They should have stopped at “Part I”.
The biggest joke behind the 1981 scattershot “World History: Part One” is, do we even have to spell it?
Still, people seem eager to see a sequel even though “History” remains one of Mel Brooks’ lesser films. (Let’s pretend “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” never happened).
However, this reviewer recalls working at a VHS rental store in the ’80s, where customers insisted “Part II” not only existed, but they wanted to rent it right then and there.
That crowd can now subscribe to Hulu and watch a genuine sequel – more than 40 years later. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The eight-part “World History Part II” takes the trio of creators with Brooks’ blessing – Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes and Ike Barinholz. The comedy icon is 96 years old and full of life, but his ability to choose collaborators has hit a snag.
The Hulu project will be greeted with a cold face to most viewers. Collection of sketches, centered around history but including some recurring stories, ostensibly clever but rarely inspired.
Laugh? Squint your eyes closely and you’ll see some… the best.
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The first four volumes reviewed deal with the life of Jesus Christ, the Russian revolution, Sigmund Freud (a humble highlight thanks to Taika Waititi) and even the cave women who discovered it fire. The latter provides the most painful sketch, but it is very short.
Some promise is to come – a “Good Times’s”-style sitcom based on the first Black Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm (Sykes).
Others indulge, and we mean basking in potty humor without the benefit of laughter. Alexander Graham Bell being pranked by Watson is a prime example. Soldiers of the Second World War also vomited on their way to Normandy.
Kroll works overtime in a variety of roles (as do Sykes and Barinholz), but he brings the most humor to the series. It rarely serves intelligent writing, alas.
There are plenty of puns, meta references, and other running jokes, but they never turn into something worthy of our attention (AKA Funny). Even the most successful part of the first episodes, the life of Christ as seen through a parody of “Constrain Your Enthusiasm,” fades after a spell.
The successful people who have woken up the project barely spoil the series, but their presence shows that the creators are more interested in scoring culture wars than laughing at us. The show takes place in Florida’s “white man’s sin” and echoes Hulu’s really funny “Project 1619” with this Harriet Tubman quip.
“We built most of the infrastructure in this county,” exclaimed Sykes’ Tubman. Now, is that funny or merely another talking point?
That is rhetoric.
We also get race-swap casting moves with characters like Jesus Christ (Jay Ellis) and Mary Magdalene (Zazie Beetz), among others. Of course, having the great JB Smoove play a disciple alongside Kroll’s Judas was perfect, with the intention of “Curb”.
Other installments, such as Kumail Nanjiani introducing a Kama-Sutra project that combines sex positions with soup recipes, are confusing when they arrive. Just be grateful it ended quickly.
The series gathers many recognizable faces, but almost none of them impress. An actor we’ve been asked not to share seems to be surrounded in the role of Stalin, while Pamela Adlon’s Jew rebel looks annoyed in every shot without even a smile.
Suffice it to say that no one can measure up to the original Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, and Brooks herself.
The unforgivable thing about “World History: Part II” is how cheap it looks. The production design is like an 80s or 90s TV show, decades before studios poured serious money into the format. “Part II” makes no attempt to hide its meager funding or dull direction, creating distance between it and the original material.
A few musical numbers calling for a strong visual approach never came.
The opening episode frantically copies Brooks’ broad, sometimes vulgar style, and it’s the most authentic of this television sequel.
On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine anyone would stick with all eight seasons.
