History of the World: Part II

If you're looking for the hilarious kind of stuff Mel Brooks did back in the 1970s, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for actual history, you won't find it here. There are a few hilarious moments - if you understand the context - and there is also a lot of just really dumb stuff here.

If you're familiar with Curb Your Enthusiasm, then you might get a kick out of the Curb Your Judaism sketch. It doesn't have Larry David, but J. B. Smoove is on hand and it's still pretty hilarious. (It helps if you know something about the story of Jesus, which, even if you're not a Christian, is still a pretty fascinating story in itself.)

"The Last Sermon" sketch is a funny satire of the Beatles "Get Back" documentary. I think it may be only funny if you know something about the Beatles to begin with. And the story of Jesus. And the infamous quote John Lennon said about the Beatles and Jesus.

"The Civil War" sketch is just plain dumb. We know in real life U. S. Grant drank a lot. But a sketch in which that is pretty much the entire joke, well, it's just not that funny. West Virginia, in real life, remained loyal to the Union. So why are West Virginians depicted as Southerners? It's just dumb.

Wanda Sykes as Shirley Chisholm is a silly, sometimes mildly amusing satire of 70s sitcoms.

Most of the sketches are just kind of forgettable. The one about Kublai Khan meeting Marco Polo is actually pretty funny, but the rest of that one just didn't do anything for me. A lot of this stuff is the kind of thing where you're waiting for it to get funny, waiting for the punch line, it just doesn't happen.

History of the World Part I was comedy genius. Mel Brooks was in his prime, putting out hit after hit.

Part II is nowhere near that. This honestly doesn't even feel like Mel Brooks is involved outside of narrating. Like some others have said, HOTW Pt II is basically a combination of the shows Drunk History, SNL and Mad TV. It would have been better if they'd done one episode per scenario, like one episode for U. S. Grant, one episode for Judas, etc. But mashing up multiple short clips into a 30 minute episode doesn't work here.

I know this type of comedy isn't for everyone. But it feels way too forced. Some of the actors are way past their prime and should have called it quits years ago.

Overall, this just isn't it. And it's a shame because people waited 40+ years for a sequel that sucks.

What an embarrassment!

Hammy improv-style acting of unfunny scripts depicting various moments in history

A few name actors ... Danny DeVito, Wanda Sykes, Marla Gibbs, Kym Whitley, Rob Corddry ... get stuck in this mess but most of the cast are a bunch of nobodies who likely have Youtube shows or something of that ilk.

While Mel Brooks' original 1981 movie was one of his worst, this TV series makes that film look like a masterpiece.

I barely made it through the first episode. Schmucky schtick about Abraham Lincoln, Rasputin, Shakespeare and a Russian shtetl (with inane musical numbers) make this just about unwatchable.

Most anthologies are "hit or miss" but this one is extreme in that and, unfortunately, mostly miss. What's even more depressing is that a project bearing the name of Mel Brooks, the Grandfather of Bad Taste, shows so little of his trademark edgy humor. The funniest bit -- far FAR -- is a horribly offensive and utterly hilarious version of Jesus's capture by the Romans entitled "Curb your Judaism." THAT'S the Mel Brooks I know and love! Some bits, like the Russian Revolution, Shakespeare, the Oslo Accords, and the actual "Hitler on Ice" promised at the end of Part I show some of the old Brooks magic. But, sadly, such moments are few and far between.

I hate to use the "W" word, but not sure what other reason there is for spending so much time on Shirley Chisolm (a minor US politician from the 70's) and presenting her as such an important figure in the history of the entire world. She is presented in a seemingly endless, painfully unfunny, virtue signaling sketch based on "The Jeffersons." Another endless and unfunny bit is Jesus (who is Black, of course, along with Mary Magdelene and several Apostles) doing a takeoff on The Beatles "Get Back" documentary. There's a "Jackass" takeoff that is just awful. Other sketches just don't work, and too many attempts to comment on either the technology or social issues of today fall flat.

I'd like to say that they could make a decent 90 minute film out of the 4 hours of the show but I'm not sure. I know they could make an awesome 30 minute show... maybe a "Best Of" would work better?

If you haven't watched Mel Brooks, then don't make this your first impression -- go back and watch "The Producers," "The Twelve Chairs", "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein." Go and seek out "The 2000 Year Old Man" with Carl Reiner. Even minor works like "Spaceballs," "High Anxiety," and, of course, "History of the World, Part 1." If you have consumed all that, you can watch this and try to enjoy the good nuggets. But do NOT let this be your first impression of one of the greatest comic geniuses of all time.

Wow, what a waste of talent. As someone who has loved Mel Brooks for decades (and quoted "Blazing Saddles" on practically a weekly basis for just as long), this was a crushing disappointment.

Clumsy, forced jokes that would embarrass your average middle-schooler combined with just flat-out unfunny writing make a cringeworthy, discombobulated mess. This is also the first time I've ever seen Wanda Sykes NOT be funny. And the D-Day scene at the beginning of episode 2 was just a foul, disgusting mess. Somebody obviously thought that just having people fire stupid lines at each other quickly would somehow be funny - it's not.

Madeline Kahn is spinning in her grave.