has harboured plenty of talented performers during its five-decade tenure.

He said: "There were great people that keep coming through. It's been a never-failing spring of talent that has come through that show.

"Any week there could be a spectacular sketch written on that show. They have real talent and they have really good writers. There are stuff that amazes me that they write nowadays."