Larry David And Bernie Sanders On ‘SNL’ Is As Good As It Gets [Video]
From the archive: published Feb 7, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Larry David and Bernie Sanders made their way to Saturday Night Live last night (February 6) and it was quite the show.
While Larry David’s hosting of SNL – – where he previously worked as a writer — was announced in January, it was not known that Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont would appear until this weekend. Sanders, who is battling former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, has been campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of that state’s primary this week.
For anyone expecting Sanders to show up during the show’s cold opening or other sketches, NPR points out that it was all Larry David’s show , even when he was mocking the Democratic socialist from Vermont.
“But if you started watching SNL looking to #FeelTheBern, you might have had a moment of worry, at least at first. Sanders did not appear in the show’s cold open. He did not come on stage during Larry David’s monologue. He didn’t even appear in a pre-taped sketch all about him, called ‘Bern Your Enthusiasm,’ where David, playing Sanders, loses the Iowa caucuses by annoying just enough voters in the way only Larry David (or Bernie Sanders, or Larry David — we’re confused) can. It was smart, and with a cameo by a coughing, no-hand-wiping Leslie Jones, it touched on Sanders’ lingering inability to attract widespread support from black voters.”
Larry David finally appeared on screen with Sanders during a sketch that had both men on a boat in distress (video above), with the two fighting over lifeboats and why Larry David’s rich socialite character should get the last seat instead of Sanders, who is not a member of the one percent.
Mediaite said many fans of Sanders, David, and political sketches in general may have been caught off guard by the unusual bit.
“Fans hoping to see some sort of a role-reversal, with Sanders maybe impersonating David, or a sketch like the one where Hillary Clinton tended bar for her own SNL character, won’t be expecting the sketch that Sanders actually did show up in.”
Clinton’s most recent appearance on Saturday Night Live had the former New York senator facing her SNL character in a bar, addressing issues such as her being unlikable and disconnected from the realities voters face each day.
Slate also pointed out that Republican Donald Trump faced two of his SNL characters during his recent hosting gig, having both Donalds and their beautiful heads of hair join him on stage for his monologue. Larry David’s monologue was quite different with some off-color humor about women with eating disorders and being the master of his domain.
“[In] the past, there have been last-minute swings and election-day polling misfires of about that magnitude in the state,” Silver wrote. “By the same token, however, Rubio’s second-place position in the polls is not at all safe. Kasich and Cruz, both at 12 percent, and Bush, at 9 percent, could easily catch him.”
What do you think will happen in New Hampshire? Will Rubio get second place? Will Bush, Kasich, and Christie continue onto South Carolina? Tell us in the comments section below.