Mockumentaries... Page 2

Quote: chipolata @ September 2 2008, 3:12 PM BST

And mention should be made of Operation Good Guys.

Ah there we go.

Quote: Aaron @ September 2 2008, 3:15 PM BST

Have The Thick Of It and Operation Good Guys been mentioned? I think they are, right?

Also some parts of Happy Families.

Is The Thick of It technically a mockumentary? I think not.

Quote: chipolata @ September 2 2008, 2:01 PM BST

That Peter Kay Thing - Easily Peter Kays finest work. Especially the episode about an ice cream man that managed to reference both Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now.

I thought that 'Leonard' was the best of that series. Painfully funny and quite touching. On the DVD the Comedy Lab pilot of that series 'The Services' is included. Though much a work in progress, it did have a lovely character which I'm disappointed that Peter Kay never seems to have reused - the bitter Scotsman trying to flog his own independent company's breakdown cover.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ September 2 2008, 3:18 PM BST

Is The Thick of It technically a mockumentary? I think not.

Interesting area, this. Technically it's not a mockumentary yet, like early series of Curb Your Enthusiasm, it has a very mock documentary feel with its hyper realism and distinct lack of production qualities. Of course, Larry David did star in a mockumentary for HBO, following him on tour and building up to an HBO special.

Quote: Tim Walker @ September 2 2008, 3:30 PM BST

I thought that 'Leonard' was the best of that series. Painfully funny and quite touching. On the DVD the Comedy Lab pilot of that series 'The Services' is included. Though much a work in progress, it did have a lovely character which I'm disappointed that Peter Kay never seems to have reused - the bitter Scotsman trying to flog his own independent company's breakdown cover.

It was a great series all round. Leonard was great. And I seem to remember that episode featured an early TV outing for Catherine Tate.

Quote: chipolata @ September 2 2008, 3:56 PM BST

It was a great series all round. Leonard was great. And I seem to remember that episode featured an early TV outing for Catherine Tate.

Did indeed. I think it was around the same time she appeared in the 2nd series of Big Train.

I hope Peter Kay perhaps more of these shows in him. What he shows in this series is just what a good comic actor he is.

Nah, TTOI isn't one, is it?
There's no 'cameraman' or anything. It's just filmed in a realistic way.

Looking at the Wiki list I notice Bob Roberts. That was a great film, back from when Tim Robbins was good, with a stand out performance from Alan Rickman. Who has also been a bit crap lately.

Also, we should also mention Chris Lilley's Summer Heights High. And is Kath and Kim a mockumentary? It certainly feels like one, right down to the voiceovers. Although it has got fantasy sequences, so maybe not.

Human Remains, which is fantastic.

Good catch, Matt. That was a good show.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ September 2 2008, 3:18 PM BST

Is The Thick of It technically a mockumentary? I think not.

It's a bit like the old police show The Cops that was filmed with a deliberate documentary feel in order make it more 'realistic'. We evidently now perceive reality through the muffled mic and unsteady camera of the documentary film maker. To me the artifice only seemed to distance me from the drama.

Comic Strips Bad News & More Bad News are fudging brilliant. Best of the bunch imo.

Quote: chipolata @ September 2 2008, 3:56 PM BST

It was a great series all round. Leonard was great. And I seem to remember that episode featured an early TV outing for Catherine Tate.

I saw an old episode of Surgical Spirit the other day in which she played Daniel Sabatini's girlfriend. She was quite fit back then.

Fear of a Black Hat was awful. Chris Rock's CB4 was better, but that wasn't really a mockumentary.

A big one that's been missed off the list is the Trailer Park Boys. One of the funniest mockumentaries there is.

Reno 911 is another big one: a very funny show even if the movie wasn't that great.

Chris Lilley has done three of these now, We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year, supposedly the best.

I always liked the Tim-Nice-But-Dim / Wayne Slob's mockumentaries.

RIP Geoffrey Perkins!