History of Swear Words
Season 1 Premiere:
Jan 5, 2021
Metascore
Generally Favorable
62
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
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All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
62
57% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
14% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Jan 6, 2021
80
Cage is ultimately just the bait for the series, which, over the course of six 20-minute episodes, goes surprisingly deep into not only each epithet’s origins but the effects of racism and misogyny on what is or isn’t considered taboo, and what can or can’t be reclaimed. If anything, the only pity is that the series isn’t longer; the discussions are fascinating and unusually upfront, and beg a more detailed history than the brief overview can provide.
Jan 5, 2021
80
History Of Swear Words packs a lot of information into each 20 minute segment. And though the segments stray from their respective topics a bit, everyone looks like they’re having a cathartic good time talking about the biggest curse words in the English language.
Jan 5, 2021
75
Over six bite-sized episodes—each clocks in at just 20 minutes—History aims to be both enlightening and entertaining, and largely succeeds on both fronts. It pairs color commentary from a solid slate of comedians and actors with unstuffy lessons from a game gang of academics.
Jan 6, 2021
63
What’s missing here overall isn’t seriousness, but context and a little tension. The way the comics are deployed individually, too many of the same points are stated, reiterated and unchallenged. (A roundtable setup would’ve been livelier.) An extra 10 minutes per episode might’ve led to a richer examination of the issues — the words humankind creates, then stigmatizes, then weaponizes, and then tends to use over and over to less effective advantage.
Jan 5, 2021
60
It's slight and rarely as funny as it feels like it ought to be. But if your curiosity stems from the seeming oddness of the Leaving Las Vegas star serving as emcee for an overview of obscenities, that oddness is delivered in satisfying quantities.
Jan 5, 2021
40
This premise lacks the basic heft required to anchor a miniseries, instead leaving the impression of a collection of lengthy YouTube videos. ... The saving grace dispelling the aura of disposability is Cage, the sheer magnitude of his screen presence lending the whole operation a higher credibility. He’s living proof that there’s a lyrical poetry to the unsubtle art of cursing, and that that primal magic isn’t so simply conjured.
Jan 5, 2021
25
‘Swear Words’ is a joyless slog. ... You’re left wanting to crawl under a blanket in horror as funny people such as Jim Jeffries, Sarah Silverman, Nick Offerman, and Nikki Glaser drop bomb after bomb. ... If the show cut the comedians completely and just focused on Cage and these [experts], the show would have been about half as long (a good thing) and could have been a really solid little web series.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
82% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
18% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 26, 2021
7
The History of Swear Words is a documentary that we would have never known we would want, but Netflix knew better. The first season of this hilarious documentary series examines the six most commonly used swear words in the English language in very quick, 20-minute episodes. Each episode explores the past, present, and potential future for each word from the expertise of: linguistic specialists, actors, and comedians. These unique perspectives allow us to get a range of knowledge about the use of the word that are simultaneously interesting and useless. I was excited to see this show when I found out that Nicolas Cage was going to be the host since it seemed like such a perfect fit. He is hilarious, charismatic, and sure does delivers the F-bomb with such sophistication. He and the guests give the episodes that comedic edge which makes it easy to watch and offers many laughs throughout. It is also interesting to see how society reacts to the words in popular culture, specifically with film and television restrictions. A hilarious lineup of comedians are featured in the show, which includes Nick Offerman, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser, and many more. Documentaries are not everyone's favorite medium, but this documentary series fixes most problems the genre has by keeping the episodes short, providing information in an easy to digest manner, and adding plenty of funny moments, which makes the series extremely unique. If you are looking to watch something quick, this is a fun watch.
Production Company:
- B17 Entertainment
- Funny or Die
Initial Release Date:Jan 5, 2021
Number of seasons:1 Season
Rating:TV-MA
Awards
Critics' Choice Real TV Awards
• 1 Nomination
