One of Netflix’s newest acquisitions, Cunk on Earth, mixes the two genres into one amusing and unexpectedly smart television show.
Netflix has always been a haven for excellent documentaries and irreverent comedies.
The Netflix original docuseries, which premiered towards the end of January 2023, has a little something for everyone, with history on one side and comedy on the other, providing for a unique viewing experience.
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“Cunk On Earth”: Do The Experts Get Script?
Yes, the experts on Cunk On Earth are aware that they are appearing on a comedy show. The experts, on the other hand, are not provided the questions or the script.
They have only recently been informed that they are being interviewed for a BBC history program. They are pleased and excited to explain their area of expertise.
The show does not criticize them, but it is entertaining to see them stumble and reassess their views.
The producers of the show wanted Philomena Cunk to question real specialists who knew what they were saying.
They thought it was offensive to put actual people in positions like that to fake or humiliate them.
They felt there was nothing naturally hilarious about being a specialist on a somewhat esoteric topic such as Napoleonic shipping, or even a major issue such as climate change.
So they explained the concept of the performance to the pros and directed them to handle Cunk as if she were a naive nine-year-old who thought she understood everything.
As a result, the experts never appear silly; the punchline is always Cunk and her show staff for allowing her to enter an interview when she was so ill-prepared.
In an age when inexperienced people think their ignorance is a virtue, professionals are continuously humiliated.
“Cunk On Earth”: Are The Interviews On The Show Real?
Cunk on Earth contains fully authentic interviews and scientific material, including the existence of historical characters such as Genghis Khan and the period of the Dark Ages.
Cunk’s amusing comments, on the other hand, should be taken with a grain of salt. Cows and early humans, for example, never fought one other.
But if you listen carefully, you’ll also hear some biting satire. Be on the lookout for Brooker’s ageless indictment of modern politics, capitalism, and technology. The Greeks would be horrified to learn that olives, which they claimed to have invented, precede democracy.
Anyone would giggle at the Cunk’s questions during the numerous interviews. Morgan believes it is critical for her to present herself as if her concerns are genuine and that she means them.
Despite the interviewer’s professional approach, the interviewees are perplexed by the fact that the actual questions are significantly different from what they would have expected.
Cunk, the question was either amusing or legitimate to the viewers at home. Anyone, regardless of the question, will chuckle when they see the answer.
There is a clear parallel between many Sacha Baron Cohen characters, particularly Ali G and Cunk’s interview subjects, because they are real-life experts in their fields who fail to react to her ridiculous questions.
The primary difference is that in this case, Philomena herself is the topic of the comedy rather than the actual people who are perplexed by her.
Cohen frequently encounters innocent people whose innate kindness accidentally makes them into amusing targets, despite the fact that many of his subjects are more than deserving of Cohen’s humiliation. There is none of that uneasiness here.
“Cunk On Earth”: What Is It All About?
Cunk on Earth follows comedian and actress Diane Morgan’s character Philomena Cunk as she investigates the history of human civilisation, all the way back to the “beginnings” of humanity, with a comic slant.
Cunk aims to obtain a greater knowledge of humanity’s existence, contributions, and blunders along the road through interviews with actual specialists in fields such as archaeology, museum curators, and numerous other professionals.
And, while it’s presented in a basic manner akin to anything you’d see on PBS or BBC (where it first aired), this is very much a mockumentary.
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“Cunk On Earth”: Producer
Cunk on Earth is the brainchild of British satirist Charlie Brooker, best known as the creator of the Netflix show Black Mirror.
Brooker has collaborated with Morgan on her many Cunk-tastic publications for over a decade, including the previously mentioned Cunk on Shakespeare in 2016, the series Cunk on Britain, and now, Cunk on Earth.
Brooker co-created and executive-produced Death to 2020 and Death to 2021, which he also co-created. Morgan portrays Gemma Nerrick, “one of the world’s five most normal persons.”
“Cunk On Earth”: Recap
- In the first episode, “In the Beginnings,” Philomena Cunk investigates the finding of early man and how they developed from hunters to living humans who now rely on cattle for a living.
- Living beings progressed from drawing their own boundaries to establishing villages and borders, which grew into enormous geographical masses that finally became kingdoms.
- This episode shed insight on the origins of Greek philosophy and how they developed life ideals that are still relevant today.
- As a continuation of the previous episode, the second episode, “Faith/Off,” focuses on why humans recognized religion and how it became a common aspect of their life.
- The show also discussed how Islam and Christianity emerged in Asia and Central Asia, with only Islam remaining in the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa; Christianity spread across Europe, and Christian preachers traveled from country to country spreading the message of Jesus while destroying local culture.
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- “The Renaissance Will Not Be Televised” was about how Europe as a whole emerged from the Dark Ages and into what was known as the Renaissance, a time when great painters, such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo Da Vinci, flourished not just as painters but also as intellectuals and philosophers.
- This was followed by episode four, which was entirely about the industrial revolution, or “Rise of the Machines,” as the show’s title suggests.
- This episode covers the use of steam, water, and other sources to ensure heavy industries such as metal, wood, and everything that is to be utilized by people on a regular basis, as it sheds light on how we became machine dependent and continue to be one, albeit improved ones.
- “Wars of the World” offers frightening information of how the cold war divided the world into two sections until the USSR broke up in 1991 in just 28 minutes.
- From 1945 to 1991, several incidents and wars occurred that affected the world we live in today.
- “Cunk on Earth” relies solely on humour because the rest of the components Philomena Cunk discusses are familiar to all viewers from numerous documentaries we’ve watched on television and on the OTT space for years.
- Diane Morgan, playing Philomena Cunk, impersonates David Attenborough, who is well-known for his passion for documentary filmmaking and for openly discussing his love of nature.
“Cunk On Earth”: Will There Be Season 2?
There has been no confirmation of a Cunk on Earth season 2 from either Netflix (which has shown the show abroad) or the BBC, who created the series and originally broadcast it in the UK.
However, if Cunk on Earth does well, the odds of Philomena Cunk receiving another outing will grow, and she has a lot of untapped potential.
We could get a straight-up second season, or we could get something like Cunk on America or Cunk on Europe. That would be a lot of fun, and if people like Cunk on Earth, they’d probably like that as well.
For the time being, Cunk on Earth season 2 concludes. Check out our guides to the best comedy movies for more laughter, or our picks for the best drama series for something more serious.
“Cunk On Earth”: Who Played The Role Of Philomena Cunk
Diane Morgan (@dianemash42) portrays Philomena Cunk as an interviewer who has the opportunity to conduct in-depth, documentary-style interviews with some of the most knowledgeable people in their fields in Cunk on Earth.
Only the dialogues are from the convention world, and the interviewer’s questions frequently perplex the subject in front of them.
The true character then emerges. Cunk was depicted in the first three to five minutes as a dim-bulb interviewer/commentator who was uneducated and performed occasional study.
Nonetheless, the character and idea were expanded upon in a series of half-hour specials and then in the BBC Two series Cunk on Britain.
Philomena Cunk, the host of Cunk on Earth, takes viewers on a journey around the world. The newscaster offers difficult questions to assist viewers realize the reality of our civilization’s past.
In the following scenario, Philomena Cunk interviews a variety of people, including experts, in order to delve thoroughly into the history of humanity and ancient civilisation.
Mockumentaries and investigative documentaries fans will definitely enjoy the trailer’s weird yet intriguing tone.
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