SNL’s ‘Bern Your Enthusiasm’ Gives Bernie Sanders the Larry David Treatment
If you're going to have the great Larry David host a full episode of SNL, there are two obvious areas of parody. First, you simply have to give him more to do as Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, whose unlikely showing in the recent Democratic presidential primaries have made David a regular guest star this season. Second, you need to riff on Curb Your Enthusiasm, his (possibly) late, great HBO sitcom that redefined cringe comedy. And in this case, SNL found a a way to combine the two.
Welcome to Bern Your Enthusiasm, a show that looks like Curb Your Enthusiasm, sounds like Curb Your Enthusiasm, and feels like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but features Bernie Sanders in the central role. And this version of Sanders is very much like David: selfish, neurotic, brutally honest, and capable of offending strangers and angering his friends without exerting much effort at all. The sketch should prove funny to anyone who enjoys watching Larry David do his thing, but it's especially funny if you've seen Curb Your Enthusiasm and can appreciate how accurately it captures the rhythm of that show.
Is it weird that now we want HBO to actually make this into an actual series? After all, if one Seinfeld alumni can star in a political comedy with Veep, then why not go for a second?