Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History’ On Netflix, The Comedian’s Funny Take On Lesser Known Black Pioneers

It’s unfortunate, but it seems like many people’s knowledge of Black history consists of the one-minute vignettes people see during commercial breaks on episodes of CSI every February. Kevin Hart, so much in the news these days due to controversial tweets he made years ago, wants to change that. Read on to find out more about the quirky special he made to talk about some of the less-known figures in Black history…

KEVIN HART’S GUIDE TO BLACK HISTORY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Kevin Hart is kicking back at home when he sees that his daughter Riley (Saniyya Sidney) threw something at the TV while watching 12 Years A Slave with her White friend Jeremy (Eoghan Thomas Murphy). “They took our dignity!” she yells. So he brings Riley to her room and tries to balance her anger over the oppression shown in the movie by talking to her about the pioneers in Black history that are lesser known than some of the most famous Black figures in history but whose contributions are just as important.

Many of the achievements are told via sketches, with Hart buddies like Lil Rel Howerey playing a slave named Henry “Box” Brown. who shipped himself to freedom; Tiffany Haddish as Mae Jamison, the first Black female astronaut; Barry Brewer as Matthew Henson, the actual first person to reach the North Pole, and more.

Hart keeps things lighthearted via very meta jokes about the fact that he’s telling his daughter these stories, but he makes sure to explain that in most of these cases, the Black pioneer didn’t get the credit he or she deserved because White people took credit and there was nothing they could do about it.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The whole “telling a kid a story in their bedroom” thing feels very Princess Bride-ish, but the sketches lean more towards films about history created for students.

Performance Worth Watching: Sidney steals lines and scenes from Hart, as she did from Mark-Paul Gosselaar in The Passage. This kid’s got a bright future.

Memorable Dialogue: As Adm. Robert Peary (Tom Kenny) steals Matthew Henson’s glory, their Inuit guide says, “Should we tell them that we’ve been summering at the North Pole for years?” Henson responds, “Not until Peary’s check clears.”

Single Best Shot: Citing budget cuts, Kevin shows Riley and Jeremy the story of George Speck, creator of the potato chip, as a puppet show. Somehow he manages to hold a lot of stuff for a guy with two hands.

What Age Group Is This For?: It’s a bit of a hybrid; Hart definitely gears the show to an age range from preteen to adult, but the show is rated TV-PG, and there are mild swears in it. Still, it’s perfectly appropriate family viewing, and your kids will learn a lot about some historical figures they likely didn’t learn about in school.

Our Take: Whatever you may think of Hart after the dustup his old homophobic tweets caused when he was named host of the Academy Awards — then soon after, removed himself from the job — it’s undeniable why he’s one of the country’s top comedians: He has wide appeal while doing (mostly) intelligent comedy about his life as a husband, parent and son. He’s also self-deprecating, as a joke about his height early in this special reiterates. So it’s not a stretch to see him trying to do a show about Black History and somehow pull off gearing it toward kids and adults.

The humor of the special, written by Evan Waite (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) is gentle but knowing, meta but not over the top. Is it the funniest thing Hart has ever done? Not by a mile. But it’s a fast-moving hour that’s structured in a way to keep viewers entertained, between the self-referring sketches to the interstitials where Kevin can’t seem to remember Jeremy’s name, Lil Rel showing up to watch the “birds” play football, and Jeremy’s dad somehow being “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History is funny enough, very informative, and a pretty fun way to spend an hour with your kids.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Stream Kevin Hart's Guide To Black History on Netflix