History, although interesting, can be boring for some. But what if you could make history lessons entertaining and fun? ‘Drunk History’, as the name suggests, tries to do this, and is an American educational comedy television series that airs on Comedy Central. Created by Derek Waters, the show is based on a 2007 web series of the same name (also by Derek Waters) that used to air on Funny or Die. Apart from Derek Waters, executive producers of the show include the Jeremy Konner, Adam McKay, and the hilarious Will Ferrell.
‘Drunk History’ has an interesting story behind its inception. The idea behind the show came to creator Waters’ mind after he had a drunk conversation with his friend, actor Jake Johnson. After one too many drinks, Johnson reportedly narrated the story of soul and R&B singer Otis Redding to Waters. In a rather impassioned manner, and with all the gusto and slurring a drunk person has, Johnson went on to insist that Redding knew that he was going to die when he boarded the plane that later crashed and killed him. Regardless of Johnson’s assertions, the idea stuck with Waters, who decided that getting inebriated narrators to narrate historical stories would be quite a funny way to spread some education. Thus, ‘Drunk History’ was born.
The original web series, consisting of seven episodes, was released on Funny or Die on January 22, 2008. Five years later, Season 1 of ‘Drunk History’, consisting of eight episodes, premiered on Comedy Central on July 9, 2013. Since then, the show has seen six seasons air, with the latest, Season 6, premiered on January 15, 2019. Now, fans of the show are wondering whether it will return with more history and more drunkenness in yet another season. Here’s what we know about the future of the show so far.
Drunk History Cast: Who is in it?
Drunk History does not have a fixed cast per se, but is always hosted by its creator, Derek Waters. The format of the show is such that Waters hosts it, and gets a drunk comedian or a drunk celebrity to recount an event in history. As such, when it comes to narrators, the show does not have a fixed one. Over the many years, the show’s narrators have included personalities like Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Ryan Gosling, Paget Brewster, and Katie Nolan, among others.
However, the format of the show also involves short enactments of the events being narrated, and these enactments are usually done by regulars of the show, including Bennie Arthur, Tim Baltz, Mort Burke, Sarah Burns, Maria Blasucci, Craig Cackowski, Michael Cassady, Michael Coleman, Tymberlee Hill, Adam Nee, Jeremy J. Tutson, Greg Tuculescu, J.T. Palmer and Aasha Davis. Yet, here, too, there’s no fixed pecking order, and enactments are also done by guest stars every now and then. Over the years, some of these enactments have been done by actors and actresses such as Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Vanessa Hudgens, Chris Parnell, Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Kirsten Dunst, Dave Grohl, Liev Schreiber, and many others.
If ‘Drunk History’ does return for a seventh season, we expect Waters to be back as host, and many many great guest appearances from the who’s who in the film industry.
