The Who Was? Show

Last updated

The Who Was? Show
Genre Comedy
Sketch comedy
Roleplay
Directed byDan Beers
Starring Haley Tju
Adam Hochstetter
Kirrilee Berger
Lilla Crawford
Bentley Green
Zach Timson
Andy Daly
Narrated by H. Jon Benjamin
Opening themeThe Who Was? Show Theme Song
Ending themeThe Who Was? Show Theme Song (Instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerBrian Clark
ProducersMark DiCristofaro
William Lapp
Aaron Levine
Jon Sheflin
Jason Stiff
Louis Waxman
Bob Higgins
Rich Korson
Jay Peterson
Francesco Sedita
CinematographyRussell Swanson
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time25 minutes
Production companiesTap That Maple
Penguin Random House
Matador Content
FremantleMedia Kids & Family
Original release
Network Netflix
ReleaseMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

The Who Was? Show is a historical sketch comedy television series which ran for one season on Netflix, in which Andy Daly's character, Ron, interacts with a group of teenagers, interspersed with historical vignettes and narrated by H. Jon Benjamin. The show is based on the Who Was...? book series, published since 2002, and premiered on May 11, 2018. [1] The show was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series in 2019. One of the actors on the show, Zach Timson, confirmed that the show was canceled after one season on his TikTok page. [2]

Contents

Characters

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Gandhi & Benjamin Franklin"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Adam Pally as Who Was Your Life Host

Sketches:

  • Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence (starring Adam as Benjamin and Zach as Thomas)
  • The Ben Franklin Mandatory Kite Sketch
  • "Faces on Money" rap song
  • Gandhi peacefully protesting against Ron's Historical Dance-Off
  • Gandhi's "Vegetables" song
  • Gandhi on Who Was Your Life
  • Benjamin Franklin trying to make farts smell pleasant
2"Albert Einstein & Joan of Arc"Daniel Beers, Stoney Sharp & Jared LapidusBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark, Mark McAdam & Aparna Nancherla May 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • Einstein's song "E = MC2"
  • Albert and Joan giving "Hot Hair Tips"
  • Joan of Arc sees angels and Archangel Michael acts like her boyfriend (starring Kirrilee as Joan and Bentley as Michael)
  • Ron going to burn Joan of Arc at the stake, but Albert Einstein stops him
3"William Shakespeare & King Tut"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • William Shakespeare's father wants his son to be a glove maker, not a poet. Then the glove-making business crashes, resulting in William Shakespeare's father changing his mind and letting Shakespeare be a poet.
  • Tomb Fixers
  • Tut Talks
  • How to Make a Mummy
  • Queen Elizabeth trying to get in the ticket booth for a Shakespeare play.
4"Isaac Newton & Amelia Earhart"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark, Mark McAdam & Aparna NancherlaMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Ellie Kemper as herself/female narrator

Sketches:

  • Earhart replaces H. Jon Benjamin with Ellie Kemper as narrator
  • Isaac Newton's falling apple story
  • [Sir] Isaac Newton of Woolsthorpe was a genius who discovered gravity and loved the plague because for him it meant solitude.
  • Amelia Earhart goes to the all-men's air show for men and is inspired to become an aviator.
5"Marie Antoinette & Louis Armstrong"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • Keeping up with the Antoinettes
  • Jazz Slang
  • Marie Antoinette gets her head cut off
  • Keeping up with the Angry French Mob
  • What Went Wrong?
6"Sacagawea & Blackbeard (Edward Teach)"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Jordan Klepper as Job Coach – Sketches:

  • Blackbeard finds a job as a pirate from the Job Coach and throws him off his ship.
  • The Job Coach travels a century from Blackbeard's time to Sacagawea's time.
  • Sacagawea finds a job to lead her husband and the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the United States to the Pacific Ocean from the Job Coach.
  • Blackbeard gives a tour of his pirate ship.
  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • Arrrrr-bitrary pirate facts
  • "My Head's on a Pole" song
7"Susan B. Anthony & Frida Kahlo"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark, Mark McAdam, Tami Sagher & Elliott KalanMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • Frida's Joy of Painting
  • Susan B. Anthony’s "Hey, That's Messed Up!" Song
  • Ye Bachelorette
  • Frida in bed with her doctor passing her the piece of the bus that got stuck in her
  • Fride drives her bed to her art museum
8"Marie Curie & Harry Houdini"Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • The Fast and the Curie-ous
  • Houdini's Metamorphosis
  • 2 Fast 2 Curie-ous
  • The Fate of the Curie-ous
  • Songs about Houdini (Including a song about how he died and caught the flu)
9"George Washington & Marco Polo"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark, Mark McAdam & Aparna NancherlaMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Sarah Vowell as herself

Sketches:

  • The Story of Marco Polo
  • Undercover General
  • The Who Was Show Roast of Marco Polo
  • George Washington’s "We Can Figure it Out!" song
  • Camels! Camels! Camels!
10"Genghis Khan & George Washington Carver"Stoney Sharp, Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Sketches:

  • The Green Thumb
  • Li'l Genghis
  • "Peanut Soup"
  • Clan Clash (Genghis won)
11"Pablo Picasso & The Wright Brothers"Jared Lapidus & Daniel BeersBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Jane Krakowski as herself (uncredited)

Sketches:

  • The Wright Brother's failures
  • The Less Talented Wright Brothers Who Didn't Invent The Airplane
  • Pablo Picasso gets into cubism
  • Cubism commercial
12"Galileo & Queen Elizabeth"Jared Lapidus, Daniel Beers & Stoney SharpBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by Mark Cuban as himself

Sketches:

  • How Queen Elizabeth wears her clothes (with the help of her maids)
  • Galileo’s “Dum-Dum” song
  • Young Queen Elizabeth in jail and talking to severed heads outside
  • Elizabeth's "It's So Crazy" song
  • Galileo teaching the audience about how the Earth revolves around the Sun, and getting arrested by the Pope at the end
13"Julius Caesar & Bruce Lee"Daniel Beers, Jared Lapidus & Paul PennolinoBrian McCann, Eric Gilliland, Elliott Kalan, Delaney Yeager, Brian Clark & Mark McAdamMay 11, 2018 (2018-05-11)

Guest appearance by John Oliver as himself

Sketches:

  • Julius Caesar taking over Who Headquarters
  • Julius Caesar accidentally crushes Bruce Lee with a big rock
  • "All Hail Caesar" song (Caesar's introduction)
  • Widdle Julie
  • Bruce Lee's Kung-Fu Camera Tricks
  • Caesar Conquers the Last Week Tonight show and calls himself the God of TV
  • Bruce Lee teaching the audience about nunchucks and then a nun named Chuck comes in and smacks Bruce with a ruler
  • Episode ending with the fight between Bruce Lee and Julius Caesar (Results of the fight out in season 2, which never happened)
  • During the interview, Bruce Lee said that sharing and Julius Caesar do not go together as Julius Caesar steals the name tags of all the famous people on the show.

References

  1. ↑ Flores, Terry (May 11, 2018). "Comedy Dream Team Plays With History in New Netflix Kids & Family Series 'The Who Was? Show'". Variety. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  2. ↑ "@zachtimson on TikTok - Make Your Day". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
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