Bosses Break Down Obama’s Tan Suit Sketch (Exclusive)

Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness may have come to a close, but the HBO sketch comedy only scratched the surface of American history through its seven episodes of sketches, closing out with a monumental moment: President Barack Obama‘s tan suit debacle. Warning: Spoilers for Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness Season 1, Episode 7 ahead!

The finale closed out with the origin story of how Obama wearing a tan suit to an afternoon press conference became a political debate for years to come. In the show’s reality, Larry David plays an aide to the president and debates the dangers of dirtying ties while eating soup, as Obama explains that flipping a tie over your shoulder could lead to it flopping into soup; he reveals it’s soup and no tie, or tie and no soup.

But Larry’s debating of Obama doesn’t end there as he questions the commander in chief about his Mango Tango smoothie and asks if he can have a sip. Obama refuses, noting that even if Larry doesn’t drink from the straw, his “old lips” will touch the glass and contaminate his drink with germs.

Art Streiber / HBO

When Obama steps away, Larry goes to take a sip from the glass and accidentally spills it all over Obama’s suit jacket, forcing him to suggest the president wear the tan suit to his press conference. And while this origin story is rooted in comedic fiction, executive producer and director Jeff Schaffer commends Obama’s quick-witted improvisation for the sketch.

“President Obama was not in the Groundlings, but he’s still a really good improviser, and in fact, that scene with Larry and the president was written out the same way the others are, which there’s an outline and it has beats, and it has some lines, but those are suggestions,” Schaffer explains. “The president looked at it, and when he walked onto the set and everything, he goes, ‘You know, I may come up with some other stuff.’ We’re like, ‘Great, please do that.’ He goes, ‘I may throw a few more things at you,’ and that’s music to Larry’s ears; that’s all he wants.”

One such moment Schaffer credits Obama with is “old lips.” The executive producer adds, “Larry David cannot take credit for old lips. ‘Old lips’ is 100 percent pure Barack Obama. And when he said that, Larry laughed so damn hard… All of a sudden now we’re doing the scene with the president just like we do any Curb scene.”

Art Streiber / HBO

Schaffer goes on to add, “He was a good actor, not for being a former president, but for just being an actor. He was amazing, and Larry and the president have such a good dynamic. They have so much good give and take; it’s really fun to watch.”

As for including this particular historical moment among the collection of sketches, fellow executive producer Ethan Lewis says, “I felt from the beginning I was very adamant that we should do the [the tan suit]. What a moment, and what a way to bring some closure to that story in the midst of it all.”

The tan suit wasn’t the most outlandish moment from American history to be broached as the finale episode also touched upon the infamous Donner Party incident, which saw travelers resort to cannibalism under harsh extremes. In the sketch featuring Vince Vaughn, June Diane Raphael, Jeff Garlin, and Greg Kinnear among others, the party is discovered by a rescue team, who quickly uncover the reason why some party members survived.

As for what made Schaffer and the team select such a moment from history to highlight, he says, “We have 250 glorious years of events to choose from, and we picked the Donner Party… We wanted to cover the history of America, warts and all. So that’s from Rosa Parks to the Underground Railroad to the Donner Party; it wasn’t all perfect, not like now,” Schaffer adds with heavy sarcasm.

When it comes to exploring the show’s future, Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness hasn’t currently been ordered for Season 2, as this series was touted as a celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, but Schaffer isn’t closing the door on a potential return yet. “We’ve been talking a little bit, and we’ve jokingly been talking about celebrating America’s 251st anniversary, which should be just as important as the 250th, yeah, right?”

With so many events across the years to cover, we’d argue it’s never a bad time for another history lesson. Sign us up!

Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, Streaming now, HBO Max