# Documentary Now! (2015)

> A sketch comedy anthology that spoofs famous documentaries, each episode recreating an invented true story in the style of a different documentary form.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/56427

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 27
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Rhys Thomas
- Network: IFC
- Cast: Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Helen Mirren, Jack Black, Aidy Bryant, Kenny Loggins, Irving Azoff, Darryl Hall
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4677934/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: deadpan, witty, sardonic, irreverent

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard the series as a positive, sharply crafted parody that rewards fans of documentary form, with later seasons rated highest.

## Synopsis

Documentary Now! (2015-2022) is a American satirical mockumentary sketch comedy anthology series created by Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Rhys Thomas for IFC. Across four seasons and twenty-seven episodes of roughly twenty-three minutes each, the show builds each installment around a fictional true story that never happened, rendered with deadpan earnestness. Fred Armisen and Bill Hader play a rotating cast of characters, many of them documentarians, subjects and experts, while Helen Mirren appears as the host who introduces each piece. The engine of every episode is the gap between a solemn documentary premise and the absurd lengths its subjects go to, whether a musician's rivalry, a cult of hopeful entrepreneurs, or a meticulously staged scandal. Each segment imitates a specific documentary form, from crisp talking-head interviews to vérité handheld footage, so the comedy depends on precise craft as much as on jokes. The register stays dry, witty and sardonic, with a fondness for the genre it sends up. Viewers who enjoy the mockumentary bite of The Office, the sketch rigor of Portlandia, or the deadpan irony of Saturday Night Live will find the same pleasure here, in a self-contained format where each episode can be watched alone.

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- [The Shivering Truth (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/72323)
- [Independent Lens (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/13963)
- [The Rehearsal (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/127140)
- [I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/75310)
- [The Ben Stiller Show (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/699)
- [The Trial (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/1105206)
- [Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/63503)
- [Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/30015)

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