S02.E01: Montgomery, AL

[saoirse 21.3k]

The Season 2 premiere features organic chemist Percy Julian; civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin; and boxer Joe Louis.

 

Guest stars: Jordan Peele as Percy Julian; Mariah I. Wilson as Claudette Colvin; Lisa Bonet as Rosa Parks; Jerry Minor as Edgar Nixon; Terry Crews as Joe Louis; 'Weird Al' Yankovic as Hitler; Tim Heidecker as Max Schmeling

 

Narrators: Allan McLeod, Morgan Murphy, Amber Ruffin

[saoirse 21.3k]

Also, Lisa Bonet as Rosa Parks! Terry Freaking Crews as Joe Louis!

 

And 'Weird Al' Yankovic as...Hitler?

[Amethyst 5.7k]

I missed the first segment, but I loved the second and third.  Seeing the people from Burning Man (as opposed to Birmingham, AL) was hilarious. And she ended it perfectly: "How are you, cup?" Sometimes the drunken parts are funnier than the segment itself.

 

EDIT: Just saw the whole episode.  Jordan was fantastic as Julian.  Allan MacLeod should always narrate, and Amber Ruffin was a hilarious drunk.   I hope she makes another appearance.  "I'm sorry for burping, but I'm not sorry!"  Still cracking up. 

Edited July 3, 2014 by Amethyst

[halgia 2.4k]

Because I'm terrible, I've never seen an episode of this before, but between @Tara Ariano pointing it out on the podcast today and also actually being in a place with cable for once, I gave it a shot. So good!

[saoirse 21.3k]

Oh, @Dougal! It's so awesome! Go back and check out some of last seasons episodes, for sure. But Jordan Peele was fantastic tonight, he nailed the lip sync in my opinion!

[halgia 2.4k]

It's on Amazon Prime apparently, so yep, adding that to the list.

 

Peele was definitely the highlight, but also loved seeing a lot of the other people (Tim Heidecker as Max Schmeling!), and some of the other little bits were amazing ("How are you, cup?" as @Amethyst mentioned).

[Baltron9000 56]

Great episode. Alan and Peele were great, I loved the scroll of accomplishments and Alan grabbing and eating one. The second segment storyteller I didn't know but loved. Terry Cruz and Morgan Murphy are always a delights. I don't know if I'll tire of seeing Derek Waters be bad at things, and seeing him get nut-punched by Murphy was just wonderful. 

[HelenBaby 1.1k]

I also thought Jordan Peele was hilarious, but the girl who played Claudette Colvin was pretty funny too.

[Tara Ariano 3.8k]

I REALLY loved Jordan Peele in this episode!

[peeayebee 18.6k]

Peele really was great in this. (Of course he's great all the time.) Yes, the lip-syncing was perfect, but he also had hilarious words to work with -- "This molecule goes with this molecule…" -- This segment was by far my favorite of the three.

 

I liked the Claudette Colvin story mainly because I hadn't heard about it. I found it interesting more than funny. The best part was at the trial when the judge rules segregation unconstitutional, and Claudette got up and triumphant and saying she was moving to NY.

 

At first I thought Hitler was Charles Grodin, but then I realized it was Weird Al. Of course that's funny all by itself. Loved Terry Crewes as Joe Louis. 

 

This is one of my favorite shows. I'm so glad it's back.

Edited July 2, 2014 by peeayebee

[torontomeridith 293]

"'Weird Al' Yankovic as Adolf Hitler" Great credit or the greatest credit?

[Bruinsfan 16.7k]

Well, it may be tied with "Bob Barker as himself" in Happy Gilmore, but it is pretty great.

[ganesh 20.8k]

I liked the second segment the best because I knew that Rosa Parks was a planned event and someone else had already done that but didn't know the particulars. The best part was that years later when she was asked if she was pissed off about Parks taking the spotlight, she said she wasn't. 

 

Also, the actor playing Colvin didn't have much dialogue to work with, so she really had to sell the 'fucking fuck 19 fucking 55' lines.

 

The narrator for the Joe Louis segment was he funniest because you knew poor Derek was going to get beat on. Even he knew it. And nothing is funnier than a shot to the nads. 

 

How are you cup? Is probably the funniest drunk line on the show, and I loved that they worked it into the segment. 

[cynicat 7.2k]

The whole Birmingham/Burning Man scene was awesome.  "I'm in a tailspin..."

[planetofapes 113]

When Jordan comes in saying "got my PhD no big deal" I screamed with laughter.  OMG so good.  I loved all of it (as usual) but I don't know... I don't think Amber was really drunk.  I know that sounds weird esp because I absolutely hate it when people throw up on this show - but I felt she was putting it on.  She was still cute and funny, just too sober for me.  Morgan Murphy - effing hilarious.  Loved it.  Having Weird Al playing Hitler was just so awesome.  I feel slightly silly how much I love this show but it never lets me down in terms of sheer laughs.   

[ganesh 20.8k]

Everyone is a different kind of drunk. It also depends for some people (me) what they're drinking whether they're giggly, over talking, or whining.

 

This is a comment by Derek Waters I read in EW about the show, but it doesn't talk about anything in any particular for any given episode. But I'll spoiler it.

 

DW said that he really doesn't like when the narrators get so drunk that they puke (which I agree) because when they get that drunk, it takes forever to tell the story. They shoot up to 6 hours per segment, so the show is heavily edited. This season, he's told the narrators not to really drink heavily prior to shooting. So they might not be as drunk as last season, but it seems that it's directed from him.

Edited July 21, 2014 by ganesh

[Rinaldo 10.2k]

I have been trying to adopt into my everyday vocabulary "This molecule goes with this molecule, boom. We're havin' a good time..." But the contexts in which it can fit are disappointingly few.

[Kat From Jersey 241]

Weird Al is just made of win generally, and I wasn't spoiled for this ep, so I squealed when I saw him.  If only every episode could squeeze in Weird Al, Jack McBrayer, and Jordan Peele (oh, and Jason Ritter, because, so cute!).

[GarageQueen 17]

 

I have been trying to adopt into my everyday vocabulary "This molecule goes with this molecule, boom. We're havin' a good time..." But the contexts in which it can fit are disappointingly few.

Also the line "I've penetrated a lot of ladies." My HR department wouldn't appreciate that. Also, I'm a hetero woman, so ... 

[aradia22 12.2k]

How do you comment on Drunk History? It's one of those shows I sit back and enjoy without needing to dissect. I hope it's accurate because I actually feel like I'm learning something. I love the kinds of stories they choose to highlight. I think the videos on Funny or Die remain the funniest and the early Drunk History episodes in season 1 but I still enjoy the show. The issue seems to be the big name talent and the relative quality of each drunk historian. 

[Dagny 802]

I saw Henry Rollin's 10 Things you didn't know about Civil Rights and thanks to Cracked and Drunk History. I knew most of them. Thanks TV!