History of the World Part II: Mel Brooks sequel a go at Hulu

Grab your rolling papyrus, a compartment of snuff, and get ready to do the Ethiopian Shim Sham sand dance because History of the World Part II is happening! Hulu has given a series order to Searchlight Television and 20th Century Television’s 8-episode variety series History of the World Part II, 40 years after the original release of Mel Brooks’ landmark 20th Century Fox film History of the World, Part I.

History of the World Part II is executive produced and written by Mel Brooks, Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen, and Kevin Salter.

Mel Brooks said: “I can’t wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony-baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History!”

Directed and written by Mel Brooks, History of the World, Part I is a comedic ode to the history of mankind, covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution. This uproarious comedy stars Books, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Shecky Greene, Pamela Stephenson, Sid Caesar, Mary-Margaret Humes, and features narration by Orson Welles.

Per Hulu, here is an extensive bio focusing on the legendary Mel Brooks:

Mel Brooks, director, producer, writer, and actor, is in an elite group as one of the few entertainers to earn all four major entertainment prizes – the Tony, the Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar. His career began in television writing for Your Show of Shows and together with Buck Henry creating the TV series Get Smart. He then teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform the Grammy-winning 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums & books. Brooks won his first Oscar in 1964 for writing and narrating the animated short The Critic and his second for the screenplay of his first feature film, The Producers in 1968. Many hit comedy films followed including The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World Part I, To Be or Not to Be, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

His film company, Brooksfilms Limited also produced critically acclaimed films such as The Elephant Man, The Fly, Frances, My Favorite Year, and 84 Charring Cross Road. For three successive seasons, 1997-1999 Mel Brooks won Emmy Awards for his role as “Uncle Phil” on the hit sitcom Mad About You. Brooks received three 2001 Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards for The Producers: The New Mel Brooks Musical, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2006. The Producers still holds the record for the most Tony awards ever won by a Broadway musical. He followed that success with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, which ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009 and opened in London’s West End in the Fall of 2017 to rave reviews. In 2009 Mel Brooks received The Kennedy Center Honors, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to American culture.

In 2013 he was the subject of an Emmy-winning American Masters documentary on PBS called “Mel Brooks: Make A Noise” and was the 41st recipient of the AFI’s Life Achievement Award. His recent projects include three Emmy nominated HBO comedy specials Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again, Mel Brooks Strikes Back!, and Mel Brooks Live at The Geffen. In 2016 Mr. Brooks was invited to the White House, where President Obama presented him with The National Medal of Arts – the highest award given to artists by the United States government. His long-awaited career-spanning autobiography, “All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business” will be published by Ballantine Books on November 30th, 2021.