The National Geographic Channel is working with the guys behind Silicon Valley to make a “docu-comedy” series about world history. John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, who created the HBO tech comedy series and ran Fox’s King Of The Hill for several years, will combine “sketch comedy, animation, puppetry, documentary and archival footage to explore weighty questions such as how the world came about, the evolution of man and the origins of spirituality, money, leisure time, sports, hygiene and entertainment.” Of course, none of that matters as much as the fact that they’re calling it The History Of The World, thus dooming every conversation anyone ever has about it to devolve instantly into a stream of Mel Brooks quotes.
The program, set to debut in the fall, is a rare venture into comedy for Nat Geo, which announced The History Of The World at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. Nat Geo also announced the return of its long-running Explorer, as well as what it claims to be the world’s first dinosaur autopsy, creatively titled Dinoautopsy. What a show!