While any headlines about Larry David’s return to Saturday Night Live will justifiably focus on those cringe-worthy Holocaust jokes, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star’s return to SNL had some positive highlights. Most notably, David brought back his spot on impression of Sen. Bernie Sanders with plenty of references to the 2016 Presidential Election sprinkled in.
“[I’m] better than ever,” David quipped before addressing the disaster that was the 2016 election. “We’re gonna win this thing the Bernie way, which means if I lose, I’ll bring everyone else down with me.”
Shots fired. Naturally, David got some mileage out of Sanders’ unique take on the American economy. And given that the sketch dropped the Vermont Senator in a celebrity edition episode of The Price is Right—a game show dedicated to limitless American capitalism—the jokes flowed naturally.
“The real problem in this country is American consumerism,” the faux Sanders replied, when asked to bid on a washing machine. “Who needs a washer? When I need to wash the one suit I own, I just wait until it rains, I stand outside for 15 minutes, and then I jog behind a bus until the exhaust blows me dry.”
The sketch worked in several other pop culture references from Lil Wayne and Tilda Swinton to Ariana Grande and Tony Bennett. There was also an inside joke with musical guest Miley Cyrus joining in as contestant “Amanda.” Cyrus was paired up Alex Moffat impersonating Chris Hemsworth, whose brother Liam is engaged to Cyrus. You can catch Moffat’s character mix up his game shows and use the “phone a friend” feature from How to be a Millionaire to introduce Liam Hemsworth at the 4:30 mark above.
