"Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl" is an American half hour short film from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year already and you can read the name of the protagonist in the title. This HBO production can basically be seen as a comedy performance overall I would say, even if the location was a somewhat different stage and the audience is by definition also different in here as Wuhl, an Emmy winner, involves them in his stand-up routine permanently. It does look as if everybody there had a pretty great time and good for them I can only say. However, this does not mean you also have a good time checking this one out. It's mildly funny and the best about it is probably random snippets of information like the one about the Guinness Book of World Records. But there are also some parts that didn't work out and there is really nothing more cringeworthy than watching student laugh and their only purpose is to suck up to the professor. This is an occurrence here from start to finish and it is embarrassing really. As for Mr. Wuhl I think he did an okay job overall, sometimes a bit over the top, but he managed to make all his scripted stuff look spontaneous and that is a bit of an achievement I suppose. The one thing I won't appreciate though were the ways in which he repeatedly mocked Ben Affleck. Sure there was no Argo yet, but still I found it very disrespectful and this is one of the crucial reasons why I give this one a thumbs-down. Another would be that all scenes outside the classroom (even if it weren't many) were really weak. Not recommended. Now lets see if the sequel is any better.

I recently watched this, but when it started I had no idea what the concept was about, what the topic was.....in short - I had no idea what it was. Was it a documentary, was it a comedy routine.....Well, it was BOTH.

It started a little slow, but I think that's because I had absolutely no idea what type of program I was viewing. But it quickly sucked me in. The episode I watched had Robert Wuhl discussing fact and fiction in history. Mainly how we (american's) learn history that isn't really true - and how we got to learn what we did. He did this in such a way as to keep the viewer completely entertained, and interested. I actually learned a few things and that is a true indicator of how effective this type of program can be.

I would love to see this picked up as a series for HBO. I believe it can be just as fun and effective with a variety of topics - especially if they are "taught" in the same type of manner as this episode.

I never really knew who Robert Wuhl was before seeing this. But after seeing it I realized what a funny man he is. This HBO special features him teaching "American history" to New York university film students and the man was just phenomenal. He poked fun at almost every key historic event that occurred not just in the U.S. but some other parts of the world. This documentary/comedy was a great satire that made me question if what I accept as the infallible true history is really true.

I enjoyed how Mr. Wuhl managed to mix useful information with great comedy and made learning a lot more exciting. I would recommend this to anyone interested in history and is willing to question what his/her beliefs.