All the best shows are canceled
Goodnight sweet prince of comedy.
Drunk History was canceled, I say with extreme sadness. You think 2020 can’t get worse and they cancel one of your favorite shows. It came out of nowhere, like most of 2020 — Clearly, it was a shock to the show’s creator, Derek Waters, who lamented a few days after it happened on twitter, only a few months after tweeting out they were hard at work on the new season. “I had already been renewed for a seventh season”, according to Newsweek, “with pre-production already underway.”
Bullshit right?
Since Drunk History is no more; I give you some goodness I picked up from Derek and friends.
1. Unions
Kyle Kinane in the Chicago episode of Drunk History taught me the importance of unions and their importance in the American workplace. August Spies speaks at McCormack Place, ‘Just fucking be together, don’t go crazy, just be with your group. Be solid.’ It’s only the second episode of Drunk History but it already moves as a production should. I feel especially inspired by his portrayal of Spies. Especially the tie to journalism, the field I currently work in. We just founded our own union, too, so, Derek, if you’re out there reading, thanks, and ‘OUR SILENCE IS POWERFUL (more so than your other stuff)!’
2. Women commit a lot of crimes
And somehow this made me feel good? I don’t know, I guess we’ve been spoon-fed the popularity of male serial killers, and murderers. Women who commit crimes and briefly make history are relegated in three to a half-hour special called (so unsuitably) Deadly Women on Investigate Discovery. I hate it all. But Drunk History changed the narrative.
3. Superman took down the KKK
In the Atlanta episode of Drunk History, we learned that the KKK was infiltrated by a man who took back their secret codes to the radio stars of Superman. Superman then proceeded to foil the KKK via a popular program, so much so that it drove change. I won’t spoil anything for you, please go watch this episode. Right now times are super hard. Nothing feels right, nothing feels like it will move. This episode reminds me that the smallest trickle of water can form canyons.
4. Accessible history
History is complicated. Any book written by man is fundamentally complicated. SO, what I don’t understand, is why anyone would cancel a history show told by comedians? Let alone a DRUNK history show told by comedians? If you’re like me, you’ve forgotten everything you learned about history, but you will never forget the lessons Derek and his drunk comedians taught us. I can quote history now to my friends at parties, and feel confident not only will I get a laugh, but some nods of approval as well.
Baltimore (Comedy Central)
5. It’s a study of perfect comedy
Every episode is a trifecta of comedy gold. It’s layered from conception to production. From Derek to the drunken orators, comedians, to the actors, also comedians, who portray historical figures —a fine dance of comical genius. And it’s not like it was the first or last show to layer its comedy, but it was one which did it well enough it was useful in pulling storylines forward.
“Shit Shows” (Comedy Central)
6. You felt like you were hanging out with friends
When shows do this well, it is an irreplaceable feeling for the audience. I learned about parasocial relationships in Media Studies 101 in August 2000. I felt my first parasocial relationship when I watched Drunk History for the first time about seven years ago at a friend’s. All the talent involved are diverse in comedy and background; most importantly I trust Derek (solely) to take me through, the at times bizarre…at times pure genius diatribe, alcohol-fueled productions on history.
7. Women did a lot of shit
Women of history hear them roar, on Drunk History. Derek and friends paid a lot of attention to women (as they should have) and told more than three stories about founding women, women in STEM, first ladies, and first(s) as women. They didn’t do it for inclusionary facade they did it to say aloud, more than once(!), ‘Women did a lot of shit.’ From Kentucky Daisey and Mary Dryer to Mary Ellen Pleasant and Patti Hearst, people underestimate women all the time, Drunk History did not.
Lisa Bonet as Mary Ellen Pleasant (Comedy Central)
8. Black women did a lot of shit
The world is experiencing a civil rights moment, I feel it’s important to include Drunk History’s commitment to diversity in storytelling. From the voices to the actors to the content there is excellent representation from BIPOC. The conversation around America’s original genocide wasn’t off-limits to the storytellers. The crafting of accurate history has been such a failure of white society. It was nice to have a show that gave credit where credit was due.
“Election Special” in 2016 (Comedy Central)
9. Authenticity
The rarest of all jewels, authenticity. Drunk History was authentic. Stories told on the show were the real stories, not the polished versions which appear in mass-produced history books. They, like a lot of comedies, picked up the slack when journalism bought into the Trump show in 2016. They did a clipped show of patriotic histories, which had already aired. Anything was more beneficial to society than the 2016 debates. Since day one, the show has reached for truth and authenticity in storytelling, and quite frankly achieved it masterfully.
“Game Changers” (Comedy Central)
10. Derek Waters
From the outside one thing I can tell about Derek, besides that he and I would be best friends forever, is that he’s a hard worker and he believes in comedy. He’s not only in most of the episodes of the show, but he’s the host, a writer, producer, creator, et al. He was clearly heartbroken that his opus had been relegated to the bin of network television. It’s a great hope of mine that @Hulu will pick up on the show it’s given a home to for over a handful of years. With episodes already in the bag, we hope to see Drunk History back, soon, but for now —
— they belong to the ages.
