# Documentary Now - IFC (no thread?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629 "2015-10-05T18:25:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/1 "2015-10-05T18:25:06Z")
Hope my search-Fu didn’t fail me, but it looks like we didn’t have a thread on this show. [http://www.ifc.com/shows/documentary-now](http://www.ifc.com/shows/documentary-now) 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. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/2 "2015-10-05T19:52:23Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/3 "2015-10-05T20:30:46Z")
I’ve only seen the first two (Grey Gardens and Nanook). Having seen both of the originals, I found the parodies to be very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/4 "2015-10-05T20:34:01Z")
Kinda hit-and-miss. A few really funny episodes and a couple of stinkers. Of course, the presence of Jack Black will ruin just about anything. \*Blue Jean Committee \*was great. My wife wonders how the hell they got Helen Mirren to appear. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/5 "2015-10-05T21:05:26Z")
I started watching with “The search for El Chingon” and have loved everyone of them. Best one was probably the Blue Jean Committee. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/6 "2015-10-05T21:21:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/7 "2015-10-05T21:22:50Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > … My wife wonders how the hell they got Helen Mirren to appear. She is a fan of Portlandia and reached out to Fred. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/8 "2015-10-05T23:00:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/9 "2015-10-05T23:20:40Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > My favorite episode was the one about the town that has an Al Capone festival. _“The honor’s THE SAME!”_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/10 "2015-10-06T00:26:51Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > 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. The original Grey Gardens documentary that the Barrymore movie is based on is on YouTube. The parody of it is dead on. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/11 "2015-10-06T01:16:27Z")
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](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/explore/season-40) skit. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/12 "2015-10-06T02:33:08Z")
I loved the Steely-Danness of _“Catalina Breeze”_. Man, did couple of guys ever make as much out of single album as Clark and Gene did? I really liked the Kunuk episode I thought the Capone Festival was actually kind of sweet. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/13 "2015-10-06T12:29:06Z")
I watched episode 4 “The Eye Doesn’t Lie” again last night. I’m sorry, but that is one of the funniest 22 minutes of TV I have ever seen! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/14 "2015-10-06T13:05:55Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I watched episode 4 “The Eye Doesn’t Lie” again last night. > > I’m sorry, but that is one of the funniest 22 minutes of TV I have ever seen! 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” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/15 "2015-10-06T21:31:54Z")
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. Not interested in seeing others. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/16 "2023-05-16T20:50:22Z")
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. > [@madmonk28](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/17 "2023-05-17T15:30:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/18 "2023-05-17T15:35:18Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > I love Documentary Now, but very annoyed that it’s no longer on Netflix I just watched Season 4 on Netflix. I don’t think it’s available on ad-supported plans though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/19 "2023-05-17T15:36:46Z")
Thanks, I’ll check. Maybe I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629/20 "2023-05-17T23:50:48Z")
Since my previous post I’ve watch a few other episodes. And again they generally disappoint. OTOH, the Spalding Gray parody one was pure genius. And it was a rush job. I suggest they stop “thinking” about an episode and just push into it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/documentary-now-ifc-no-thread/733629.md?page=2)