Life, Larry, And The Pursuit Of Unhappiness “Livingston”

I am interrupting my regularly-scheduled write up for an old Larry David show to cover a new one, one done for America’s 250th birthday, and that would be this weekend.  Or, you know, today which may be the day the Declaration was signed and not the 4th.  Or something.  I’ve seen both dates get used.

If there’s anything you think might give out the tone of the show, it’s the opening, where Barack Obama, played by Barack Obama, comes out to say what America is and why we should be celebrating it, even as he acknowledges that America may be a work in progress, that there are some people in the nation who are petty and horrible, and cue Larry dressed like one of the Founding Fathers to shout that that part wasn’t in the script.

And we’re off…

With Sam Jackson’s distinctive voice introducing each segment, there are some nice cameos to be had.  First up, Larry is Robert Livingston, one of the guys who drafted the Declaration of Independence, and his first draft is being savaged by the Continental Congress, notably Henry Winkler’s John Hancock, Alan Tudyk’s Thomas Jefferson, and Chris Parnell’s Ben Franklin.  The problem?  He put a lot of petty complaints into like, not how he doesn’t want people to share umbrellas, stroke their fears, or share deserts.  Jefferson says he’ll take a shot at it.

The second segment has Larry as Alexander Graham Bell, showing off his new telephone invention.  But the crowd wants to know about ring tones, colors, and maybe letting the phone vibrate instead of ring.  And then Richard Kind’s Thomas Watson tells a meandering story that makes Bell hang up, only for Watson to call him back.

The third segment has Larry as himself in the first World War, where his sergeant (Michael Chiklis) wants him to go over the line, so he fakes getting shot.  He also doesn’t want to personally deliver a fellow soldier’s last letter to his girlfriend.  Why is Larry there at his age?  Who knows?

The final segment is about the first time Rosa Parks (Jurnee Smollett) tried to protest, but Larry was an old man sitting next to her who refused to get up regardless, but he turned out to be so obnoxious, especially when he started praying for sex, that Rosa climbed over her seat and went to the back of the bus to join a card game.

And me, I had a lot of fun with this one.  Keep up the good work, Larry.