How to make a good mockumentary: 7 lessons from modern film and TV

By Josh Modell, Erik Adams, Alex McLevy, Marah Eakin | August 17, 2015 | 5:00am

TV Features TV

How to make a good mockumentary: 7 lessons from modern film and TV

Christopher Guest doesn’t care much for “mockumentary.” “It’s a term I don’t like or use,” he once told New York magazine. “I think it’s a bit cheesy.” His misgivings about the shorthand aside, few have done more to advance the cause of the mock-doc, starring in and co-writing This Is Spinal Tap before undertaking a series of documentary-style films (Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and the forthcoming Mascots) and the TV series Family Tree. The style, format, and off-the-cuff feel of those projects has informed entire chapters of modern screen comedy, influencing some of the best and biggest sitcoms in recent decades, and providing a vehicle for The Muppets’ return to the small screen. But not every example of the genre can be The Office; cherrypicking from the past five years of what Christopher Guest doesn’t want us to call “mockumentaries,” The A.V. Club compiled this checklist for faking a documentary the right way. (The list is restricted to comedic works, so you won’t find any examples from the similarly booming realm of found-footage horror.)

2. Get very, very specific (Documentary Now!)

Like much of the comedy programming on IFC, the new joint effort from alumni Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, and Bill Hader presumes that the audience has already done its homework. An anthology series grounded in sketch comedy, Documentary Now! follows in the footsteps of such famed SNL-related short subjects as “,” “,” and the Armisen-and-Hader-fronted “,” applying a studious eye and a bone-dry sense of humor to the entire history of documentary filmmaking. The true stars of the project are directors Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono and the Documentary Now! editorial team, who expertly mimic the primordial docudrama techniques of Robert J. Flaherty (and the investigative retrospective that called those techniques into question) or the Direct Cinema of Albert and David Maysles. The episode that riffs on the Maysles’ classic Grey Gardens makes no excuses for those unfamiliar with the names Big Edie and Little Edie, diving right into the lives of two fallen socialites (played by Armisen and Hader) with eccentric fashion sense and squalid living arrangements. The humor is in the commitment, from the grainy filmstock to Hader’s take on Little Edie’s “” speech. That gives Documentary Now! solid footing from which to escalate its premises to wildly comedic heights, be it treating VICE News correspondents like Wile E. Coyote or connecting the dots between the feel of Grey Gardens and popular trends in contemporary horror cinema. [Erik Adams]

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4. It’s never too late for a follow-up ()

While the original run of The Comeback, Lisa Kudrow’s cringe-comedy takedown of Hollywood narcissism, had a small but devoted following, it never inspired the kinds of feverish calls for a return engagement that, say, provoked. Sometimes, however, that time away, combined with the removal of the weight of expectations, can be a boon: When the series returned in 2014, it didn’t have to worry about fan service, or providing answers to lingering questions demanding resolution by loyal viewers. All it had to do was be funny. Which it did to delicious effect, the nearly decade of time between installments suggesting Kudrow and Michael Patrick King had been saving up great ideas all those years, just waiting to unleash them. Call it the Fury Road advantage: all that time away to plot and plan made the return that much sweeter. [Alex McCown]

7. When all else fails, throw to the monkey puppet (Family Tree)

The HBO/BBC comedy Family Tree is staffed with Christopher Guest regulars like Fred Willard, Michael McKean, and Ed Begley Jr., but it’s a newcomer to the fold that steals the most scenes. Adapting a character from her stage act, ventriloquist Nina Conti supplements her portrayal of Bea Chadwick with Monk, a cynical primate/therapeutic tool perpetually attached to Bea’s right hand. Monk’s presence is a new twist on mockumentary honesty, relaying Bea’s unfiltered thoughts without the assistance of the confessional camera. In a show that’s all about tracing genealogical roots, Conti reaches back to one of mankind’s oldest ancestors for the biggest laughs. [Erik Adams]