Documentary Now!

Aktham Tashtoush who left a bad review below must not have read up on what this is about. To fully appreciate the brilliant comedy in Documentary Now, you need to watch at least part of (or read about) Grey Gardens for the 1st episode, and then watch an episode of VICE on Youtube to fully appreciate the 2nd episode. Bill & Fred have obviously watched and researched the original characters and have portrayed and mocked what is so funny about original shows. If you like morbid comedy, then this delivers.

Bill & Fred are hilarious together, and my only complaint is that there is only going to be 6 episodes it appears.

It baffles me that a show this funny can remain so underground, with less than a "cult classic" following. However I understand why many have looked over this show. The concept is not only very "out there" but the writing is very smart. In a similar way that the UK version of "The Office" is often overlooked by US fans for being "too smart", this show is closer to dry, British humor than classic American humor. But, through and through, this show is brilliant. The attention to detail is astounding to the point where the original documentaries look worse than their versions. Mulany, Meyers, Hader and Armisen pour so much passion into this show. This is not a cash grab, it's not a money maker, it's a passion project shared by 4 brilliant comedians and that can be seen in every episode. Please support this show, brilliant direction, writing and acting such as this should be rewarded and unfortunately this show is being overlooked.

As a film student, I had to go through all the important documentaries, starting from the 1920s with Nanook of the North till nowadays docs.

Studied them, analyzed them, watched them over and over again. Great pieces of documentary filmmaking to say the least. NOW, what these guys have achieved here with these light-hearted and hilarious mockumentaries, which reflect the original ones, is just extraordinary! They actually revamped them by adding a comical element to many (with their special SNL humor touch) and certain story alterations but kept the original style of filmmaking accurate and similar to the originals. They made a different documentary; i think that if you didn't know any of their actors or their intentions and happened to come across one of these randomly, then you d think its the real thing! The result is just magnificent.

These mini docs are full of heart, talent, comedy and most of all they give a wink to the viewer to visit the original documentary.

Maybe it will be good to search for a guide on what documentaries they are basing their mockumentaries on so you get more into the humor but its definitely not necessary.

My personal favorites are the Sandy Passage, the Eye don't lie, the Blue Jean Committee and Juan likes rice and Chicken. Excellent series. 10/10.

Some episodes were very good. "Batsh*t Valley", "Searching for Mr. Larson", "Gentle and Soft" are some of the good ones. "Original Cast album" and "Waiting for the Artist" are painfully unwatchable. I'm sure there are some who like that kind of thing, but it was a major chore to get through those episodes. "Final Transition" and "Any given Saturday Afternoon" were reasonably OK. Armison is great, and some of the guest stars make it interesting. Overall, it balances out to about a 6.

Brilliant and hilarious show that takes just the right amount of details from real docs. Wish we had more Bill Hader in later episodes!