Emmy-winning comedy series "Drunk History" is making a comeback with three new short-form episodes, seven years after it last aired on Comedy Central. The first installment premieres Sept. 15 on Comedy Central's YouTube channel and stars Meghan Trainor as Madonna, dramatizing the pop icon's legendary performance at the inaugural VMAs.
Created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner, "Drunk History" is built around a simple but chaotic premise: inebriated narrators recount real historical events while actors reenact their slurred, embellished retellings. The facts and dates stay accurate, but the dialogue is anything but.
Beyond the Madonna episode, the new batch of stories will cover Frances Perkins, the largely overlooked architect behind FDR's New Deal, and the decades-long rivalry between two men vying to build the world's largest ball of twine.
The cast for the new episodes includes Steve Agee, Tim Baltz, Seth Green, Colin Hanks, Jack McBrayer, Chris Parnell, Johnny Pemberton, Daryl Sabara, Mae Whitman and Weird "Al" Yankovic, among others. Narrating duties fall to Lisa Gilroy, Patton Oswalt and Marisha Ray.
"Drunk History" first emerged in 2007 as a Funny or Die web series before Comedy Central turned it into a full TV show, which ran for six seasons from 2013 to 2019. The network renewed the series for a seventh season in 2019, only to reverse that decision in 2020 after production was halted by the pandemic. Over its run, the show has featured guest stars including Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bob Odenkirk.
"I'm so excited to be back making Drunk History again! We have a lot of catching up to do," Waters said of the revival.
Ari Pearce, head of Comedy Central original content, echoed that enthusiasm: "We are thrilled that 'Drunk History' is back. These new episodes reflect our heritage as both the home of iconic comedy franchises and a premier launchpad for comedic talent. As we continue to expand our reach across platforms, 'Drunk History' is a great example of how we're delivering Comedy Central to fans in new ways."
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
