海角大神

The newest episode of NBC鈥檚 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� was already an anticipated one due to former cast member Tracy Morgan, who was injured in an accident in 2014, being set to host. But another guest soon had 鈥淪NL鈥� fans and political pundits talking.

Larry David, co-creator of the NBC sitcom 鈥淪einfeld鈥� and star of HBO鈥檚 鈥淐urb Your Enthusiasm鈥� (and former 鈥淪NL鈥� writer), portrayed聽Senator聽Bernie Sanders (I) of Vermont during an episode segment about the Democratic presidential nominees debate. Mr. David鈥檚 comments as Sen. Sanders ranged from a plan for college affordability (鈥淵ou just make the bankers pay for college for everyone鈥�) to geese (when cast member Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton told viewers Sanders was simply offering a 鈥済olden goose,鈥� David responded that he thinks he can track geese down, saying, 鈥淭hey congregate near ponds. It鈥檚 not rocket science鈥�).聽

For many, the imitation calls to mind former 鈥淪NL鈥� cast member Tina Fey鈥檚 famous portrayal of vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin during the 2008 election. As with Ms. Fey, those behind 鈥淪NL鈥� looked to a former 鈥淪NL鈥� collaborator for the imitation.

How critical was David鈥檚 imitation of Sanders? His lines in the sketch poked fun mostly at his everyman image, with David saying, 鈥淚 don't have a Super PAC. I don't even have a backpack. I carry my stuff around loose in my arms.鈥� By contrast, Fey seemed to have experienced enough people saying she had been too critical of Palin that she addressed it in her memoir "Bossypants," writing, 鈥淭here was an assumption that I was personally attacking Sarah Palin by impersonating her on TV. No one ever said it was 'mean' when Chevy Chase played Gerald Ford falling down all the time. No one ever accused Dana Carvey or Darrell Hammond or Dan Aykroyd of 'going too far' in their political impressions. You see what I'm getting at here. I am not mean and Mrs. Palin is not fragile. To imply otherwise is a disservice to us both.鈥澛�

Sanders' reaction was far removed from Palin's to Fey's imitation 鈥� Sanders soon after, "I think we're going to put [David] up on the stage at our next rally... He does it better than I do."

Fey鈥檚 imitation led to big success for the program, with the 鈥淪NL鈥� episode in which Fey and Palin both appeared leading to the best ratings for 鈥淪NL鈥� in more than a decade.

If David returns as Sanders, it may recapture some of the success 鈥淪NL鈥� experienced during the 2008 election season. The episodes of the NBC comedy program during the 2012 election had a lot to live up to and so the season, in which Jay Pharaoh portrayed President Obama, Taran Killam portrayed vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, and Jason Sudeikis portrayed Mitt Romney, did not experience anything close to the ratings success of the 2008 episodes.聽

In addition, Palin鈥檚 status as vice-presidential candidate had already been announced when Fey debuted her impression. At this point, Sanders is still trailing in the polls to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. David鈥檚 Sanders imitation may not have the longevity of Fey鈥檚 if Sanders is no longer at the forefront of the national conversation.