The Extremely Accurate History of the Internet: The Onion’s new satirical documentary lands on Yahoo

Everyone loves The Onion, right? Founded in 1988, the print and online satirical publication has found its way into the hearts of many.

Now, “America’s Finest News Source” is launching a new “documentary” on Yahoo! Screen’s Comedy Channel, called ‘The Extremely Accurate History of the Internet,’ a title which alludes to the exact opposite sentiment.

The Onion’s show will dive deep into the past of this “vast and glorious data network”, kicking off with the “carved stone modems of our African ancestors”, through the WiFi-enabled monks of Medieval Europe, to the porn-laden Web we see today.

Yahoo Screen – formerly Yahoo Video – is a video-sharing portal featuring Yahoo-only material, with all user-generated videos removed in March last year to make way for its new professional service. The Comedy Channel went live in March this year. In addition to the Onion’s new offering, Yahoo Screen is also renewing ‘Odd News,’ ‘Sketchy,’ ‘First Dates with Toby Harris,’ and ‘Burning Love’.

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The Next Web caught up with Baratunde Thurston, Director of Digital at The Onion, at this year’s SXSW, where we talked about media, publishing, the Internet and more.

Part 1 of The Onion’s new show covers “Humanity’s Terrible Past: 50,000 Years Without WiFi”. The synopsis says:

“We explore what life was like before the Internet. In a time no one remembers anymore, cavemen wandered the Earth without Google maps, and humanity floundered for centuries.”

You can watch the first episode here:

Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock