Reiner's Secret Final Sketch as Washington Debuts on HBO
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- Rob Reiner filmed his final role as George Washington in Larry David's HBO sketch comedy Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness on Nov. 13 at the Universal lot, about a month before he was killed alongside his wife Michele (their son Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with the murders).
- HBO kept Reiner's cameo under wraps until Episode 2 aired on July 3, with the team swapping it for a different sketch at the Los Angeles premiere; director Jeff Schaffer said they chose the Fourth of July weekend — the nation's 250th anniversary — as the right moment to release it.
- Schaffer said the Washington sketch gives Reiner, an outspoken Trump critic, the 'last laugh,' adding that if it 'in any way spoils a sad octogenarian's weekend, then oh well.'
- In the sketch, Reiner's Washington declares he will not seek a third term and urges Congress to pass a constitutional amendment barring future presidents from clinging to power, while Larry David — in 1700s colonial attire — calls a hypothetical authoritarian president 'an insecure, lying asshole who would even cheat at golf.'
- David required Reiner to shave his signature beard for the role, insisting 'George Washington was clean shaven,' according to Schaffer, who recalled Reiner replying 'Seriously?' before agreeing.
- Schaffer and David were still editing the sketch just two days before Reiner's death, a production detail that went unmentioned in most coverage of the cameo.
- The episode closes on an 'In Memoriam' card honoring Reiner, with his Washington watching colonists erupt into screaming matches and declaring, 'We're fucked.'
Why it matters: HBO turned a comedy cameo into a posthumous political eulogy timed to the Fourth of July and the 250th anniversary of American independence — a deliberate scheduling choice, per Schaffer, that reframes a sketch series as Reiner's final public statement against Trump. For HBO, the placement converts a single episode into a cultural moment with built-in emotional and patriotic resonance.
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