Larry David's 'SNL' Past Didn't Make His Monologue

When Larry David hosted the February 6 episode of Saturday Night Live, it was a homecoming of sorts. He got his television start on SNL. He was a writer on the show for a year. And yet, in Larry David's SNL monologue, he only tangentially mentioned his previous tenure on the show. In fact, he didn't talk about his writing career at all. He only referenced his desire to be a performer. "I auditioned for this show many years ago, and I was terrible," he said. "Those were the days when I was a poor schmuck. Now I'm a rich prick."

Maybe he kept mum because the show wasn't so good to him back then. He was a writer on SNL from 1984 to 1985. During that time, David only managed to get one sketch on the air. It's from the December 1, 1984 episode, with Ed Begley, Jr. as host. In the sketch, Begley is an architect who argues with his client, played by Harry Shearer, about whether or not elevator operators in skyscrapers should be allowed a stool to sit on when the elevator is not in use. To be honest, it's not that great, so it's not really a huge surprise that it was stuck in as the final sketch of the night.

Even though there aren't a ton of laughs in the sketch, David must've been enamored of the premise. He reused the idea in an episode of Seinfeld ten years later. In the episode, titled "The Maestro," George decides that a security guard at his girlfriend's parents' store should be given a chair to use during the day. Of course it backfires; George gives the guard a rocking chair, and the guard falls asleep in it, and the store gets robbed.

That isn't the only episode of Seinfeld inspired by David's time on SNL. According to legend, at on one Friday during his season on the show, David got fed up, walked up to the producers, and quit. He regretted it, and — after talking with his neighbor Kenny Kramer — he decided to return to work on Monday and pretend like it never happened. Shockingly, no one called him out on it and he kept his job. That incident became the premise for Seinfeld episode "The Revenge," where George quits and then pretends he didn't.

David didn't rub his post-SNL success in the show's face. In fact, he seems uncomfortable with his success. "You're going to be very disappointed," he said opening his monologue. "Honestly, I can't wait to leave." He may be a rich prick, but he still acts like a poor schmuck.

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Image: Dana Edelson/NBC