Stream It Or Skip It: ‘History Of The World, Part II’ On Hulu, A Sequel To Mel Brooks’ Historic Sketch Film, 42 Years Later

Anyone with any comedic sensibility probably has at least a few lines from Mel Brooks’ 1981 film History Of The World, Part I at the ready; it was smack in the middle of a classic run of films from Brooks that included The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and Spaceballs (even his one clinker during that period, To Be Or Not To Be, had some good jokes). He never had any intention of making a sequel, but somehow Hulu, with the help of Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz and Wanda Sykes, convinced the legend to fire up the wayback machine again.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART II: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Hello! I’m American treasure Mel Brooks,” says 96-year-old Mel Brooks in voice over as we see a table full of his awards. “To some of you, I’m a hero. To others, merely a legend.”

The Gist: Yes, 42 years after Brooks’ film History Of The World, Part I had us snapping our fingers to songs about the Spanish Inquisition and anticipating Hitler On Ice, Brooks has collaborated with fellow executive producers Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen to show us more funny takes on history.

The format of the series is still sketch-based, but unlike the film, it hops from time period to time period, with multi-episode sketches interspersed with one-offs.

Among the recurring sketches: Ulysses S. Grant (Barinholtz), near the end of the Civil War, takes on young Robert Todd Lincoln (Nick Robinson), at the behest of President Abraham Lincoln (Timothy Simons); the two go on a mission to Mississippi to find booze for the alcoholic general after Lincoln bans booze.

In a shetel in Russia (pronounced “Shit-hole” according to a sign), a Jewish family called the Mudmans (Kroll, Pamela Adlon, Charles Melton) sing and dance about Cossacks and make a move to Moscow to join the Russian Revolution. Meanwhile, the Romanovs (Danny DeVito, Ana Ortiz) continue to make deals with Rasputin (Johnny Knoxville), but end up paying for it in the end. Early 20th century influencer Princess Anastasia (Dove Cameron) becomes #LastRomanov.

The second episode introduces another recurring sketch: “Shirley!”, where we see the life of congresswoman Shirley Chisolm (Sykes) as a classic ’70s sitcom. The congresswoman lives with her doofy husband (Colton Dunn) and wisecracking mother (Marla Gibbs). She calls the White House and asks President Nixon (James Adomian) to come over for dinner to discuss his policies that discriminate against women and people of color, and Nixon brings over Henry Kissinger (Kroll).

In a sketch called “Curb Your Judaism”, Judas (Kroll) complains to Luke (J.B. Smoove) about how little food there was at the Last Supper, the two of them hate the fact that they have to go to a one-man show put on by Peter (Richard Kind), and Judas contemplates turning Jesus (Jay Ellis) over to the Romans, and not just for the reward. Well, mostly for the reward.

Among the one -offs: Kumail Nanjiani presents the Kama Sutra as a sex-position manual and soup cookbook; Josh Gad is William Shakespeare, running a writers’ room for his next play an stealing ideas from a young female writer pretending to be a man (Lauren Lapkus); Marco Polo (Jake Johnson) meets Kublai Khan (Ronny Chieng) and gets “Khan’d”.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Take Brooks’ History Of The World, Part I and its Borscht Belt-meets-scathing-social-commentary aesthetic and marry it to Kroll Show, and you have History Of The World, Part II.

Our Take: History Of The World, Part II wasn’t actually supposed to happen; when Brooks “previewed” the title in 1981’s Part I with sketches like “Jews In Space” and “Hitler On Ice,” it was supposed to be just one of the many meta jokes that he packed in all of his films, from The Producers to Robin Hood: Men In Tights and everything in between. So to see it back and in series form is a pleasant surprise; it’s also a surprise to see that, in many ways, Kroll, Barinholtz and Sykes have taken the mantle from Brooks and made Part II a combination of their sensibilities as well as Brooks’.

Brooks is listed as one of the show’s writers as well as one of its EPs, so it’s not like he’s not involved — how could anyone else have written the shetel/shit-hole joke? — but there’s plenty of room for sketches that wouldn’t have crossed the legend’s mind at any point over the last 55 years. “Shirley!” seems to us to be purely a Sykes creation that pays homage to Good Times and The Jeffersons along with Shirley Chisolm herself; the casting of Gibbs as Shirley’s mom and Kym Whitley as the nosy neighbor is part of the meta joke of the recurring sketch.

Barinholtz’s clumsy oaf-ish persona isn’t seen in his Grant but in everyone around him, including Abraham Lincoln, who can’t seem to stop hitting his head on things. Kroll’s sensibility hews closest to Brooks’, and you can tell that, in both the sketches where he plays Shmuck Mudman and Iscariot, he’s there to pay tribute to Brooks as well as modernize some of the references, as well (which is why Princess Anastasia is an influencer).

The one-offs are a mixed bag but mostly funny, and they likely come from a roster of writers that include Janelle James, Lance Crouther and many others. And there are even plenty of Easter eggs that call back to Part I, the first of which is at the end of the first episode.

Sex and Skin: The Kama Sutra sketch is the one that’s most blatantly referring to sex, but it’s never not on the minds of all the writers.

Parting Shot: Kroll, Sykes and Barinholtz comment on a certain German dictator’s performance as he sits in the “kiss and cry” section, then they preview another Axis leader’s ski jump.

Sleeper Star: You wonder why Knoxville was cast as Rasputin until you see a one-off that gave us the biggest laugh of the first episode.

Most Pilot-y Line: A sketch where Natalie Morales plays one of three cavewomen that “discover fire” then get stoned was one of the least funny attempts, but at least it was short.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you’re expecting full-on Brooks in History Of The World, Part II, you’ll likely be disappointed, but there’s enough of his comedy DNA in each episode to keep fans watching. Plus, most of the sketches have at least one big laugh, and that’s always a good thing.

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, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.