Leave it up to Larry David to turn an interview on its head.
The Curb Your Enthusiasm star returned to the Today set Wednesday in honor of the long-awaited ninth season of the beloved HBO series debuting Sunday. Needless to say, the sit-down chat quickly escalated into something that could have fit right in on the show.
Before his time with Matt Lauer even began, the Emmy winner was already taking matters into his own hands, casually dropping into a previous segment between co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Daphne Oz. After making himself comfortable and sipping on some beverages featured in the health segment, David finally got his slated time with Lauer. Spoiler alert: there was an expletive involved.
From the start, David poked fun at the journalist's choice of words and questions. "Tell me the secrets of these episodes," Lauer asked.
"Have you lost your mind? Oh yeah, I'm going to tell you. The show is airing Sunday, but I'll tell everybody now what's going on because of our personal relationship. I'll tell Matt," the actor retorted. "It's none of your business and don't ask again."
David was also concerned about whether Lauer would be able to watch the premiere on Sunday live. "I know you have to be here at what 2 o'clock in the morning?" he began. "Are you going to tape it?" When the anchor said he was probably going to tape it and watch it the next day, the comedian was a touch concerned. "Is it as funny on tape as it is when you watch it when it's really happening?" Lauer wondered.
"I don't think so," David quipped back. "You're missing out."
When the topic of his 70th birthday came up, David was equally comical.
"You turned 70—how did that go?" Lauer asked. "Oh, swell. Oh, so much fun and I can't wait for 80. It just keeps getting better and better," he quipped sarcastically. "I try not to think about the end, but thanks for bringing it up….thank God I came on this show today."
The pièce de résistance came when David was asked for a reaction to a recent University of Pennsylvania study that found bald men are perceived by women to be more attractive, confident and dominant than men with hair. In pure David style, he responded, "What a crock of s--t." Time to break out the censor beeps!
While he didn't believe the study, he did add, "I'm an animal sexualy, even at 70, I'll go against a guy with hair in bed any day of the week."
All in all, it was an eventful morning with Larry David.
PS: He does not like the show's "bar stools"—and wasn't shy about saying it.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)