When you get to college, you’ll realize people like to do two things: getting drunk and swearing they have the inside scoop on a historical event. Both of these things usually happen at the same time near the keg. A majority of the time you’re mostly quiet as the narrator completely screws up all the details in order to let you know they know more than you or your history professor. It’s a combination of entertaining and horrific as you learn about George Washington discovering the airplane and hiding it from us. Most of the stories end up being about famous people being on drugs at significant times. Eventually the folks at Funny Or Die website created a series about such fractured not-sure-if-it-is-non-fiction. The show was such a hit that Comedy Central turned it into a series that lasted six seasons. Drunk History: The Complete Series takes us through these liquored lessons.
The first episode had plenty of star power as familiar faces for those that slept through history class. A retelling of Watergate had Nathan Fielder, Bob Odenkirk, Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and the late great Fred Willard as Deep Throat. A piece on the time Nixon met Elvis unites Jack Black, Dave Grohl and Odenkirk. We finally get the true tale of how Lincoln was killed with Stephen Merchant, Adam Scott and Will Forte. There’s a lot of fine actors doing cameos in time. Will Sasso gets mobstery as Frank Nitti. Rob Riggle as J. Edgar Hoover, Kevin Nealon as the Grand Dragon. Winona Ryder as Mary Dryer, Kristen Wiig as Patty Hearst, Alfred Molina as Arthur Conan Doyle, Owen & Luke Wilson as the Kelloggs, Aubrey Plaza as Sacagawea and Rich Fulcher as Porter Wagoner will keep you seeing to odd side of the past. Although nothing will top Weird Al Yankovic as Adolf Hitler. During the sixth season, they did an episode about Frankenstein that stars Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Evan Rachel Wood and Will Ferrell as the Monster. There’s so much strange star power that twists those tales you used to read about on a Kid’s menu at the Sizzler.
The show plays like a drunk version of Love American Style if it ran on The History Channel. There’s a touch of reality from the supposedly pie eyed narrators. It’s hard to tell if they’re really plastered since they are so well lit and mic’d up. But they sound like the folks you’d run into attempting to hog up the good ice at the bar. The show was supposed to have a seventh season and then Comedy Central just killed it as the COVID-19 arrived. Guess we won’t get to see Rich Fulcher as Dr. Faucci. Drunk History is a show that keeps the proof in the narrator. The best part of watching Drunk History: The Complete Series is you get to enjoy all the words Comedy Central bloops out.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. You’ll see how drunk a narrator is. The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Surround. It’s mostly talking so there’s not much to the surround mix. The episodes are subtitled.
Drunk Outtakes are featured in the various seasons with things the narrators didn’t get to say on the air and behavior that was too much for Comedy Central.
Deleted Scenes are on various episodes. Since the segments are short, there was plenty of footage that had to be snipped. There’s a lot snipped moments over this boxset.
Extended Clips give a full sense of the scenes.
Sober Reveal has narrators get to discuss their segments while no longer drunk. Jen Kirkman gets deeper into religious reformer Mary Dyer and praises Winona Ryder. They also get to “fix” their drunk narration.
Comedy Central and Paramount Home Entertainment present Drunk History: The Complete Series. Starring Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Evan Rachel Wood, Aubrey Plaza and Weird Al Yankovic. Boxset Contents: 72 Episodes on 11 DVDs. Release Date: June 29, 2021.
