The 2000 Year Old Man is a character created by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. According to Carl Reiner's son , Rob Reiner, in a 2008 interview, the characcter was originally established when Reiner and Brooks would fool around and adlib at cocktail parties. Apparently, fellow comic Steve Allen, thought the 2000 year old man was so hilarious, he convinced Reiner and Brooks to try a recording. This was the first sketch of that recording. The first sketches of this character remain a classic today.

The completed video master of this material is believed to still be under copyright to Capital Records. This segment, which is less than 5 % of the running time of the completed series is being used for educational purposes.

Title 17: Chapter 1 / 107 of the United States Code provides for special instances in which copyrighted materials can legally be used without permission from the owner.

 Section 107, "Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use," says in part: "The fair use of a copyrighted work ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."