--- title: History of the World, Part II Is a Mel Brooks Victory Lap description: Brooks' Hulu collaboration with Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes and Ike Barinholtz is pretty funny for a sequel made in the age of infinite content. canonical: https://time.com/6258855/history-of-the-world-part-ii-review/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-02-28T17:02:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:53:28.051Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Mel Brooks Is Funny as Ever in History of the World, Part II og:description: His collaboration with Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes and Ike Barinholtz far exceeds expectations og:url: https://time.com/6258855/history-of-the-world-part-ii-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt952ee08ea3e5296c/698a3ab7096a9469b46ad897/hotw-group-1rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Episode 101 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mel Brooks Is Funny as Ever in History of the World, Part II twitter:description: His collaboration with Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes and Ike Barinholtz far exceeds expectations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt952ee08ea3e5296c/698a3ab7096a9469b46ad897/hotw-group-1rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In _History of the World, Part II_, Mel Brooks Is Still Funnier Than Most Comedians Half His Age > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Feb 28, 2023 5:02 PM UTC  From left: Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, and Ike Barinholtz in History of the World, Part II From left: Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, and Ike Barinholtz in History of the World, Part IIHulu  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Feb 28, 2023 5:02 PM UTC Fans of [Mel Brooks](https://time.com/4502746/gene-wilder-mel-brooks-trust-friendship/)’ 1981 romp through the annals of Western Civilization, _History of the World, Part 1_, will likely come into the follow-up Hulu series with one burning question: Will _Part II_ deliver on the trailer that closes out the 42-year-old film? Will we actually get to see any of the segments it teased—“[Hitler on Ice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybuKQf9p5jg)” or that [viking funeral](https://youtu.be/kcbCu8G80pQ) with the shocking twist or the semitic [_Star Wars_](https://time.com/6234534/andor-best-star-wars-show/)sendup “[Jews in Space](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAZhtT-dUyo)”? Sadly, this is a question that Hulu has asked me not to answer. What I can tell you is that, for an unnecessary sequel realized in the age of infinite derivative content, _History of the World, Part II_ is pretty damn funny. A collaboration between Brooks, producer David Stassen ([_The Mindy Project_](https://time.com/5022963/mindy-project-kaling-season-six-last-final/), [_Blockers_](https://time.com/5231548/blockers-movie-review/)), and co-writers and stars [Nick Kroll](https://time.com/4953610/nick-kroll-netflix-big-mouth-interview/), Wanda Sykes, and Ike Barinholtz, the 8-part series, rolling out March 6-9 with two episodes per day, makes a solid capstone to the 96-year-old legend’s career. While Brooks, who may be past his physical-comedy years, mostly limits his onscreen presence to narration, he recruited an enormous cast of extremely funny people to bring his sketches to life. [Kumail Nanjiani](https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217590/kumail-nanjiani/), [Quinta Brunson](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177794/quinta-brunson/), [Pamela Adlon](https://time.com/6151062/better-things-season-5-review/), [Jason Alexander](https://time.com/3909049/jason-alexander-seinfeld-susan/), [Jake Johnson](https://time.com/6154788/minx-review-hbo-max/), [Jenifer Lewis](https://time.com/5398823/emmys-2018-jenifer-lewis/), [Zahn McClarnon](https://time.com/6186035/dark-winds-review-amc/), and [Danny DeVito](https://time.com/3584415/danny-devito-best-roles-movies/) are just a few standouts among dozens of famous guest stars. Wonderfully intergenerational, the show is both an anointing of the many heirs to Brooks’ comedy throne and proof that he remains relevant after all these years.  From left: Colton Dunn, Kym Whitley, and Wanda Sykes in History of the World, Part II Tyler Golden—Hulu The creative team has made a few smart tweaks for 21st century TV. Rather than repeat _Part I_’s chronological structure, which involved lengthy segments set in Ancient Rome and during the French Revolution, _Part II_ moves quickly between periods and sketches—kind of like Kroll’s mid-2010s Comedy Central hit, _Kroll Show_. A handful of serialized story lines make shrewd use of the episodic medium. A biography of Jesus, played by [_Insecure_](https://time.com/6109253/insecure-black-hollywood/)heartthrob Jay Ellis, begins as a tale of cranky Judas’ (Kroll) betrayal in the style of [_Curb Your Enthusiasm_](https://time.com/4931060/larry-david-curb-your-enthusiasm/)(complete with J.B. Smoove as Luke), then morphs into [_The Notebook_](https://time.com/2927409/the-notebook-came-out-10-years-ago-but-its-not-what-you-were-watching-that-weekend/)when he meets Mary Magdalene ([Zazie Beetz](https://time.com/collection/american-voices-2017/4598563/zazie-beetz-american-voices/)), and later graces us with a left-field parody of [Peter Jackson’s _The Beatles: Get Back_](https://time.com/6124118/get-back-beatles-breakup/) in “The Last Supper Sessions.” Less consistent but occasionally hilarious is “Shirley!,” which casts Sykes as [Shirley Chisholm](https://time.com/4359610/shirley-chisholm-nominee/) in a sitcom à la Norman Lear about the first Black Congresswoman. Not that _Part II_ lacks Brooks’ signatures. Episodes are peppered with punny grandpa jokes that, if you’re familiar with his filmography, are just as subjectively endearing as they are objectively groan-worthy. (A sketch set in Shakespeare’s writers’ room finds one character typing notes on a “MacBethBook.”) There are song-and-dance numbers; a Civil War ditty called “F-ck the North,” performed by [_Abbott Elementary_](https://time.com/6214182/abbott-elementary-season-2-review/)’s Tyler James Williams and Tim Baltz of [_The Righteous Gemstones_](https://time.com/5652778/the-righteous-gemstones-review/), made me laugh, even though it doesn’t quite equal [_Part 1’s_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnF1OtP2Svk)[Spanish Inquisition barnburner](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnF1OtP2Svk). Speaking of which, while it’s also somewhat more inclusive of non-Western history (don’t miss Nanjiani pitching the publishers of ancient India on _Kama Souptra: From Soup to Nuts_), _Part II_ remains every bit as Jewish as its predecessor. (Bet you didn’t know that a mohel played an integral role in Robert E. Lee’s surrender.) Well-earned callbacks to Brooks classics like _Blazing Saddles_ and _The Producers_ abound.  Zazie Beetz and Jay Ellis in History of the World, Part II Aaron Epstein—Hulu Each episode has its clunker jokes and a flimsy sketch or two. Social-media humor is overdone these days, and Galileo (Kroll) as content creator is far from the most effective example of it. Alexander Graham Bell’s (Barinholtz) first crank call gorges on low-hanging fruit. An ancestry.com bit about how everyone is somehow descended from Kublai Khan might’ve been funnier if [_Key & Peele_](https://time.com/22993/key-and-peele-make-fun-of-everything/)hadn’t done [essentially the same sketch](https://www.cc.com/video/2nmzjn/key-peele-ancestry-website) more than a decade ago with Thomas Jefferson. But _Part 2_—a sequel to a movie that made multiple “walk this way” gags _and_ a banana-peel slip work through pure chutzpah—hits more often than it misses, which gives it a better batting average than _SNL_ or the [recent return of _Inside Amy Schumer_](https://time.com/6222729/inside-amy-schumer-season-5-review/). In many cases, its success is a function of smart casting. Timothy Simons, who played noxious beanpole Jonah Ryan in [_Veep_](https://time.com/4732295/review-veep-season-6/), is exactly the right person to wear Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat. And if you can get Johnny Knoxville, why not have him spoof Rasputin’s famous unkillability in a [_Jackass_ ](https://time.com/6144459/jackass-forever-review/)clone called (groan) _Jackrasp_?  The cast of Jackass as the cast of Jackrasp, featuring Johnny Knoxville (far right) as Rasputin, in History of the World, Part II Aaron Epstein—Hulu While not every aspect of his movies, _Part 1_ very much included, has aged well, Brooks comes into the controversy-riven 2023 comedy landscape with one big advantage over most old-school funny men: He has always known when to bring a [wider range of voices](https://www.yahoo.com/news/mel-brooks-credits-gene-wilder-170136122.html) into the writers’ room when the material calls for multiple perspectives. This time, that group includes _Abbott_’s Janelle James, [_Los Espookys_](https://time.com/6224383/los-espookys-season-2-halloween-shows/)co-creator and star Ana Fabrega, [_The Chair_](https://time.com/6090110/the-chair-review-netflix/)writer Jennifer Kim, and late-night vets like Emmy Blotnick, Sergio Serna, and Lance Crouther. The result is humor that feels casually multicultural and inclusive, from a Russian shtetl R&B group called Bolsheviks II Mensheviks that sings “I’ll make borscht for you” to Middle East peace talks that break down over the question of which country invented hummus to Sykes and [_Hacks_](https://time.com/6046663/hacks-review-hbo-max/)_’_ Hannah Einbinder in a faux commercial for Amelia Earhart’s lesbian bar in the Bermuda Triangle. Brooks ends up looking more current than some comedians half his age, with his legacy as one of our all-time greatest satirists intact. 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