It actually manages to be thought-provoking once or twice per half-hour episode as it assaults its chosen subjects with wisecracks and skewed logic.

Ferguson's new History panel comedy comes across as frustratingly unambitious and under-developed.

As Ferguson demonstrated during his late-night stint, he’s very good at being off the cuff in a vaguely naughty, impish sort of way. But Join or Die (on which the host doubles as a producer) doesn’t unleash that gift quite so much as fail to provide it with a coherent framework or structure. As a result, the episodes labor even to fill a half-hour.