Is the meaning of life a mystery that can be solved, and if so, should we listen or cover our ears to avoid spoilers? These questions, and many more equally idiotic questions, are the focus of the new single-episode special “Cunk on Life,” streaming on Netflix. Host Philomena Cunk wants answers to the great mysteries of what it means to be human and she’ll ask every academic in England until she gets them.

The premise of every Cunk special is to spoof talking-head documentaries by replacing a wise, worldly host with, well, Philomena Cunk, a misinformed host who asks really respected academics the dumbest questions they can have ever been asked. Cunk, played by actress Diane Morgan, is insatiably curious but has no understanding of the areas she supposedly explores, be it human anatomy or art history. She’s prone to telling confusing anecdotes about her boyfriend Paul or her ex Sean, both of whom are equally perplexed about science and the human body.

The wonder and weakness of Cunk as a character is that the jokes are all variations on the same concept. What if the least qualified person imaginable hosted a documentary? Cunk calls Moses “the master of his time,” calls Adam and Eve “the first people to disappoint their father,” and explains their banishment from Eden with “God had hidden the secret of knowledge in a delicious fruit, but then he had Forbidden them to eat it for any reason.”

Creator Charlie Brooker, also known for producing Black Mirror, had planned for Cunk to be more of a clueless, posh presenter, but Morgan thought her natural Northern English accent would sound funnier, telling the British publication The iPaper in 2016: “It just does.”, I don’t know why. It flattens the words.” She never breaks down, not even when she asks an academic: “When a person dies, from which hole does the spirit come, north or south?”

This is one of the more printable jokes in a special edition that is far too profane or risqué for this newspaper’s standards. Sometimes I had to stop and rewind because I was laughing so hard that I missed a follow-up joke. Morgan’s character has a way with words, and the strange poetry of her utterances is what takes her from simple stupidity to compulsively observed person, as she describes the human brain as “a kind of smart cauliflower.” At one point in “Cunk on Life,” she asks a physics professor if he has “heard of DNA.” “Yes,” he replies.

The special is divided into sections such as “Innards and Outards” and “Morality and Stuff.” It’s ironic to complain that this nonsensical mockumentary doesn’t hold together as well as the previous one, but the progression of human history in their earlier special “Cunk on Earth” provided an arc that the vaguer concept of life cannot T.” Cunk on Life” wanders around and often her narration is funnier than the interviews. Towards the end of the show, she asks Brian Cox, a particle physics professor and prominent British scientist, if she is wasting his time, and he bluntly replies, “Yes.”

Cox is a big deal and she is absolutely wasting his time. But it’s not entirely funny. Part of the charm of earlier installments is how hard her experts try to explain the world to her. They are quite nice to her. Cunk may be misguided, but there’s something sad about one of these geniuses being cruel to her. The point here is that we know she’s wasting everyone’s time. That’s why it’s so funny. In the Cox interview, the subtext becomes the text.

“Cunk on Earth” was hilariously funny throughout; “Cunk on Life” is very funny until it comes to an abrupt halt about halfway through with a scary section about the death penalty from which it has a hard time recovering. And this segment. Shot. Cunk “interviews” a death row inmate who murdered several people to ask him about death; the conversation fails as a comedy. It’s the only fake interview in the series – an actor plays the prisoner – and it causes excitement. The character has dealt with dark themes before, but this installment permeates the world of the series in a way derailed the river. It’s a creative risk that doesn’t pay off.

Despite this low point, the series is worth a look for the very amusing content that surrounds it. Honestly, a lot of TV these days is pretty inconsistent. With “Cunk on Life,” at least you know there will be some good laughs.

Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @LisaWeidenfeld and Instagram @lisaweidenfeld.