History of the World: Part II

Nick Kroll is not a funny actor, nor is he a funny writer. He is the child of a multibillion dollar family, and boy does it show in this series. Clearly, Mel Brooks was paid a lot of money in his advanced years in order to get this made with his approval, and his only real involvement was as narrator. Since all the heavy lifting with a show like this is done thru it's comedic writing, the absence of Mel's writing is sorely felt here. Just not a funny moment to be had. Yet another IP squeezed to the bone for the sake of nostalgia. This should have been made 30 years ago with much more involvement from Mel Brooks and much less from Nick Kroll.

This is not Mel Brooks Humor. This is a reboot of The Kroll Show with special guest Wanda Sykes. There is WAY too much Nick Kroll here.. way, way, way way too much... and I have never found Nick Kroll funny. He just does some silly accent and thinks THAT makes a bit funny.. it doesn't. The Sykes sketches are far more political in nature than they are funny. Sykes brought her soapbox to the set.... The Bariholtz sketches are okay.. but only because they are OFTEN merely trying to mimic the atmosphere of Blazing Saddles in some way. Several aspects are direct, uhmm, "homages" to Blazing Saddles. Every single actor in this is also a producer... I imagine Mel Brooks just "trusting" these people to write what's (permissibly) funny today. After all, MOST of Mel Brooks's films would NEVER be made today because they would be seen as too offensive. Unfortunately, this series just isn't funny.. .... the Jackass/Johnny Knoxville/Rasputin bits are the only okay aspect throughout the ENTIRE series.. and they are only 2 minutes in length, if that. If you like Nick Kroll.. you may love this series. If, like me, you find Nick Kroll more annoying than funny, you may hate this series.