X
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HULU
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HULU
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HULU
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HULU
History of the World, Part II
Season 1 Premiere: Mar 6, 2023
64
3.7
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
64
64% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
27% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 Critic Reviews
64
64% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
27% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Overall, History of the World, Part II succeeds mostly in the outstanding comedic performances from its cast.
As prepared as a viewer might be to laugh out loud, he or she will still laugh out loud.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
3.7
17% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
50% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 18 User Ratings
3.7
17% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
50% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
I sooo wanted to rate this higher, but as with sketch comedy, you have to sit through coal to come up with the occasional diamond. You better have a high tolerance for Nick Kroll and Ike Barenholtz ( whose work I've enjoyed in the past) because they are in practically every sketch, alongside Wanda Sykes who has her share of recurring characters. You do get a sense that they all worship Mel Brooks (as they should), and wanted to embrace Brooks' style of social satire and all-out silliness. The mix of modern and history is hit-and-miss, and is good for a smile (Russian revolution admist a you tube tutorial, Galileo on Tic Tok). What is sometimes more fun is playing where's Waldo with the seemingly endless array of comedic actors who jumped at a chance to appear. There's a blink and you'll miss Adam Pally, David Duchovny as Howard Cosell (?!), and Ken Marino and Joe Lo Truglio together again. Their segment on the rebranding of Christ was one that worked. You get a sense that they all wanted to play, and that playfulness comes through. But they're playing in a forty-year-old sandbox. At least it's much better than the Spike TV animated Spaceballs retread. .
Report
Mel Brooks created Part 1 in 1981. This sequel is a series created by Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz and Wanda Sykes with Brooks in the mix as advisor and announcer. The 8-parter features sketches from various history highlights, including the Russian Revolution (Johnny Knoxville as Rasputin in a Jackass takeoff), Shirley Chisholm (Sykes as the politician in a 70s Black sitcom) and Jesus Christ (Quinta Brunson as Mary Magdalene), but the most clever is Tiaka Waititi as Sigmund Freud. There are a few silly songs and lots of other comic cameos. This is Mel Brooks at his best (genuinely smart satire) and his worst (broad shtick that falls flat). For every joke that lands, there are several that stink, so it really depends on the viewer's taste for dumb vs. clever, although for me, they're trying too hard and most often not funny.
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"History of the World, Part II" flourishes from the work of its on-screen MVPs.
History of the World Part II certainly works as a loving homage to a comedy icon, with Brooks’ influence easy to see wherever you look. However, much like the 42-year-old film it’s based on, at times the show’s humor feels like it was written in 1981.
The show squeaks by, barely, though this is one of those exercises where a little fast-forwarding through “History” couldn’t hurt.
Running through much of the series, I’d say there a laugh or chuckle or three per episode, and every so often a genuine spit-take.
We finally get that sequel — and boy, it reeks.
As someone who grew up on old-school Mel Brooks…this one hurts. I REALLY wanted to like this show, and I was much more patient with it than I would have been with any other sketch comedy show of this quality, because of my lifelong respect and admiration for Brooks. I kept going against my better judgement because of that. I should have dropped off when the jokes did. If you’re set on watching this show, my advice: the minute an episode ends and you find yourself thinking, “Huh, that didn’t make me laugh even once”…just stop watching there. The sketches start off charming and funny enough (if a bit underwhelming) and get progressively less funny as the show goes on. I suspect the editors realized this and deliberately loaded all of the most successful sketches into the first few episodes hoping that they’d have already gotten you hooked by the time it starts deteriorating. It doesn’t get better once it drops off. Just save yourself the headache and quit while you’re ahead. Also if you’re like me and have limited patience for Nick Kroll’s whole shtick, you might just want to just skip this show entirely. He’s front and center in nearly every sketch and plays every part exactly the same way. It gets stale very quickly.
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I’ll start by saying there’s funny moments that made me laugh.
As a fan of the first one, I was disappointed by this series. Jokes are forced, funny moments are scarce, and you can tell pretty early on Mel Brooks (96) had very little to do with the series.
I’ll watch it to the end as I love Mel Brooks and his name is attached. But History of the World deserved better.
Report
Lazy formulaic comedy writing designed for the dumbest of audiences ruins this show. Instead of puns and lightweight universal humor, it leverages weak modern references and overplays them, all in an attempt to appeal to the more basic TV-binging Hulu viewers. It's clear it's been written by LA-types, this lacks a soul and would rather lean into crude shouting, fart jokes, and repetition to fill time. I had to cleanse my brain afterword and regret ever turning it on or knowing it exists. Depressing.
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Who are you and what have you done with Mel Brooks? I grew up watching Mel Brooks. Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs are, to this day, some of my favourite movies. It was some of the funniest, most ridiculous comedy ever and I loved it for that. But none of it would work now. I often rewatch his stuff and while I still very much enjoy it, I don't think many people now, would get it or enjoy it. It wasn't just Brooks who made it work. It was the actors and the performances. To me, Gene Wilder will always be synonymous with Mel Brooks. No one could pull off a Brooks role like him. And of course Madeline Kahn, Rudy De Luca, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman. They were the perfect actors to make it work. And I think that's why this doesn't work. Part 1 was the epitome of Brooks. It had all the best lines and jokes. And all of his best actors in 1 place. Part 2 doesn't have those actors and it has none of the magic. They tried to take a formula that worked over 40 years ago and make it work now. At a time where too much has changed since. It doesn't translate.
They've tried to force the Brooks formula into a new one and new actors. Actors who, while funny, don't fit the formula. They took what worked in the original and twisted and squished it into something that feels wrong. They went out and dug up the old Brooks and stitched it all to some new idea of what Brooks is now. The result is some grotesque Frankenstein's monster.
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Production Company:
- 20th Television
- Searchlight Television
Initial Release Date: Mar 6, 2023
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Online Film & Television Association
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Primetime Emmy Awards
• 2 Nominations
Astra Television Awards
• 1 Nomination