History Bites

I liked History Bites, it was a very fun show to watch but it was also educational. I like that it was able to be entertaining while it also informed. OK so it's not like it was teaching us a ton of great new information we couldn't learn on Wikipedia or that we don't already know from schools, but for a family show it is great and kids can get a lot out of this show. Likewise the comedy was not gold but this show was way way more entertaining than most educational history shows would be. The host Rick Green seems like a really nice person and he is likable, a very good host for a show like this. The actors all are fine for the roles they are doing, basically sending up historical figures with impressions. Totally worth seeing if you like history and or family friendly entertainment!

This is a real gem of a show that never got the widespread attention it deserved. History Bites is the brainchild of Canadian comedy legend Rick Green (of The Red Green Show fame). Essentially, it asks the question "What if TV had been around for the last 5000 years?" Each episode picks a major point or theme from history and then acts it out as if our modern television and culture were back in that period. Rick Green lends his talents in narration by offering up educational tidbits in between skits.

The show could easily have stunk but instead shines thanks to absolutely stellar acting and writing. Each cast member is a genius in their own right in that they manage to pull of near flawless imitations of pop culture icons like Don Cherry, Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart, Regis Philbin hell, even Judge Judy. You really have to see it to believe it.

Just another gem of Canadian TV that sadly will likely never get the fame it deserves.

It is true that a lot of important points in history can be presented as only so interesting. This show manages to take the less exciting points (and some of the really exciting ones too) and turn them into quite enjoyable 30 min lessons.

Of course time constraints limits the amount of details that are able to be presented, but most of the subject matter is there.

While the show is not laugh-out-loud hilarious, it is still amusing to watch. Some of the pop culture impersonations are quite well done. Good examples are Howard Stern, Barbara Walters and Judge Judy.

This show is especially great for teens, who might have a resistance to studying history. They will get most of the impersonations and skits, and the show moves quickly enough to keep their attention.

Over all, pretty well done.

This is a brilliant combination of comedy and interesting history. Try to imagine the result of the SCTV cast (John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, Dave Thomas, etc.) taking on the teaching of history, and you have a good picture of the result.

The premise is "what if TV had been around for the last 5000 years?" and depicts modern shows (eg. Seinfeld, etc.) as if they had been done in those periods. The witty parody of these shows is reason enough to tune in. This is fine comedy.

Some of the topics are pretty specialized (Math Cults, for example), but the learning is painless, and will frequently have you laughing out loud.

As far as I can tell, this is only available on the Canadian History Television network, though you might want to check with the US History Television channel and your favorite PBS affiliate.

"Only in Canada, you say? Pity."

Rick Green, co-creator of the wonderful Canadial show, The Red Green Show, branched out in the early 90's to create and star in this "bet you thought you knew what happened" history program. Combining a very good ensemble cast along with the use of humor to get points across, History Bites takes the premise of what might we know about certain points in history if television had been there to record and report it?

Would the Hun really turn out to be a bunch of misunderstood guys who really thought they were doing a good thing by slaughtering thousands as their horde moved across Asia and Europe? Was Genghis just trying to live up to his father's image?

Were the Norsemen who conquered western France shocked when the French just gave them the land and told them the now THEY had to care for the population.

History Bites is a funny show. It should be mandatory viewing for 5th through 8th graders in all schools to help them understand that what me might think of as historical fact is often just what the winners wrote, not what happened. And humor is the best way to get across this kind of information.

Too bad the Canadians keep it to themselves. Or, too bad US networks like The History Channel or even Comedy Central haven't picked this up. There are more than enough individual shows to fill more than a year's programming (at one per week).