The History of Comedy: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The History of Comedy explores what makes people laugh – from the Ancient Greeks to Shakespeare, Vaudeville to the biggest contemporary comedians, movies, and TV shows. It digs deep into topics like political humor and slapstick, featuring the voices that have made us laugh over the generations. The series showcases how the art form has evolved over the years using archival footage, original comedic material, interviews with comedy legends, and luminaries.

Season 2 is a six-part CNN Original Series executive produced by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner (Hazy Mills) and Emmy Award winners Mark Herzog and Christopher G. Cowen (Herzog & Company). Using archival footage punctuated by contemporary interviews with comedy legends, scholars, and current stars, The History of Comedy explores the spinning gears that make the comedic mind tick. From teams & duos, animation to improv & sketch, the series examines not only what makes us laugh but how comedy has affected the social and political landscape throughout history.

Series details

• Title: The History of Comedy
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy, History
• Premiere date: 2017-02-09
• Final broadcast date listed: 2018-08-19
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: CNN
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.9/10
• TVMaze ID: 18655
• IMDb ID: tt5737466
• TVDB ID: 323278

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2017-02-09; final listed air date 2017-08-13; episode order: 8.
• Season 2: premiered 2018-07-15; final listed air date 2018-08-19; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from The History of Comedy on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.