Making History Review: Pilot Episode

By Racheal Courtney (@rachealsparty)
 
“What did I just witness?” were the first words out of my mouth when the pilot for FOX’s newest sitcom started rolling its credits.
 
First of all, this show was hilarious. The writing was spot on and had me laughing at pretty much every joke that came out of the characters’ mouths. The show stars Dan (Adam Pally) and Chris (Yassir Lester) as two dunder-headed college professors who can’t really stand each other. Chris, as it turns out, Has managed to turn a comically colossal duffel bag into the world’s first time machine, prompting the question “How does someone seemingly so inept find the answer to time travel?”
 
The answer is simple: It wasn’t Dan, it was his father. Dan just stole the concept from his notes. Upon learning that his courting of Paul Revere’s daughter Deborah (Leighton Meester) may have caused the famous Midnight Ride to have never occurred, he enlists Chris, the leading History professor at his university, to come to the past with him and help solve the problem.
 
Chris has been courting Deborah using the twenty-first century ideals of women to gain her confidence and woo her heart with lyrics from “My Heart Will Go On” (which, naturally, he wrote himself). He takes Chris to a tavern where the black history professor tries to rally them with an impressive speech, but they all just yell “SLAVE!”. But he ends up saving his butt by quoting Jerry Maguire to Sam Adams (Neil Casey) and John Hancock (John Gemberling) who promptly convince Chris to drink their pee…
 

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!

Anyway, the show is an obvious, self-aware parody of what we perceive history to have been. The characters of the past are brilliantly satirical and keep you from screaming “Sam Adams wouldn’t have tricked people into drinking his pee!”. Instead, it just makes you pee yourself with laughter. The episode ends with Dan leaving Chris behind in 1776 and bringing Deborah to the present. But upon their arrival, they find a statue of Chris stating he died in a battle that would take place the day after from where they left him…wow, Time Travel.
 
The show is produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who helmed projects such as The Lego Movie and the 21 Jump Street reboot, so I knew this show would have to be side-splitting. It didn’t disappoint with brilliant one-liners from the three leads as well as Casey and Gemberling in their supporting roles, which will see the two credited as main cast members in the next episode. The casts’ chemistry is also on point. Adam Pally and Yassir Lester are constantly at odds, yet I can already see the bromance brewing for the future. You also can’t help but root for Pally and Leighton Meester’s future romance growth. I’m really excited to see where the show goes in the future and I have my fingers tightly crossed in hopes that it doesn’t lose its momentum as the ride continues.
 
Random Thoughts:
 
I love how the show didn’t shy away from the race issue that time-traveling imposes. Actually, none of the time travel shows that have premiered this season have. Kudos, Hollywood.
 
I wish I could trade ham for people’s love…

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