History of the World: Part II (Season 1)

History of the World: Part II (2023) is an eight-episode comedy anthology from Hulu you can watch online on iFILM. The sequel nobody expected: back in 1981, Mel Brooks buried the joke right in his film's title — Part II was promised — and here it is, forty-two years later.

The format mirrors the original: sketches sweeping from prehistoric humans to the present day. Jesus, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln, Lenin, Shakespeare — every era gets the treatment. Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, Pamela Adlon, Dav Cameron, and Brooks himself cycle through roles, digging up the embarrassing footnotes official history leaves out. No throughline, no cliffhangers — every sketch stands alone, and that's the whole point.

A late sequel that doesn't coast on affection for the original. Kroll, who serves as showrunner, keeps each sketch short and sharp — two minutes and out, usually — which is exactly how this kind of absurdist comedy earns its laughs. Stream History of the World: Part II (2023) online on iFILM.