We all know about Larry David’s success with Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, but fewer know about his one-season stint as a writer on Saturday Night Live. He returns tonight to redeem himself — and make us all feel the Bern.
The surge of Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid has thrust the Curb star into the SNL political spotlight. David and Sanders have an uncanny resemblance and David’s portrayal of his doppelgänger was the greatest impression going of Sanders' crazy-grandpa mannerisms, taken to the extreme.
On Saturday night, Sanders took a break from New Hampshire to pop in for a cameo and British indie rock group The 1975 made its SNL debut as musical guest. The pieces were in place for an interesting evening live from New York, even if David had been telling viewers, “You don’t have to watch,” in the promos.
So here are three sketches worth getting enthusiastic about:
1. Political Fashion with Derek Zoolander and Hansel: Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson glammed up the Weekend Update desk as their male model alter egos. They reviewed the fashion of the presidential candidates with the coldness of Blue Steel: “Hillary’s from the '90s — which are so hot right now!” and "Donnie" Trump’s signature looks, including “Orange Mocha Crapaccino” and “Hot Mess." Derek and Hansel mistake Ted Cruz for Tom Cruise. "He's really let himself go," Zoolander says. "This is a real Mission: Impossible for a stylist."
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2. Bern Your Enthusiasm: The David/Sanders personalities merge in this super-meta parody of Curb Your Enthusiasm. “Bern Your Enthusiasm” comes complete with parody versions of the original Curb cast. David plays Sanders channeling David on the day of the Iowa caucus. First, a germ-phobic Sanders refuses to shake the hand of a constituent who coughed in her hand and then wanted to shake his. (“A cough and shake — no wipe!) Then, he storms out for coffee and won’t help a voter pop her dislocated shoulder back into place. Bernie loses in Iowa by a margin that is just those five people, closing the storyline in a traditional down-and-out Curb way.
3. Bernie Sanders Himself: Bernie and Larry are certainly not the first of SNL's political duos to meet face-to-face — Fey and Palin famously appeared together; and Hillary Clinton appeared with Kate McKinnon and Amy Poehler earlier this season. The real Bernie Sanders popped up first on a sketch where David plays an obnoxious rich person trying to force his way into a Titanic-style lifeboat. Sanders is Bernie Sanderswitsky (“We’re going to change it to sound less Jewish.”) fighting against the privilege of the 1%. Then, he shows up again in David’s intro to musical guest The 1975. “How are things going in New Hampshire?” David asks. “Pretty, pretty, pretty good,” Sanders replies, barely containing a laugh as he delivers David’s signature line. Squint and you can hardly tell them apart.
Extra Credit: Jon Rudnitsky donned a Patrick Swayze wig for a full-on fake audition for the rumored Dirty Dancing live revival. Things got super dark, super fast, but points for a making a mime segment to "Time Of My Life" on Weekend Update work.