History Bites

A series that skewers history with hilarity!

by Rick Green

History Bites is a skit comedy show that asks, "What if television had been around for the past 5,000 years?"

Each episode explores an important historical event by channel surfing through news, sports, talk shows, commercials, and game shows. The Sports Desk covers Gladiator fights. Martha Stewart plans a Roman orgy. Pharaoh Ramses meets the press. A Mongol barbarian appears on Larry King. The X-Files delves into the latest plague. Cops are Knights.

By viewing ancient events through television parodies, History Bites connects our past to our present. Spoofing popular TV formats makes historical events as urgent as today's news; and it gives today's urgent news stories a historical context. Viewers discover that history does repeat itself and there are lessons to be learned from the past.

Another theme that flows through the series is that human history is dark, and the best time to be alive is right now. The world isn't going to hell in a hand basket. Far from it.

Finally, by using skit comedy and humour, the show entertains and informs us about our collective past.

FORMAT

Host Rick Green introduces each weeks topic, then he turns back the clock and the television dial to jump into the past. The changing channels counter-point great historical events with the hubbub of daily life. Barbara Walters interviews Moses. The Home Shopping Channel offers special products for Lepers. On Seinfeld, George dates a witch. Letterman's Top Ten Signs your Emperor is Corrupt. An ad for a Chat line to meet Courtesans. The Game Show for slaves. A do-it-yourself show offers tips on mummifying loved ones.

History Bites reveals that the human history is awash in crime, hunger, corruption, intolerance, violence, brutality, disease, and above all ignorance.

As well the programs reflect the attitudes and realities of each particular time period. It quickly becomes clear that racism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice, superstition, and fear were far worse than today.

Again the message is a positive one - Humans have endured, and civilization progresses.

CHOOSING TOPICS

The content of History Bites is coordinated with the new Ontario High School curriculum. The show emphasizes the human drama and the behind-the-scenes details that standard history text books don't cover. The series demystifies the past, revealing the passions, prejudices, and huge doses of stupidity behind famous events.

Although History Bites explores The Past, it is really about Today. Host Rick Green draws clear parallels with current events and issues. After all, the reason to study our past is to understand the present and perhaps improve our future.

CAST AND CHARACTERS

To draw viewers back week after week, a small cast of talented skit comedy actors portray a range of famous and infamous people. As well as creating original characters, the actors also impersonate familiar TV personalities and political figures. These provide a kind of shorthand for viewers, connecting the past events with modern political and social issues.