Ike Barinholtz and Wanda Sykes on ‘History of the World, Part II’

March 7, 2023 Sophia Soto

Ike Barinholtz and Wanda Sykes write, executive produce, and star in History of the World, Part II. The series serves as a sequel to the Mel Brooks film, History of the World, Part I, and features a variety of sketches that take viewers through different periods of human history. Two new episodes drop daily on Hulu, with the finale on Thursday, March 9.

“The writing was so much fun. We had such an incredible writers’ room, just such an insane, diverse group of people from Ana Fabrega, who created Los Espookys, which is a show I’m obsessed with, to Lance Crouther, who I’ve been watching since I was 20 and was old friends with Wanda, Emmy Blotnick — all these just amazing writers,” Barinholtz expressed. “For me, as a big history buff, the thought of coming into work and just being like, ‘I have kind of a weird idea about the Thirty Years’ War,’ it just was so irresistible to me.”

“It was exciting, but there’s a part of me that was a little terrified also,” Sykes told me. “You can say anything when you’re just writing. Then, there’s a whole set and you’re like, ‘oooh, this better be funny. Here we go. Hope it’s good.’ And then to have Mel Brooks attached to it — it’s Mel Brooks, it really is intimidating. You know, it’s like you say, this stuff has to be right. It has to be funny, it has to be Mel.”