Drunk History season finale features Wernher von Braun, played by Nathan Fillion

drunk history wernher von braun

Wernher von Braun, the father of American rocket science who designed the Saturn V rocket in Huntsville, Ala. was the subject of the Comedy Central television show Drunk History on its Season 3 finale. (Screen grab from www.cc.com)

Drunk History covered one of Huntsville's most famous sons last night, but left out one crucial detail.

As a space geek, native Huntsvillian and a lover of Nathan Fillion, here is my utterly biased review.

Wernher von Braun - the German rocket scientist who came to Huntsville and designed the Saturn V rocket that put men on the moon - was the subject of a Drunk History segment on last night's Season 3 finale on Comedy Central.

I happened to catch the show and, as a near-lifelong Huntsvillian, was thrilled - thrilled! - to see von Braun featured on the tongue-in-cheek show. If you've never seen Drunk History, it's basically a show where real people get drunk and recount interesting bits of history as their slurred stories are acted out for comic effect by famous actors.

My excitement turned to elation - elation! - when Nathan Fillion strode onscreen as von Braun himself. Fillion has a devoted fan base, particularly among the geek and sci-fi crowds (e.g. Huntsville) for work in shows like Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. He's not bad looking, either. Ahem.

Fillion was the perfect choice, in other words, to play the father of American rocket science.

Drunk History's 4-minute von Braun segment was narrated by Matt Gourley, who I learned from a quick Google search is an actor, comedian and podcaster. OK. Pretty sure one of our NASA folks or local commedians could have done it better, but again - I'm biased.

On the show, after downing a few Sputnik cocktails (key ingredient: sour grapes), Gourley covers von Braun's early interest in space and his V2 rocket-building in the late 30s.

Then he gets to the Nazi stuff. This can be a touchy subject for von Braun enthusiasts because history isn't completely clear on how interested - or involved - von Braun was in Nazi ideology.

Adolf Hitler shows up, played to great effect by a black actor. Von Braun joins the S.S. - it stands for "serious Nazis" according to Gourley - and his rockets are used for destruction rather than space exploration.

He covers von Braun's journey to El Paso, Texas thanks to Project Paperclip, his work with American missiles, collaboration with Walt Disney on the Man in Space television series, the "Time" magazine cover, and his creation of the Saturn V rocket that propelled the Apollo 11 crew to the moon.

The show's fatal flaw? Nary a mention of Huntsville by name. For all an average joe would know by watching this show, von Braun built the Saturn V in Texas, the only location mentioned.

Not cool, Comedy Central.

I was personally feeling outraged, but was later mollified when, at the end, they showed the famous photo of von Braun being carried on the shoulders of exuberant Huntsvillians on Huntsville's courthouse square after Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

The clip below cuts off the last bit of the segment - the most important, of course - that covered the Saturn V and showed von Braun in Huntsville. But you can watch and get the gist.

All in all, this Huntsvillian gives Drunk History a B- in Wernher von Braun 101.

Sidenote: I fully expect Comedy Central to get some heated phone calls or emails from the space folks in Huntsville about this show. One thing you learn from working at The Huntsville Times is that when you mention von Braun in any story, you WILL get your facts and details thoroughly examined and often corrected by a dedicated bunch of rocket scientists.

Welcome to Huntsville.

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