Shane Madej has always been my favourite part of Buzzfeed Unsolved, hilarious, quirky, rational, and talented - needlessly writing musical numbers for the Hot Daga, which itself was needless and insanely funny in a stupid kind of way. Shane was previously given free rein in his own show, Ruining History, with mixed results. Puppet History is a new but unfortunately rarely running show (once per month?) that picks up where Ruining History left off - and does it better.
Shane definitely takes this opportunity to shine - a musical number in every episode, going nuts with puppetry (something he once hinted he dabbled in during Buzzfeed Unsolved), and a game show feel. It's like a blend of the Hot Daga, Ruining History, and even Buzzfeed Unsolved. Unlike Ruining History which suffered from too large a panel, Puppet History limits itself to a small cast of three humans per episode and you get a bit of that Shane vs. Ryan dynamic. Unlike the awful costumes you saw in the Pope episode of Ruining History, the puppets in Puppet History have a reason for looking stupid - similar to the Hot Daga.
The first episode, "Life During the Black Death Pandemic," starts off well but relies on a bit too much scatological humour. "Stealing the World's Most Expensive Necklace" is also good, with guest contestant Kate Peterman's laughter being contagious. But "Surviving the Titanic" is definitely the best episode to date and shows a lot of promise. I look forward to the next episode, and if the rest of the series is as good it may soon rival Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime.
