One of the few highlights of this generally dismal Presidential election cycle has been Curb Your Enthusiam's Larry David portraying Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live. The impression, which David has done several times (including once alongside the real Sanders), has been a popular and critical favorite.
In a new interview, SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels tells the story of how David-as-Sanders came to be. According to Michaels, the idea came up during the first debate between Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The SNL head honcho told The Wrap how it went down.
"In the first debate, I was at the host dinner, [and] a bunch of people from the writing staff were in my office watching the debate,” Michaels remembered. “While I was at dinner, a friend of mine emailed me and said, ‘Bernie Sanders is Larry David.' Then I came back to the office and I walked in, and Sarah Schneider — who is one of the writers — said, ‘Bernie Sanders is Larry David.'"
As if that wasn't encouragement enough, the idea soon received a boost from another source.
“About two minutes later, my phone rang. It was Ari Emmanuel, who is Larry’s agent, and he said, ‘Larry would like to play Bernie Sanders,'" Michaels continued.
From there, all it took was to get David to the SNL set in time for a quick rehearsal, and comedy history was made.
If you need some reminders of why David was such a perfect fit to play Sanders, watch the now-classic skits below.
