41-429: The Office is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as The Office in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as the boss and main character. The two series were broadcast on BBC Two in 2001 and 2002, totalling 12 episodes, with two special episodes concluding the series in 2003. A follow up movie ( David Brent: Life on
82-399: A 1967 British musical science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Peter Watkins and starring Paul Jones and Jean Shrimpton . It was produced by John Heyman . Johnny Speight wrote the story, and Norman Bogner wrote the script. The story is presented as a narrated documentary, set in a near-future 1970s England, and concerning a disillusioned pop singer, Steven Shorter, who is
123-464: A fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events. Nor should either of those be confused with docufiction , a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with fictional elements. They are often presented as historical documentaries, with B roll and talking heads discussing past events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Examples emerged during
164-446: A formal event to give him an achievement award and profess theirs and the nation's love for him. Shorter finally breaks down, inarticulately declaring disgust for the public that cannot see past his charade, and asking to be seen as an individual and not the inflated deity he has been presented as. After stunned silence, the public reacts angrily, and his popularity immediately plummets. Andrew Butler announces his immediate resignation from
205-465: A long-term liberal incumbent played by Gore Vidal . Man Bites Dog is a 1992 Belgian black comedy crime mockumentary written, produced, and directed by Rémy Belvaux , André Bonzel , and Benoît Poelvoorde . In 1995, Peter Jackson and Costa Botes directed Forgotten Silver , which claimed New Zealand "director" Colin McKenzie was a pioneer in filmmaking. When the film was later revealed to be
246-511: A mockumentary about the survival of the megalodon . The Canadian series Trailer Park Boys and its films (1998–present) were one of the first mainstream examples of Canadian mockumentaries. Popular examples in the US include sitcoms The Office (2005–2013), Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), and Modern Family (2009–2020); the American improv comedy Reno 911! (2003–2009); Derek (2012–2014);
287-415: A mockumentary refers to films, while the term comedy verite refers to TV series, though term is widely used here. The series Documentary Now! (2015–present) on IFC , created by Saturday Night Live alumni Bill Hader , Fred Armisen , and Seth Meyers , spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style and subject of each documentary. Hight argues that television is a natural medium for
328-456: A mockumentary, Jackson received criticism for tricking viewers. Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from 2006, and its 2020 sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm , are two controversial yet successful films that use this style, as does Brüno , a similar film from 2009 also starring Sacha Baron Cohen . Sony Pictures Animation released their second animated feature, Surf's Up in 2007, which
369-446: A mockumentary, as it provides for "extraordinarily rich sources of appropriation and commentary". In 2018, the BBC released the series Cunk on Britain created by Charlie Brooker and starring Diane Morgan about British history with Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer, asking various experts ridiculous questions. The follow-up Cunk on Earth featuring
410-527: A record attendance, and features militarized performance from various nationalist organizations. A firebrand preacher, Reverend Jeremy Tate, tells the assembled crowd they will be handed cards reading "We Will Conform," rails against the perceived post-war apathy in the country, and demands they repeat the words at his prompting, which they follow. Shorter and his band take the stage, with the band members wearing costumes and assuming poses reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Disabled citizens are given preferential seating to
451-467: A scene from Stanley Kubrick 's A Clockwork Orange was taken from Privilege . Some of Privilege was filmed on location in Birmingham , England, partly at Birmingham City F.C. 's St Andrew's stadium and at Birmingham Town Hall . The film featured Jones performing the title track, "I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy" (a number five hit record) and "Free Me". English singer/songwriter George Bean, playing
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#1732844939642492-399: A similar plot was released by BBC Two in 2022 and is available on Netflix . The BBC series People Like Us was first produced for radio in 1995 before a television version was made in 1999. Kay Stonham 's Audio Diaries was a similarly short tenured radio mockumentary that premiered the year after People Like Us 's run on Radio 4 ended. Privilege (film) Privilege is
533-411: Is a 1978 television film in mockumentary style about The Rutles , a fictional band that parodies The Beatles . The Beatles' own 1964 feature film debut, A Hard Day's Night , was itself filmed in mockumentary style; it ostensibly documents a few typical (and highly fictionalized) days in the life of the band as they travel from Liverpool to London for a television appearance. Since the beginning of
574-699: Is a Cold-War era American "mockumentary" film that made use of archival government footage from the 1950s. Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig stars Allen as a curiously nondescript enigma who is discovered for his remarkable ability to transform himself to resemble anyone he is near, and Allen is edited into historical archive footage. In 1984, Christopher Guest co-wrote and starred in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap , directed by Rob Reiner . Guest went on to write and direct other mockumentaries including Waiting for Guffman , Best in Show , and A Mighty Wind , all written with costar Eugene Levy . In Central Europe,
615-415: Is announced in advance of a huge stadium concert, where he will publicly "repent," no longer perform in handcuffs, and will espouse religious themes in his songs. Shorter's equilibrium becomes more shaky; at a picnic where lobster is served, he absurdly orders hot chocolate to drink, and everyone present in turn orders hot chocolate as well, demonstrating he will be enabled at all times. The stadium rally has
656-407: Is asked to film a commercial for the country's apple growers, hoping to convince citizens to eat a disproportionately large amount of apples to make up for a surplus supply. More ominously, the collective churches of England strike an arrangement with the government and Shorter's empire to turn him into a messianic leader that will boost church attendance and a sense of national unity. An image change
697-456: The 1950s when archival film footage became available. A very early example was a short piece on the " Swiss Spaghetti Harvest " that appeared as an April Fools' prank on the British television program Panorama in 1957. Mockumentaries can be partly or wholly improvised . Early work, including Luis Buñuel 's 1933 Land Without Bread , Orson Welles 's 1938 radio broadcast of The War of
738-405: The 1980s, the mockumentary format has gained considerable attention. The 1980 South African film The Gods Must be Crazy (along with its 1989 sequel ) is presented in the manner of a nature documentary , with documentary narrator Paddy O'Byrne describing the events of the film in the manner of a biologist or anthropologist presenting scientific knowledge to viewers. In 1982, The Atomic Cafe
779-546: The American version of The Office was the No. 1 streamed show on Netflix in the United States. A spin-off from the American version was announced in 2024 for release on Peacock ; 2024 also saw Amazon Prime Video debut an Australian version of The Office , featuring the franchise's first female lead character. In addition to those listed below, a Russian language version for Channel One Russia with an initial run of 24 episodes
820-497: The Money and Run (1969), The Clowns (1970) by Federico Fellini (a peculiar hybrid of documentary and fiction , a docufiction), Smile (1975) , Carlos Mayolo 's The Vampires of Poverty (1977) and All You Need Is Cash (1978). Albert Brooks was also an early popularizer of the mockumentary style with his film Real Life , 1979, a spoof of the 1973 reality television series An American Family . Woody Allen 's Take
861-427: The Money and Run is presented in documentary style with Allen playing a fictional criminal, Virgil Starkwell, whose crime exploits are "explored" throughout the film. Jackson Beck , who used to narrate documentaries in the 1940s, provides the voice-over narration. Fictional interviews are inter-spliced throughout, especially those of Starkwell's parents who wear Groucho Marx noses and mustaches. The style of this film
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#1732844939642902-631: The Road ) starring Gervais and featuring his David Brent character was released in 2016. Versions of the original were subsequently made in Germany, the United States, and many other countries. The longest-running version of the series, the American adaptation , ran for nine seasons on the NBC Television Network from 2005 to 2013, with a total of 201 episodes. According to Nielsen Ratings as of April 2019,
943-499: The Shorter organization, as it is no longer lucrative for his investors. The narrator states that to placate the now-hateful masses, and to preserve the viability of the still extant businesses that carry his name, Shorter's music will be banned from airplay, and he shall not be allowed to speak or perform publicly again. In postscript, the narrator reveals that there is little left of Shorter's career, and over archival footage of him ("with
984-485: The World ". The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour (1970–1971) also featured mockumentary pieces that interspersed both scripted and real-life man-in-the-street interviews, the most famous likely being "The Puck Crisis" in which hockey pucks were claimed to have become infected with a form of Dutch elm disease . All You Need Is Cash , developed from an early series of sketches in the comedy series Rutland Weekend Television ,
1025-547: The Worlds , various April Fools' Day news reports, and vérité -style film and television during the 1960s and 1970s, served as precursor to the genre. Early examples of mock-documentaries include various films by Peter Watkins , such as The War Game (1965), Privilege (1967), and the dystopic Punishment Park (1971). Further examples are " The Connection " (1961), A Hard Day's Night (1964), David Holzman's Diary (1967), Pat Paulsen for President (1968), Take
1066-478: The bomb fails the Government will turn – or is already turning – to sainted pop-singers to keep the country manageable; writers such as Vidal , Heinlein and Stapledon have expounded similar theories persuasively enough in the past. What hangs around Watkins' neck is sheer lack of professionalism: his film is a mass of poor scripting, inept acting, and directionless, irrelevant camerawork and editing.." Privilege
1107-660: The comedy series The Muppets (2015); People Just Do Nothing (2011–2018) and the Australian Chris Lilley shows Angry Boys , Summer Heights High , We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year , Ja'mie: Private School Girl , Jonah from Tonga and Lunatics . Shows currently running in this format include What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present) and Abbott Elementary (2021–present). Strictly speaking,
1148-696: The fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission in the run-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics ), and W1A , which follows the main characters of Twenty Twelve as they start work at the BBC, as well as The Office (2001) and its many international offshoots , and Come Fly with Me (2010), which follows the activity at a fictional airport and its variety of staff and passengers. British comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French often presented short mockumentaries as extended sketches in their TV show French & Saunders . Discovery Channel opened its annual Shark Week on 4 Aug 2013 with Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives ,
1189-522: The film (David Koechner, Eric Roberts, Chaz Bono, Ed Begley Jr.), performing arts (Ja Rule, Billy Morrison), and TV (Lindsey Shaw, Pierson Fode, Johnny Bananas) to play fictional versions of themselves. In television, the most notable mockumentaries in the 2000s have been ABC Australia 's The Games (1998–2000), the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys (1999–present), the British shows Marion and Geoff (2000), Twenty Twelve (2011–2012) (which follows
1230-580: The film, of Max Bacon saying "The intro goes something like this: (singing) 'Ba-di-da ba-di-da ba-da, boom boom.'" The accompanying music video opens with the footage from where this dialogue was taken. "Free Me" was part of the soundtrack of 2019 Guy Ritchie movie The Gentlemen . The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It's a mad, mad Watkins world, and no amount of incidental quoting from Lonely Boy (as Privilege does, at length, and without acknowledgement) makes it look like anybody else's. One quarrels not so much with Watkins' frenzied conviction that if
1271-478: The first time that viewers were exposed to mockumentary was in 1988 when the Czechoslovakian short film Oil Gobblers was shown. For two weeks, TV viewers believed that the oil-eating animals really existed. Tim Robbins ' 1992 film Bob Roberts was a mockumentary centered around the senatorial campaign of a right-wing stock trader and folksinger, and the unsavory connections and dirty tricks used to defeat
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1312-499: The growing hysteria surrounding the teen idol Paul Anka , with some scenes (notably that showing Steven Shorter at a table with a venue owner named "Uncle Julie" in both) being almost one-to-one reproductions of the earlier work. Lonely Boy has a different theme, that of a popular singer being merchandised by the music industry. The director of Privilege , Peter Watkins , had made a study of this earlier documentary film to prepare himself for filming Privilege . Watkins believes that
1353-458: The mid-1990s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues in a satirical way by using a fictional setting, or to parody the documentary form itself. While mockumentaries are usually comedic , pseudo-documentaries are their dramatic equivalents. However, pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama ,
1394-1024: The most loved celebrity in the country. His stage show involves him appearing on stage in a jail cell with handcuffs, beaten by police, to the horror and sympathy of the audience. It is described that the two main parties of England have formed a coalition government and encourage the success of Shorter to placate the masses and divert them from political activity. Shorter is consistently monitored and manipulated by handlers consisting of manager Martin Crossley, public relations representative Alvin Kirsch, record company executive Julie Jordan, and financial backer Andrew Butler. Businesses including nightclubs, shopping centers, product brands, and media outlets, carry Shorter's name, demonstrating his appeal to consumers. An artist, Vanessa Ritchie has been hired to paint his portrait, and Shorter gravitates to her amidst his loneliness and isolation. Demands upon Shorter's time and energy increases. He
1435-669: The primary leader of Shorter's back up band "The Runner Beans," sings the traditional religious songs " Onward, Christian Soldiers " and "Jerusalem." A soundtrack album was released in the US and UK. In 1978, the Patti Smith Group recorded "Free Me" as " Privilege (Set Me Free) " on their album Easter . The recording reached number 72 on the UK singles chart and number 13 on the singles chart in Ireland. In 1988, Big Audio Dynamite opened their single " Just Play Music! " with an audio sample from
1476-547: The soundtrack removed, of course..."), declares, "It is going to be a happy time in England, this year in the future." Gary Glitter auditioned for the lead role that eventually went to Paul Jones. Glitter's career later took off in collaboration with Mike Leander , responsible for the film's music. The film was greatly influenced by the award-winning 1962 Wolf Koenig / Roman Kroitor National Film Board of Canada documentary Lonely Boy , which in cinema verité style follows
1517-415: The stage, in the hopes Shorter's music will heal them. When Shorter later watches footage of the rally on television, he is disgusted at the display, and goes on a furniture-breaking tear. He also reveals to Vanessa that contrary to the publicity that his old show was just an act, he bears real scars and bruises from being legitimately assaulted by the mock policemen in the act. Shorter's record company holds
1558-408: Was announced in 2008, but never produced. Roles are recorded as of each character's first appearance. Neil Godwin ( Patrick Baladi ) (Marcelo Maldonado) Mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock and documentary ) is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary. The term originated in the 1960s but was popularized in
1599-580: Was released on DVD in the UK on the BFI 's Flipside imprint. The disc included two of Peter Watkins 's short films: The Forgotten Faces (1961) and The Diary of an Unknown Soldier (1959), as well as the original Privilege trailer. In the U.S., New Yorker Films released a DVD, under license from Universal and with collaboration with Canadian firm Project X. This DVD release included Lonely Boy as well as an excerpt of an essay on that film as extra features. It
1640-551: Was the first of its kind to incorporate the mockumentary style into animation. REC , a 2007 Spanish film by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, uses journalism aesthetics to approach a horror universe set up in a real building in Barcelona . The film was remade in the United States as the 2008 film Quarantine . Ivo Raza's 2020 mockumentary Reboot Camp is a comedy about a fake cult that uses an ensemble cast of celebrities from
1681-408: Was widely appropriated by others and revisited by Allen himself in films such as Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971), Zelig (1983) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Early use of the mockumentary format in television comedy can be seen in several sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974), such as " Hell's Grannies ", " Piranha Brothers ", and " The Funniest Joke in