Mel Brooks Finally Made ‘History of the World, Part II’

Mel Brooks’ 1981 spoof History of the World, Part I ended with a mocking teaser for a sequel, which would supposedly continue the saga with all new comedy bits, including “Hitler On Ice,” “A Viking Funeral,” and “Jews in Space.”

Like everything else in a Mel Brooks movie, it was not to be taken seriously. But now, 40 years later, Hulu has actually made History of the World, Part II, as an eight-part miniseries. Mel Brooks, now 96 years old, stars in the series, and also serves as a writer and an executive producer on the project. The cast is absolutely stacked with huge modern comedy names. (One assumes they leapt at the chance to work with the guy who made Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein.)

They include: Pamela Adlon

Tim Baltz

Zazie Beetz

Jillian Bell

Quinta Brunson

Dove Cameron

D'Arcy Carden

Ronny Chieng

Rob Corddry

Danny DeVito

David Duchovny

Hannah Einbinder

Jay Ellis

Josh Gad

Kimiko Glenn

Brandon Kyle Goodman

Jake Johnson

Richard Kind

Johnny Knoxville

Lauren Lapkus

Jenifer Lewis

Poppy Liu

Joe Lo Truglio

Jason Mantzoukas

Ken Marino

Jack McBrayer

Zahn McClarnon

Charles Melton

Kumail Nanjiani

Brock O’Hurn

Andrew Rannells

Emily Ratajkowski

Sam Richardson

Nick Robinson

Seth Rogen

Sarah Silverman

Timothy Simons

J.B. Smoove

David Wain

Taika Waititi

Reggie Watts

and Tyler James Williams.

Here’s the teaser for the show, which very much looks like it is in the Mel Brooks tradition of wild parody:

This is Brooks’ first TV show since 2008’s short-lived Spaceballs animated series. Brooks hasn’t directed a film since 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It. (He spent much of the intervening years working on the musical versions of The Producers and Young Frankenstein.) So it’s just great to see Mel looking so good at 96, and still having fun.

Here is the series’ official synopsis:

After waiting over 40 years there is finally a sequel to the seminal Mel Brooks film, “History of the World, Part I,” with each episode featuring a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history.

History of the World, Part II premieres with two episodes on Hulu on March 6. Two more episodes follow each day until the finale on March 9.