History of the World Part II creators on their rules for honoring Mel Brooks' legacy
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When it came time to make the follow-up to Mel Brooks' seminal 1981 sketch comedy History of the World Part I, Nick Kroll knew it had to follow one rule: Funny first.
Coming a whopping 42 years later, History of the World Part II features a variety of spoof-sketches that take viewers through different periods of human history, just like its predecessor. The eight-episode series includes a massive, starry guest cast that takes us through the building of the pyramids, the American Civil War, the Russian Revolution, and much, much, much more.
The original movie featured Brooks in multiple roles, and started by poking fun at horny cavemen in the Stone Age before ultimately tackling the Old Testament, Roman Empire, Spanish Inquisition, and French Revolution — all while deftly blending Brooks' trademark humor, satire, and insightful commentary on the nature of humanity.
In other words, it was a tall order for star, writer, and executive producer Kroll and fellow collaborators Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen. The goal, Kroll says, was not to rely on the movie, but more to capture its spirit.
"That's the thing with Mel and what we really wanted to honor was, Mel had some incredibly astute social commentary, but he was never preachy. He was always pretty silly, and it's always funny first," Kroll tells EW.
That ethos was apparent even when EW talked with Sykes and Barinholtz ahead of the series' debut (the first two episodes are on Hulu now). At the very beginning of our interview, after sharing remarks on the hectic nature of press days, Barinholtz said he and Sykes were good to go because they had been drinking since 9 a.m., and were "absolutely hammered." (They were not.) They also joked about the incredible fitness of 96-year-old Brooks, pretending he was off camera doing burpees. (He was not... that we know of.) And, later in the interview, Barinholtz and Sykes completely improvised a pitch, 40 years in the future, for History of the World Part III. (Unconfirmed, for now.)
Ahead, EW parses through the jokes to learn what Brooks thinks about the sequel series, what historical spoofs didn't make the cut, what they couldn't stop laughing at, and more.
Hulu Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz on 'History of the World Part II'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Nick, I understand that Mel actually came to you to get the series made. Is that right?
NICK KROLL: Yeah, that's the rumor I started and I'm sticking with it. [Laughs] ... I've known Mel a little bit for a while and I got a call, you know, being like, "Mel would like to work with you on History of the World Part II," and it was the fastest yes I've ever had. And so, that kicked it off.
WANDA SYKES: Nick Kroll called me and said, "Hey, are you interested in working on this project, History of the World Part II?" And I was like, "Continue..." And he goes, "Mel Brooks." And I was like, "Yes." And he goes… "So..." and I said, "NO. Yes, yes, I'm doing it." And then called Ike and his partner David [Stassen].
IKE BARINHOLTZ: It was the exact same thing. Nick called me and was like, "So Mel Brooks wants to do History of the World…" I'm like, "I'm in, I'm in. I'll drive myself. I'll cook food for the cast and crew. I know how to sew, what do you need?" But very shortly after those calls, the four of us found ourselves talking for hours and trying to figure out, what is this show gonna be? How do we kind of update this? How do we deliver expectations to people who have been waiting 42 years for this, while also bringing in some new folks?
How involved was Mel in all of it? What was his most valuable input, would you say?
SYKES: I'm sorry, he's over here doing burpees? Mel, geez, we're trying to do an interview.
BARINHOLTZ: Wow, he's got an eight pack. No, we would constantly jump on Zooms with Mel. And whether we were pitching him the big picture of the show, or just individual sketches, or worlds, he was so great and very honest.
I know Mel has seen the series. Have you gotten his official review yet?
KROLL: No, but the best version of it was, after a table read — we did a bunch of material for him in the studio ... and afterwards, he said, "I really... I liked the songs. And I liked some of the reads." And he also said, "And we're gonna get some letters. And that's good." From the beginning, he really said to us, "Don't be afraid to tell dirty jokes." And that's the thing with Mel and what we really wanted to honor was, Mel had some incredibly astute social commentary, but he was never preachy. And he was always pretty silly. And it's always funny first, and we really tried to take that ethos and bring it with us in the show where, wherever the show went, that was always kind of the North Star.
How did you guys narrow down what events you wanted to spoof?
KROLL: Ike knew he really wanted to focus on the Civil War, and I always had an idea in my head of the Russian Revolution, and Wanda similarly was really excited by the idea of Shirley Chisholm. And then from there, it was really like survival of the fittest of who had an idea, what felt like it could be fruitful, or what was a good take on it, and oftentimes, those things kind of wrote themselves pretty quickly. And also, if we were going to do Russia and the Civil War, and then the US in the '60s, we really were trying to make sure that we were hitting not only different time periods, but also different places around the world. So it became, let's really try to find something like Kublai Khan and Marco Polo and stuff like that, and obviously the Bible and biblical times and something like Kama Sutra, where you get to showcase someone like Kumail [Nanjiani]. So making sure that we were covering geographically and a timeline of a broad swath of different sort of parts of the human experience.
Hulu Taika Waititi on 'History of the World Part II'
Were there any historical moments you knew you didn't want to tackle?
BARINHOLTZ: We really went in there with a very open mind. And we had a very broad group of writers from all over the comedy map. And people were throwing out crazy suggestions. But there was nothing that I was like, "Uh uh, no, no, no, no, no, we will not be making fun of the Pony Express on this show." Like it was all like, bring it on, let's see what you got, and the funniest stuff, I think, came out.
Was there anything that you did want to portray, but ultimately had to cut?
BARINHOLTZ: We definitely overwrote, because for a sketch show, you just have to have so much material if something weird happens, you need stuff that you can jump to. One story that we worked on for a while that I was particularly obsessed with was Cuba. I thought we could tell a very funny Bay of Pigs story and like an Operation Mongoose story, and we just kind of ran out of time.
SYKES: The windmills right? Was that the one that starts with the windmill? Couldn't afford the windmills?
BARINHOLTZ: Right, they were too expensive and they don't look good when they're CG. But there were so many that whether they were just larks and just like one lines... something I remember was a Billie Holiday 'Best Of' album. So we tried so many different things. And then in the end we're like, "Okay, we have a finite amount of money and time. This is our best stuff. Let's shoot it."
It feels like everyone in Hollywood has a role in this thing. Was there anyone you wanted but didn't get this time around?
BARINHOLTZ: Kevin Spacey was unavailable. Couldn't get him.
SYKES: You're so ridiculous. Everyone, you know, loves Mel. So if they were in town and available, it was an easy ask. They wanted to be involved in it. But, R. Kelly passed, too.
BARINHOLTZ: You would go to our set, and in the morning, you would see Dove Cameron, and she's like, "I'm excited to be here because I used to watch Mel Brooks movies with my dad." And then, later in the day, Marla Gibbs would be there, who probably like knew Mel Brooks [back in the day]. So just to have so many people show up and be so excited and get the gig and be excited to do it and kill it... Every day was just a wonderful combination of reunions with old friends, and then people I've always wanted to work with, and then young people that I don't know, but now I'm obsessed with them. So we had a real cornucopia of good people.
Was there one moment on set in particular that you could not stop laughing at?
BARINHOLTZ: The statue removal sketch where Nick's character is in litigation with his brother and his sister-in-law, played by Wanda and me. And it started off as like just a funny sketch kind of poking fun of removing Confederate statues. And then it turned into this like, bizarre family legal drama with these people in New Jersey, and then Wanda shows up with Carmela Soprano hair. That was the day that I think everyone just had the giggles a little bit.
SYKES: Yeah, that's the one I'm thinking, too.
KROLL: A couple of things. Basically anytime that J.B. Smoove was on set. There's just something so funny about J.B. whatever he's doing, he's just so funny. And aside of that, there's the "Curb Your Judaism" piece and "Jesus and the Last Supper Sessions." There was a day that I was actually at home with COVID, but I was watching remotely — there's a sketch of the Oslo Peace Accords and it's got Andy Daly and Jason Mantzoukas and D'Arcy Carden and a bunch of great actors. It's sort of a Middle Eastern piece at the Oslo Peace Accords and everyone's arguing about the birthplace of hummus, and you just have incredibly funny improvisers. The D-Day sketch of everyone puking was very funny. So it really runs the gamut from the sort of longer pieces to the shorter one-off pieces, all of which we had such incredible talent across the board for.
Hulu Jack Black on 'History of the World Part II'
Do you have more you'd like to do in a second season? Will we have to wait another 40 years for a sequel?
SYKES: We definitely have more.
BARINHOLTZ: We could wait 40 more years. Think of it this way…
SYKES: Okay, run it by me.
BARINHOLTZ: 40 years from now. So it's 2063. It's a presidential election year. It's Barron Trump versus Malia Obama. So people are really stressed out.
SYKES: People are stressed, and they need a laugh.
BARINHOLTZ: You are living in a nursing home. You're in a nursing home, and I work at the nursing home as an orderly. So I'm seeing you every day.
SYKES: Okay, so we can… Where's Nick?
BARINHOLTZ: Nick owns the nursing home and he's used his money wisely and bought a series of nursing homes.
SYKES: Okay, so we can knock around some ideas during the day, like, after I've had my soup?
BARINHOLTZ: You have your soup. You play your mahjong with your friends. Then you would take a nap. I would sit next to you in the bed and just pitch you ideas and Nick would be on like a monitor being like, "Yes, no."
SYKES: All right.
BARINHOLTZ: So, we would like to use this time to announce History of the World season 2, part III, will be coming out 40 years from now.
KROLL: You might have to wait another 42 years. You know, it'll depend on any number of factors. But it really was such a dream come true to make the show. And, I think for so many people involved, the idea of being a part of a Mel Brooks project like this was such a dream. And it's a truly incredible cast and crew. So I'm hoping we get to keep celebrating Mel, in this way and others.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
The first two episode of History of the World Part II are now streaming on Hulu. Two new episodes will drop daily, with the finale on Thursday, March 9.
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