SNL and Julia Louis-Dreyfus Revive Elaine Benes for the Democratic Debates
You can’t have Julia Louis-Dreyfus host SNL without at least some reference to her Seinfeld past — especially when you bring Larry David back to reprise his role as presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. In this week’s debate-themed cold open, Sanders and Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton indulge in their usual caricature shenanigans and cartoonish sparring, this time with cameos from a couple of beloved sitcoms of NBC’s past.
It’s not often that the guest host appears in the cold open, but when you’ve got the creator of Seinfeld on stage, it’s hard to resist the temptation of finding some way to get Louis-Dreyfus to reprise her role as Elaine Benes. A real testament to her acting talents, Louis-Dreyfus effortlessly returns to the character that made her a household name and related to women with poor dancing skills everywhere.
But Louis-Dreyfus isn’t the only star of a classic NBC sitcom who makes an appearance — sort of. Vanessa Bayer reprises her hilarious take on Jennifer Aniston-as-Rachel Green from Friends, which she debuted not long ago on Weekend Update. Though the cold open itself runs a little too long, it really helps make Louis-Dreyfus’ cameo all the more surprising.