Plot Synopsis

Hosted by Dame Helen Mirren, DOCUMENTARY NOW! parodies some of the world's best-known documentaries. Each half-hour episode, starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, is shot in a different style of documentary filmmaking, and honors some of the most important stories that didn't actually happen. Paying homage to everyone from the Maysles to Errol Morris, topics range from guerilla-style filmmakers who vastly underestimate the danger in exposing a drug cartel to a soft rock doc about a Chicago band's rise to fame with their hit album "Catalina Breeze." DOCUMENTARY NOW! features guest appearances by Jack Black, John Slattery, Irving Azoff and SNL's Aidy Bryant, Mike O'Brien, Paula Pell, and Tim Robinson. The six "documentaries" in the first season include:

Sandy Passage (a spoof of Grey Gardens): Examination of mother and daughter socialites that create a self-imposed world in a dilapidated mansion.

Dronez: Guerilla-style journalists travel to Mexico to investigate a drug cartel.

Blue Jean Committee: Classic rock n' roll story of fame, fighting and making music history.

Kunuk Uncovered: Expose on the world's first documentary about the Inuit.

Al Capone Festival in Iceland: Exploration of an Icelandic town's festival celebrating an American gangster.

Under 45 Seconds: Crime mystery about a man sentenced to life in prison for a murder he did not commit.


Season 2 -- which premiered Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT on IFC -- included episodes like "Globesman," a riff on the 1969 Albert and David Maysles film "Salesman," as well "Juan Likes Chicken and Rice," which will mimic David Gelb's "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." "Juan" is entirely in Spanish. The season opener, "The Bunker," is inspired by the heart-racing 1993 political documentary "The War Room" with James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. It follows two scheming and cocky campaign managers (Hader and Armisen) working on the heated race for the Governor of Ohio. Lies will be told, death threats will be made, and questionable '90s fashion choices will surface, all in the camcorder-documented fight to get their underdog candidate to the top.


Season 3 (called "Season 52") of DOCUMENTARY NOW! premieres on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 from 11pm-Midnight ET/PT on IFC, with Dame Helen Mirren continuing to host. This season's line-up of guest stars includes Cate Blanchett, Michael Keaton, Owen Wilson, Michael C. Hall, John Mulaney, Taran Killam, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Bobby Moynihan, Natasha Lyonne, Paula Pell, Richard Kind, James Urbaniak and more. The one-hour season opener, "Batshit Valley," is a parody of the 2018 documentary series "Wild Wild Country," starring Owen Wilson as Father Ra-Shawbard, the bearded leader of a spiritual cult taking over the Oregon town of Chinook and and Michael Keaton as FBI agent Bill Doss. The cultists appear to be well-meaning hippies who, among other things, ask permission from their fruits and vegetables before they eat them. Inevitably, conflicts and clashes with local townsfolk ensue. Necar Zadegan, plays a cultist named Ra Sharir -- a send-up of the cold-blooded lieutenant Ma Anand Sheela. Other new episodes include: "Original Cast Album: Co-op" (written by John Mulaney & Seth Meyers; directed by Alex Buono); "Any Given Saturday Afternoon"; and more.
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DOCUMENTARY NOW! returned for its fourth season (aka Season 53) on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 on IFC at 10pm and on AMC+ earlier in the day. The two-part season premiere episode, "Soldier of Illusion," written by John Mulaney, and "Trouver Frisson," paying tribute to the films of Agnes Varda, join previously announced episodes "Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport," "How They Threw Rocks" and "My Monkey Grifter" to round out the season. Episodes include:

"Soldier of Illusion," the two-part, season premiere episode is written by John Mulaney and starring Alexander Skarsgard, Nicholas Braun and August Diehl, was inspired by the Werner Herzog-focused documentary Burden of Dreams. In the early 1980s, a visionary German filmmaker (Skarsgard) tries to will his magnum opus into existence while working in the remote, punishing conditions of the Russian Ular mountains. Kevin Bishop, Gana Bayarsaikhan, Matthias Rimpler and Fred Armisen will also star, with DOCUMENTARY NOW! ensemble alumni Deb Hiett returning as narrator.

"Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport" (Wednesday, October 26, 2022) stars two-time Academy Award-winner and DOCUMENTARY NOW! alumni Cate Blanchett, as well as Emmy-nominated actress Harriet Walter. Paying homage to documentaries 3 Salons at the Seaside and The September Issue, the episode is a fly-on-the-wall portrait of a hair salon owner (Walter) and her staff (Blanchett), in the small coastal village of Bagglyport as they prepare their yearly stylebook. Fred Armisen will also star as George the Postman.

"How They Threw Rocks" (Wednesday, November 2, 2022) features Welsh actors Trystan Gravelle, Jonathan Pryce and John Rhys-Davies, as well as legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones. In the vein of When We Were Kings and other great explorations of sport, the episode chronicles the Welsh sport of Craig Maes, also known as "Field Rock," and the iconic 1974 bout dubbed "The Melon vs. The Felon (Gravelle)." Fellow Welsh actor Sam C. Wilson (Dodger) joins as infamous Craig Maes competitor Sior Strawboss or "The Melon."

"My Monkey Grifter" (Wednesday, November 9, 2022) is helmed by actor Jamie Demetriou. Drawing inspiration from My Octopus Teacher, the episode follows Benjamin Clay, a filmmaker who forms a deep, emotional, and financially taxing relationship with a monkey who may have ulterior motives. Fred Armisen also joins as Detective Blakely.

"Trouver Frisson" (season finale; Wednesday, November 16, 2022) features French actor Liliane Rovere and Ronald Guttman. Inspired by Agnes Varda's Gleaners and I and Beaches of Agnes, celebrated French filmmaker Ida Leos searches for why she no longer experiences "frisson" -- the goosebumps that have always been her guide. Written by series producers Matt Pacult and Tamsin Rawady and co-directed by Micah Gardner, the episode also stars DOCUMENTARY NOW! alumni Gary Kraus.

Season 52 guest stars included Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton, Natasha Lyonne, John Mulaney, Michael C. Hall, Taran Killam, Richard Kind, and more.