History of the World, Part II coming to Hulu next week

42 years after Mel Brooks' original comedy film History of the World, Part I was playing in theatres, a sequel series – History of the World, Part II – starts streaming on Hulu next week. The series premieres on Monday March 6, 2023 with two episodes landing each night for four days.

The longer running format allows for an even wider range of historical characters than the original film's five and the trailer, promises a good variety of historical characters, including the biblical characters Noah, Jesus (played by Jay Ellis, pictured above), Judas and Mary Magdalene.

IMDb still seems to be filling in the details but it looks like while Brooks exec-produced the series and wrote it (alongside David Stassen) and will also be narrating it, he isn't directing it or playing a lead role. That said the assembled cast is impressive. The eight episodes will feature Danny DeVito, Wanda Sykes, Taika Waititi, Sarah Silverman, Seth Rogan, David Duchovny, The Good Place's D’Arcy Carden & Jason Mantzoukas, Richard Kind (A Serious Man), Brooklyn 99's Joe Lo Truglio, Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and Lauren Lapkus (Big Bang Theory).

I found the original movie a bit hit and miss. Moses dropping a third tablet with five additional commandments was a great gag, as was playing him as an exaggerated Jewish stereotype, and there were one or two good gags in the Last Supper section (starring John Hurt as Jesus) and a few others besides, but parts of it really dragged. Indeed this is how I tend to find Brook's movies, I always find myself wanting to like them more than I do. That said, I still haven't seen the producers, and really I should.

Anyway, I'll hopefully be able to access this and offer a few comments over the next few weeks.