Larry David Had an ‘Okay’ Time When He Hosted an Almost Censored ‘SNL'

Saturday Night Live has been running for 50 years. That’s five decades of trying to find different hosts to visit the hallowed, cocaine-encrusted halls of 30 Rock. Celebrities from all walks of fame are courted for the gig. Plenty of people have returned to host multiple times. But sometimes, the most fun can be when a former member of the show returns to get their shot at hosting. There can be an air of nostalgia and love. They may go through the former member’s greatest hits. Or, in the case of Larry David, they’ll try to censor his monologue thirty minutes before the show’s supposed to start.

David was a writer for the show from 1984 to 1985. Not the longest tenure, to say the least. He also didn’t get off to a strong start there, only getting one sketch to air. Also, I’m shocked to inform you that Larry David is not the most sentimental individual. Strange, I know. So, right off the bat, it’s easy to assume that he would not get very sentimental about returning to the show, as he recently revealed to David Spade and Dana Carvey on their Fly On The Wall podcast that his return to host the show was not what he desired.

“It was okay,” he said of hosting the show. “They invited me to do it again (in 2017).” That sounds like a Larry David level of enthusiasm if you ask me! He didn’t stop there either. The co-creator of Seinfeld began his career as a stand-up comedian and was nervous about working out that muscle again. He explained that “the hardest part was having to prepare a monologue. Because I hadn’t been on (stage doing comedy) in a long time. So I had to write a monologue and then do it in different clubs.” That’s fair! And it makes sense that he worked hard to get the monologue right. It makes even more sense that he would get mad that someone messed with it.

SNL is no stranger to censors, even if Bowen Yang thinks that should change (and I agree, Bowen). Despite being on Saturdays, close to midnight, the show follows many of the same standards as a sitcom airing at 8 PM on a Wednesday. It’s silly, and almost affected David’s monologue. “A half hour before the show, at 11 o’clock, I was called up to Lorne’s office and the censor was there. And the censor said that I couldn’t do this bit,” Larry David explained, causing David Spade to chime in saying, “At 11? F*** off.” Agreed, Spade!

Larry explained that the censor had issues with “two bits” from his monologue. Unsurprisingly, he was not okay with that. “I said, ‘I can’t. I have to do it.’ I go, ‘What? Why is it offensive? I don’t get it. Who’s gonna be offended by this?’” I respect the hell out of David for holding strong, and I’m happy to say that Lorne Michaels had his back. “Lorne, after five minutes of this, said to the censor, ‘I don’t think you’re gonna win this one.’” And so it goes. While Lorne has been known to have particular tastes, he stood up for his former writer.

To be fair, David’s monologue didn’t get the best reception. It likely wouldn’t go over well now, either. So, maybe it wasn’t just almost being censored. Perhaps it was because his jokes didn’t go over well? Getting more mad that your holocaust and Harvey Weinstein jokes didn’t get laughs than the fact that they were almost censored, sounds like a Larry David problem.