Alexander Skarsgård does his best Werner Herzog in Documentary Now!‘s “53rd” season teaser
The teaser trailer also features Nicholas Braun, Cate Blanchett, Fred Armisen, and more
TV News Documentary Now!
It’s been three years since Helen Mirren’s soothing presence last welcomed us back into the world of IFC’s Documentary Now!, currently gearing up for its “53rd” season on the air. (Which is to say its fourth, since one of the show’s many reality-bending conceits is that it’s been quietly running, Masterpiece Theatre-style, for the last 50-odd years,) The show’s third season, as you may recall, featured two major trends: First, a continued commitment to excellence, exemplified in the John Mulaney and Seth Meyers-penned “Original Cast Recording: Co-op,” a half-hour of TV that inflicts ear-worms upon us to this day; and second, a much-reduced presence from ostensible series stars Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.
And from what we’ve seen of the fourth season so far, that second trend seems to clearly still be in effect: While a new teaser trailer for the show, and an accompanying description of a few more of its upcoming episodes, does feature Armisen around the margins, Hader is nowhere to be seen. (The Barry star is still listed as co-creator and executive producer, of course.) Luckily, Documentary Now! has proved at this point that it doesn’t need either man to work, funny as they both are.
The teaser itself is a quick one, although we do get glimpses of the season’s opening two-parter, which definitely sounds exciting: “Soldier Of Illusion,” a riff on Les Blank’s famous making-of documentary Burden Of Dreams, with Alexander Skarsgård as a stand-in for overly determined filmmaker Werner Herzog. The episode is being written by Mulaney, with August Diehl and Succession’s Nicholas Braun co-starring. And, honestly: There is nothing in that description that doesn’t have us excited, including wondering who’s going to be taking on the Klaus Kinski part. (Diehl seems like the easy guess, given their shared German heritage, but we’d love to see Braun give that kind of unchecked aggression a shot.)
IFC also announced “Trouver Frisson,” a take on Agnes Varda’s Gleaners and I and Beaches of Agnes, starring Liliane Rovère as Doc Now!’s take on Varda. That’s in addition to three previously announced episodes, all written by Meyers: Cate Blanchett’s “Two Hairdressers In Bagglyport,” a take on The September Issue; Welsh sports mock-doc “How They Threw Rocks”; and Jamie Demetriou’s “My Monkey Grifter,” a spin on My Octopus Teacher.
Documentary Now!’s latest season premieres on October 19 on IFC.
41 Comments
Between the wall of videos that autoplay (with sound) or freeze the app when I look at this site on my phone, and the full-page ad that blocks me from seeing the articles when I use it on desktop, pretty sure this site is now some sort of “Springtime for Hitler” attempt to intentionally bankrupt itself.
Before I got down to the paragraph that speculates who would likely be playing Klaus Kinski, I had a speculation of my own: put Willem Dafoe in a fright wig and he could do a passable Kinski.Also, I think I love “My Monkey Grifter” as a title for a doc. Someone needs to make that for real.
Defoe does have a sort of connection to Kinski in that he played Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire after Herzog had already remade Nosferatu with Kinski in Schreck’s role… which in turn was after Kinski had unknowingly played Renfield in Jesus Franco’s Dracula after being given script pages without dialogue that didn’t indicate it was a Dracula movie.
Passable? I think it’d be pretty damn great and despite you being a misanthrope, I’m giving you a mental high five. It’s a great idea. Also, I never realized just how batshit crazy Kinski was till I saw that YouTube of him giving a speech and smacking folks around.
As far as their faux Docs go, Co-Op is my favorite, with Mulaney and Killam standouts. I will listen to the Cast Recording now and again—Paula Pell singing “I Gotta Go” is a favorite. A fun quick playlist on Spotify.
I think “Co-Op” is my second-favorite episode. “Waiting for the Artist” is one of my favorite half-hours of anything ever.
I am a Theater Nerd so a little biased, but Waiting…. was also great. Cate Blanchett not only played it perfectly, I had to keep remembering this was not an actual Doc (as you probably know, was a send up of Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present) She played it straight which was fascinating to watch but comedically brilliant.
The shot of her running towards the table and getting snapped back by the tether is one of my favorite comic moments, ever.
Co-op is genius.
Genius as a parody of the Company doc, so well done, but also the flavor of what those style of musicals were like in the past.
Juan likes rice and chicken is my favorite. Funny, and then I teared up when the brother comes back to work in the kitchen. And Guillermo!“…y skittles..”
Juan—-I had forgotten about that one, so perfect—I love Docs and have usually seen the originals these are based on, and they do it with so much respect and affection. “I like to dream, and when I dream, I always dream of something. Sometimes I am a child at the beach. Sometimes I am a spaceman on the moon. But in all of my dreams there is always rice and chicken.
I’ve been interested in watching this show forever but all the mockumentaries seem to be mocking specific really documentaries so I was always worried if I would get the joke if I have not seen the originals
I don’t think I’ve seen any of the originals and the show is still brilliant on its own merits.
I think it helps a bit to see the original, but – I watched the real Bagwan Shree Rajneesh documentary and then watched Documentary Now’s mockumentary, and I probably should have just seen one or the other. Because now I don’t remember what really happened in Oregon.
Sheela says “tough titties” in a press conference in the real one.
I hadn’t seen quite a few of them, but you’ll recognize the kind of self serious person they are parodying.
when I watched “Co-Op, the Musical” I had very little knowledge of Sondheim’s musicals. Just thought it was funny as hell and loved the songs. Then I watched it with a musical theatre nerd who told me they were basically just straight copies of Sondheim songs with different lyrics. Didn’t change a thing in my mind.
It wasn’t simply Sondheim songs. Your musical nerd most likely mentioned the Doc was from another documentary of the“Company” Cast Recording from 1970, with Paula Pell brilliantly subbing in the Elaine Stritch roll. “I gotta g-o-o-o-o…” https://www.avclub.com/paula-pell-and-documentary-now-put-original-twists-on-1832948587
Off and on, for better AND for worse. The great thing about the show is that they’re dedicating to getting everything right and understand the focus of each parody. The take on “Wild Wild Country” felt like I was just re-watching “Wild Wild Country,” not so for the story, but because they committed to really building up the idea that this was all based in archival footage. But it kind of feels like you have to be willing to go through the dryness of sitting through a political doc to get anything out of the ones specifically aping political docs (“The Bunker” being a take on “The War Room”).
I’m familiar with some of what they’ve parodied and unfamiliar with others.
It’s better when you know what they’re doing, but still funny when you don’t.
I hadn’t seen the Thin Blue Line, but I couldn’t stop laughing while watching The Eye Doesn’t Lie.
You can start by just watching the episodes based on documentaries you have seen. If you’re impressed, you can sort of dive into the others. It’s not one of those shows you need to start from the beginning.
it’s kind of the beauty of the show. They work by themselves as really fun and wacky documentaries and then you’ll look up the original (if you’re not familiar) and realize that it’s actually a pitch perfect parody. Like all the way down to the editing, cameras, film grain, etc.
Don’t worry about it – they’re so brilliant, you’ll still get the joke. These also led me to seek out some of the source material that I had not seen. I really appreciate that these parodies are never mean-spirited, but are actually quite lovingly rendered, while still being monumentally silly.
Yes you can skip the documentary. But why? The original documentaries are usually some of the very best. It’s some of my favorite art because it has gotten me to watch great movies and then rewarded that with some sharp comedy about them.
It helps, but I don’t think it’s completely necessary? Or at least, I don’t think you need to watch the entire thing. For example, I showed my GF the trailer for Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and that was enough for her to thoroughly enjoy the excellent episode “Juan Likes Rice and Chicken.” Or, for example, the DRONEZ episode is their (brilliant) satire of VICE. Even just being casually aware of their whole vibe is enough for you to get the episode.
(Which is to say its fourth, since one of the show’s many reality-bending conceits is that it’s been quietly running, Masterpiece Theatre-style, for the last 50-odd years,)That comma before the closing parenthesis should be a period.And, honestly: There is nothing in that description that doesn’t have us excited, including wondering who’s going to be taking on the Klaus Kinski part.
The word “There” should be in lowercase, and the “including wondering” clause is very awkward.
Totally thought that was Star-Lord in that photo.
They’re just now getting around to parodying Herzog?
Seems like “My Best Fiend” would be a fun one to do.
I think it’s a parody of a documentary ABOUT Werner Herzog, not one of his actual documentaries.
Yeah, I realize that now – but I also stand by my statement that “My Best Fiend” would make good fodder for this show.
Because I can’t imagine a parody of “Grizzly Man” that wouldn’t be in terrible taste.
…
No pun intended.
Yeah, it would. I think they went with the right choice to send up Herzog. The making of Fitzcarraldo was INSANE!!!!
Yeah… but I would watch it anyway. Parakeet Man, with the same general plot.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen Alexander in anything funny (he was fantastically hilarious on True Blood), so I’m excited about this.
Barry’s great and all, but Hader seems in interviews like he’s working himself to the bone to make it, and it’s keeping him from doing fun stuff like Documentary Now. I wonder if it’s worth the stress.
I always get hyped for a new season of Documentary Now!
Jamie Demetriou is fucking brilliant.
The Eye Doesn’t Lie from Season 1 is one of my favorite episodes of television ever.
I see a lot of documentary films, and these are all worthy nods to the originals. Because they present with tongue firmly in cheek, you don’t need to see the source, though it does add another layer of enjoyment. I have to say “My Monkey Grifter” is making me laugh simply saying the title. I wondered when Gleaners would finally get a treatment and this year we will enjoy “Trouver Frisson”