Bill Hader and Fred Armisen make fake documentaries for IFC.
Each episode is a different documentary and done in a different style with framing device of a PBS style documentary series introduced by Helen Mirren. (There’s even pledge drive bumpers with their corporate sponsor Sam Adams lager.
The first episode is a send up of Grey Gardens.
The second is them doing a Nanook of the North parody (this one is probably the most outright comedic)
The third episode is a HBO’s Vice style doc about a drug lord.
The fourth is in the style of “The Thin Blue Line” (which I believe they actually got the editor for that one to work on the episode.)
The last two I’m kind of stumped if they are aping actual documentaries(or style) like the previous episodes.
One episode is about a Norwegian town that holds an Al Capone festival every year.
The season finale–actually a two-part episode-- is about a 70s band, called the Blue Jean Committee, that put out one amazing album and then broke up and where the two band founders are today.
The series is amusing and only outright funny a few times. I think you have to really love documentaries to get into it.
Actually, I thought “Sandy Passage” (the Grey Gardens spoof) was a laugh riot, but it probably only would be for people familiar with the original. Still, completely hilarious (especially when it decides to spoof another genre along the way).
I found the Errol Morris TBL parody the least funny simply because the more we hear about our justice system, the more we realize how such a riff isn’t always too far from the truth. So this comes the closest to social commentary more than comedy, per se.
The Capone documentary follows the refrain of docs that explore the nuances of a certain small group of people or quirky cultural festival–more PBS than arthouse cinema, and in the same spirit as Waiting for Guffman.
There are usually two kind of rock ‘n’ roll docs–concert docs or “Where are they now?” docs, that explore a band’s history or musical legacy. The Blue Jean Committee is pretty much an excuse to dive deep into 70s hippie nostalgia.
The third was notably delayed from being shown because of the on-camera murders of two reporters recently (even though the context is completely different) but is now available in reruns and On Demand. It’s pretty funny and more a satire of hip “investigative” journalists who are clearly out of their depth but live for the sizzle, not the steak.
The Nanook spoof is the most obviously humorous because it tries the least to simulate the style of the original and concentrates on all the anachronistic cliches of modern filmmaking.
Still, a great series overall–here’s hoping Helen Mirren comes back to introduce every episode next season, too!
God, I love this show. I read that the last documentary was a parody of an Eagles documentary.
My favorite episode was the one about the town that has an Al Capone festival. It’s not a parody of any specific documentary, but I found it completely believable.
I watched Grey Gardens (the 2009 tv movie with Drew Barrymore) on a Saturday night, then happened to see the Documentary Now! episode the following night.
I had some very good laughs!
I also found the Nanook episode absolutely hilarious.
I enjoyed the others, but not nearly as much as those two.
I’m actually thinking I’ll watch the crime one again tonight.
I thought Sandy Passage was interesting as a spoof of Grey Gardens but nothing special. Until the end, when it turned into a take off along the lines of The Blair Witch Project with the attack by the old lady. Then I laughed a lot; it really turned the episode into greatness (kind of like last year’s SNL’s Ooh Child skit.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Thin Blue Line, the movie it is parodying, but if not, do yourself and watch it and then watch The Eye Doesn’t Lie back to back.
My favorite lines from the documentary about the Al Capone Festival:
First guy, “If we let an immigrant win the Al Capone lookalike contest, what does that say about us?”
Second guy, “that we are welcoming and generous.”
First guy, “yeah, that’s a good point”
We’ve only watched the Grey Gardens parody. Barely humorous at times. A big disappointment. I find the real Grey Gardens films to be parodies in their own right.
Maybe not worth resurrecting this thread, but I just wanted to list my favourite episodes:
The Eye Doesn’t Lie
Blue Jean Committee
Globesman
Mr. Runner Up
I don’t remember any episodes from Season 3 really standing out, but maybe I’ll watch them again. I haven’t watched Season 4 yet.
Oddly enough, for the episodes where I had seen the original documentary (e.g. Sandy Passage and The Bunker), I thought the parodies seemed less funny because they were only a slight variation on the original.
I love Documentary Now, but very annoyed that it’s no longer on Netflix. I purchased the latest season on Amazon, but it doesn’t include “When they threw rocks” for no apparent reason.
That said, “location is everything “ is the best episode, with “soldier of Illusion “ a close second.
