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[00:01:03] Our man of the hour, Mike, suggested an ingenious idea. Get off our asses and describe our favorite mockumentaries. It comes in so many different forms. A documentary that's not a documentary. Yeah, is the first one this is Spinal Tap? There's something to go back to the 70s from what I looked at.
[00:01:25] Yeah, I did see some 70s. Definitely some hippie movies that do the quasi-reefer madness. Could that be considered? I don't know. No, not just mocking. You can just mock that. There you go. Perfect. We're not laughing with you. I think the one that always kind of sticks with me is the Ruttles. All you need is cash. Oh, yes. That's what I need to see. Yeah. Wow.
[00:01:55] It's kind of... it's a parody of the Beatles. And it's Eric Idle, Neil Iones. I knew I recognized that name somewhere. Good reason. Because he was in the Bonzo Dude Dog Band. George Harrison plays an interview. Oh, it's great to watch. And it was like... I can't remember seeing that on Cinemax. I don't know, like 1980. Al Franken? Wow.
[00:02:25] 384, like... And just laughing hysterically. Yeah, laughing hysterically about it because it's such a stand-up of the Beatles. And to have George Harrison in it, because he was friendly with the Pythons, and to have George Harrison in it, it's kind of like, you know... I've always said, like, it's like... it's like he's taking the piss out of himself, you know? And there's so many... there's so many great, like, you know, parts of it.
[00:02:55] Like, they do one where they play Shea Stadium, but it's not Shea Stadium. It's Shea Stadium named after the famed guerrilla leader, Shea Guevara. Yeah. They have... I had heard of the sequel that they did in O'Freak because Kevin Nealon was in it. Yeah. It wasn't as near as good, but... It wasn't as good because Idol wasn't doing... I think Idol did it, but... He just narrated it, but yeah. He just narrated it, but... The way...
[00:03:24] The way it was done was... They had everything, like, down pat, like how the... How the song sounded from different eras. You know? And... The way... The way, like, the lives of the Beatles go, like... Ron Nasty, who's like the John Lennon in the group, marries this girl whose father designed the... The... What are the mines she put under water?
[00:03:54] Oh, frogmen. No, no, no, no. The mines. The mines. So... Jeff charges, right? No. No, no, no. The... The Olympic mine or something like that. And... And what she is is she's a... Instead of, like, being a Japanese conceptual artist... She's a German conceptual... Yeah. Okay. So she's a German conceptual artist, so she's dressed like Adolf Hitler. You know? And...
[00:04:25] All I remember is, like, just watching it, like, you know, they... Like, Stig is the quiet one. Barry, you know, Barry looks like... They did it so good. You know? And I think the one thing that gets me is there's a story that... Neil Lyons and... Eric Idle were on a street corner one day, and they were... They were gonna film the... The cover for Shabby Road, which was like, you know, take off on Abbey Road. And George Harrison was there. So there were these Japanese tourists that come up and they go, Ah, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles!
[00:04:55] And, like, they're like, oh yeah, yeah, where are the Beatles? And George Harrison was like, hey, real one right here, you know? Yeah. You know? These are the droids you're looking for. I think I kinda wanna see this one called Auditions from 1978. A mockumentary about the porn industry. Oh, yeah. What's it called? Yeah, yeah. Charles Band from Full Moon. That was one of his first movies, yeah. Really? Mm-hmm. I'll even go back a little bit further.
[00:05:24] Monty Python's Flying Circus had some mockumentary style. Yes, they did. Well, we are gonna put it into TV shows, but it is important for many of the people to know. It's like, there were plenty of people doing it years before. Larry Saunders in The Office doing the style. But, yeah, Python did some really good ones. The Piranha Brothers. Yes. Who were based on Reginald and Ronnie Cray. The Cray Brothers, yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:51] And half the time you're like, wait, what did they just say? Oh, no, they didn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Cray Brothers. Yeah.
[00:06:23] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Half the time they would do those cold opens, but they are totally going to town using some documentary style approach. I always love the one sketch. This is way lighter when Eddie Murphy is trying to live as a white man. Oh, yeah. White man.
[00:06:50] They are totally doing those same kind of coverage shots of a documentary as they're following him around and he's getting in character and you're like, my God, what perfect staging. I gotta say he didn't look white enough for me. He was part of the funny job. He sounded Jewish, but yeah. He couldn't pull it off. He didn't quite look the part. Yeah. Even though he was skinny, you know he was black and it was funny. I think it's funny. I don't know.
[00:07:20] The one I've loved recently is Bill Hader. Like, and they do a documentary on, they were doing it on a, I think it was, not Bravo, IFC. Yes. Yeah. Documentary now. Yeah. Documentary now. So the one I saw was they did a takeoff on gray gardens, which was the famous documentary about the cousin and the aunt of Jackie Onassis.
[00:07:47] And they lived in this like dilapidated mansion. Yeah. There was like, and that was before you get to the great garden spoof. Yeah. Which is just so wild. You know, it's like, not only are they making fun of all the classic documentaries, but just word for word, trying to recreate some of the exact scenes and rooms. Like, man, what an eye for detail. Sorry, go ahead. But they did that and they did something like talking had stopped making sense.
[00:08:17] Yes, they did. Which was, yeah. And kudos to Fred Armisen. He has always impressed me with his different impressions, but man, just how he enunciates his voice since at certain times you're like, how do you know how to do an impression of this obscure person? Oh, Albert Brooks first film real life is definitely. Yeah. Pick up on an American family that PBS did. Mm hmm.
[00:08:45] And it's I even like the I think I don't think he does anything by accident. There's a scene where he shows up as a clown to entertain the kids because of the doctor. And you can hear him outside the door rehearsing his line. He you don't even see what you hear about. So they're all you're hello. Like he's getting ready. And they kept it in and his movies are full of that kind of stuff. There's always a voice off screen.
[00:09:12] Yeah, that film he does later that they had in his HBO documentary that the muse definitely has those moments, especially because again, they've got famous people playing an asshole version of themselves. But yeah, the muse is kind of that's yeah, I guess that's a mockery. It's mildly compared to that one where it's very in your face. How about looking for comedy in the Muslim world? That's yes. Oh, my God. There's a trophy anyway.
[00:09:39] But the king of them is Christopher Guest movies, I think. Absolutely. Dustin show was definitely the first one I saw and then Spinal Tap was the second and then I pretty much went on from there. I had I had Spinal Tap already. But yesterday I went but waiting for Guffman. Yeah, yeah. Best in show and a mighty wind. Yeah. Yesterday. Yes. And medication. Mascots is a more recent one that's kind of under the. And then today there's one with Melissa McCarthy in it.
[00:10:09] I mean, not today, but it came out in 2017. It's called cook off. And she's on. Yeah, there's a she did one in 2017, but she's she's like. The headline on the poster, but she's only in it for a very brief period of time. And it's basically I think. Wendy McClendon. Cubby. Oh, yeah. I think she's like the real. She's like the one behind the movie. That's a good transition. I was thinking of you know, nine one one.
[00:10:39] You know, nine one one and we don't know. And we don't know when the movie are great mockumentaries to watch. Absolutely. Well, that's the development. Arrested development. Yeah. A hundred percent. Community does do that in some cases, especially when they're spoofing something. They're looking right like the real thing. Yes. Parks and Rec. Yeah. The office. Pretty much anything Greg Daniels works on. And modern family even. Oh, yeah. Modern family. Yeah, I think.
[00:11:07] Modern family those first five six years pretty strong. And then after a while. I don't know if they had a change in show runners, but the camera felt a little sloppy like it wasn't half the time you're like why why is that camera there. It doesn't make sense why it's there. Yeah, we can't go a moment without mentioning Richard Belzer. There are some great episodes of homicide life on the street, especially one where they actually run into a film crew and it's co producer Barry Levinson filming a movie.
[00:11:37] Oh, God, but but that if there's anything that I like about any workplace comedy or crime show almost all of them had done at one point a documentary crew that comes in and they're all asking, you know. So uncensored, you know, thoughts, I think even people think about each other and it's always a who those are always my favorite episodes of any show. I wouldn't say mash actually did it because I almost said it, but then I'm like, no, that's the news crew coming in. They had an episode where a news crew came in.
[00:12:08] Yeah, it is a bit of a like mash or whatever. They weren't trying to film it like one. There are moments like that. I think I think WKRP did one of those. I think that. I think because he finally told him to get lost on him. That's what it was. Yeah, I think I called him out at the end and that which I thought was a great way to end it. Yeah, I think news radio did one briefly.
[00:12:35] There's actually a great episode of the West Wing that does that where they're asking following everyone around and they're like, stop following me. Well, the thing I say is like spinal tap became the gold standard for mockumentaries. I mean, the thing I love about that movie started marketing themselves as the next. That's probably why Christopher Guest was like headlining so many of those and creating so many of those. Reiner made them. Yeah, given the comfort. Yeah, but you know, those are great. Those are great.
[00:13:04] Those are great movies for ensemble casts and comedy casts. Those are the great types of movies to do for those. Totally. I can. I can remember watching spinal tap and like thinking, okay, who's based off of who here? You know, I think I think Nigel Tufnell Christopher Guest plays is I think basically based on probably like Jeff Beck or you've got the look of like Jeff Beck. Did you ever get any Eddie Van Halen vibes from some of the guys?
[00:13:33] Eddie, Eddie, he's like Eddie, you know, it's like Eddie Van Halen, you know, maybe Jeff Beck, probably a little Jimmy Page, a bit of everything. Derek Smalls is kind of like, you know, Roger Glover from Deep Purple and maybe a little bit like John Entwistle from The Who. Michael McLean's hair looks a little Roger Daltrey-ish to me. I don't know why.
[00:13:56] I think he's based on David Coverdale and probably Robert Plant a little bit. Oh, okay. But there's a rumor that went around like all bands would be watching this and they'd be like, wait a minute. Is that based on something we did? They're not.
[00:14:43] They're not. We did three guys, you know. Oh, wow. I actually put the same hecklers in the audience. This movie is not a mockumentary, but it's kind of almost becoming one. That thing you do has recently. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of. Okay. So it's kind of satirical, but you'll love this. Apparently recently Tom Everett, Scott, Steve Zahn and Jonathan Shock have been performing in character as their characters. Yeah. Yeah. They did a thing.
[00:15:14] They did a thing a couple years ago and it's on YouTube where they came out as the, as you know, Tom Everett, Scott. It was Tom Everett, Scott, the guy who played the bass player. I don't know if Tom Hanks was involved behind the scenes or anything, but that's, that's some dedication. Um, they came out as Tom Everett, Scott. It was the guy who played the lead singer and the guy who played the bass player, right? Zahn and Steve Zahn. Yeah. No, Steve Zahn wasn't there. Okay.
[00:15:42] But, um, I know Jonathan Shock was there, but. Jonathan Shock was there and the guy who played the bass player. Um, let's see. Yeah. That thing you do, bass player. Ba ba ba ba. It'll come to us. They're in this. Ethan Embry. Ethan Embry. There you go. They come, they, they, they, the guy says, we've got a special surprise for you tonight. I think I can handle it too.
[00:16:10] I just want you to know that we have three of the wonders here tonight and we're going to cover that thing you do. And they come out on stage and they've got like highs and short sleeve button down shirts and like, Hey, where's the, where's the. Oh, he's doing something tonight. He couldn't make it. And they came out and they sing that thing you do with the band. And I gotta say this. I remember Scott was, was like unbelievable as a drummer.
[00:16:39] I mean, I thought he was, I thought he was mining it. No, he's actually playing it. He. Yeah. I I've never heard. He's kind of gone into more TV, but I've never heard any horror stories about some of these other has been. So that that's cool. Cause. You know, Ethan Embry was playing the baby and he's like playing the baby. Like, like, like they were all in the characters. That's why I, I, I literally was like my mouth, my mouth hit my, you know, my draw hit the floor. That's how I love it. You know, I love, I love that shit. You know, that's great.
[00:17:10] But mystery science theater would mock documentary short films a lot, especially those that do mock documentaries, which is almost the mockumentary. These weren't episodes. Yeah. The band, the St. California lady. Yeah. Yeah. Wouldn't those be rip humanaries? Yeah. Rip humanaries. Uh, but do you remember when they did the fake commercials, like mocking PSAs? Oh, yes.
[00:17:40] You can even spot. They even released some of them on VHS back when I had their fan club. It's like, it's the way Crow. Yeah. Oh, they do the making fun of the don't do drugs kind of ads. And you're like, what is going on here? It looks so grisly seeing Crow in black and white. Well, they did that when they were selling the videotapes. That's what it was. Yeah. They were doing like a British takeoff. Yeah. Oh, man. Oh, man.
[00:18:06] The one I love is the one they do with Simon's Venezuela, which was the, the on the tail end of one of the DVDs. If you've ever seen it. Yes. I do remember. It was like an extra. Yeah. That was, that was never a part of the series. It was a, wasn't that a bonus? Yeah. That was at the fan club. Okay. Yeah. They were going to, they were going to release it just like independently, but they couldn't. So if you watch it, Simon's Venezuela, it's one, it's a funny one because they, they, it's
[00:18:35] like, I, I saw it the first time and I had to leave the room. I was laughing so hard. There's so many, there's so many things they say that you're just like, whoa, you know, they're funny though. You know, they're funny. You don't want to listen to it. And, but it was cool that they did that just cause you know, they, they would always come across something where you're like, let's just have those as like little extra tapes or something just cause it didn't work out for the final cut of the episode. On riff tracks continues those too.
[00:19:03] So the documentary parodies and the newer incarnation of mystery science. Oh, they've done a couple of documentary shorts. Yeah. They don't always have shorts or something like that. But to Bruno's points, Bruno, the kid, it did, it did seem like they were really just kind of, even to Gil's point that it's a riff you mentary in a way where it's just, they're
[00:19:32] just showing how sloppily these PSAs were put together. Yeah. Okay. I seem to remember one about Australia or something. There's like, or it took place in Australia. So there was some foreign country one where you're like, wait, what a terrible way to get to. Don't be a, don't be a bloody idiot. That's what it was. Oh yeah. Yeah. Wow. It was riff tracks. Okay. There you go.
[00:20:03] There are some winners. There are definitely some winners. No, it's fine. But I came up with when I was a kid, I came up with an idea for parody or mockumentary called educational film, where it would just, it would be a bunch of short parodies of educational films. Yeah. All the way through. And in fact, I played piano.
[00:20:31] I even made up a theme song for it, but it never went anywhere, but I mean, there's still time. Yeah. But I think it'd be a fun idea, but it might be dated now, but I mean, we all grew up on educational films. They, you know, direct the projector out and show it, you know, I'd call part of starship troopers, probably mockumentary. Yeah. Cause it does do a camera crew. The whole thing is, but especially with the recruitment propaganda where people are getting
[00:21:00] killed on TV and you see all the blood hungry idiots in the audience. Oh, what a list man. I'm just like, Jesus. The thing I love about those old educational movies, it was like, well, what to do if your school lunch is cold? What should you do? I only go up to the lunch lady and say, my lunch is cold. She will be okay. Then you go up to then, you know, and go up and you're thinking in the back of your head, you're saying, go up to her and say, Hey bitch, my food's cold.
[00:21:29] Warm it up next time. You'll get one across the face. You know. All those fifties ones about how to behave like a proper family. Yeah. Oh God. Oh yeah. But the brother calls his sister a skank. That was the date with your family. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. That's classic. I love. Oh, the. Oh, the. Oh, darn it. Oh, shoot. Oh, I love is the. You can just pick that one.
[00:21:58] I can't remember the name of it. Four score. Yeah. Three score and 10. No, it was about a home economics, the home economics story. Oh God. Yeah. That was. That was filmed in Iowa. Yes, it was. It was. Okay. I was student. Des Moines. Your college. Ames. I think. Ames. Yep. Okay. I've been to Ames once. The high school after high school. High school.
[00:22:29] Look, look, look at my crotch. Look, look. Look at my crotch. Hey, crotch. Oh my God. I remember watching the one, the Union Pacific Railroad one. The days of our years. The days of our years and laughing hysterically because that, you know, I couldn't believe like they would put that out or the one about, are you ready for marriage? Yes. As if we had to go. Where did it go? Yeah.
[00:22:59] Are you really ready? So are those. Looks like a Romulan. If they, if they take a documentary and mock. I guess it's. It's. It's kind of a mockumentary. Because they're. Yeah. They're adding to it. They're taking that. Yeah. I look at the mockumentary in a slightly different way. I look at it as. The subject matter has to be about a documentary or at least. Right. Or covering a subject. And then you make.
[00:23:28] And then you do a parody of it. Right. For example, if you want to do a. Like if you want to do a parody of a. Of a Michael Moore movie, you would kind of frame it like that and then kind of poke fun at the same time. And it's. It's a great way to. To show dysfunctional people. Absolutely. But. Well, there's. There's one. So this is where it gets tricky. They're. There's one that came out. A while back called incident at Loch Ness, which. Kind of was. Went under the radar. It's Werner Herzog.
[00:23:58] And Zach. Oh my God. Is that. Cause I thought that was a. That was like. Oh, four. Oh, five. That was. Oh, four. Oh, five. Yeah. What it is, is that it's like. Herzog wants to do this thing where he thinks that the Loch Ness monster is basically. A monster created by the collective imaginations of everybody in that area. And. Zach Penn basically is like. Basically just like, you know, just like giving actors like jobs. They don't know anything about like.
[00:24:26] One hot girl is a stoner operator. She's in a string bikini. Oh my God. Yeah. There's one scene where. Like him and Zach Penn are having an argument. He says. You know, you don't know. He says. Yeah. At least I'm not hauling a boat over a mountain. He's like, what'd you say? Nothing, nothing, nothing. There are definitely. Well, if the shoe. Well, if the shoe fits Corral though. I think there was one. I don't know if this is for sure. I think there was one which kind of did spoof.
[00:24:56] In essence. Herzogs who killed the electric car documentary. I don't know if that was a skin or something, but I could have sworn. There was someone who was word for word, like copying some of the style. Yeah. Oh, it. It is a cool style because I think like you guys have hit on it is. It just throws you through a loop and half the, you know, first you're getting comfortable. It's going, okay, it's not really a documentary. And then the next minute you're like, wait, what did they just say? Rewind.
[00:25:26] That was the thing with Final Tab. Well, that's. I'm sorry. You know, the thing. Go ahead, Mike. Who's on first? It's like ping pong. The Simpsons would parody educational films a lot in the early years. Like my favorite title they came up with was the moon of earth. Yeah. You saw these kids. And they're all here just by Troy McClure. Yeah. Troy McClure. I remember you.
[00:25:55] The one. The one thing about those documentaries is they're very subtle. I mean, you really have to, you know, if you're not paying attention to it, you're not going to get it. Yeah. People looking at their phones are doomed. Don't, don't do that. It's and the humor is just very subtle and it kind of go can go by you if you're not really paying attention. Oh yeah. It, but it's always fun. Like it is almost always worth it.
[00:26:22] Like, even if you don't laugh, I can at least applaud someone for trying to do that style. I don't think it works for stuff like Brooklyn nine, nine. I just think it's a little just too on the nose. But what, when I just see other people just doing that, just where they're just circling around and especially when they play with other genres where you're just like, you know, it's just, it really very little can go wrong.
[00:26:49] Cause like, you've already kind of going for experimentation. So I think a lot of audiences, once they're into that, that they're, they're willing to be forgiving, even if it doesn't completely take off. Like, so. The thing I've said about spinal tap is there's a lot of subtle things in there that like, you know, you don't like you get, but later you get them down the road. Like when they do Stonehenge, right. And they draw and the guy, and then when they do it, they don't put feet. They put inches. Right.
[00:27:17] If you look at the nap and he puts inches. So if you look at it, it's like, it's like, it's like, that was the most. Yeah. I mean, you know what embarrassing was to have two midgets, two dwarves almost trample a clip from Stonehenge. They come under those little kicks. That's classic. And the thing I love the most is they do the one rock and roll creation.
[00:27:44] And they come out, they come out of the pods and like Harry Shearer's character is still trapped in there. And the guy's like trying everything to get them out, like a chisel, a blow torch, you know, a hammer something. And, you know, it's just, it's just, it's just the fun of it, you know, the funniness of it, you know, that I get when things don't go right. Yeah. Yeah. This is one that's on to be now. That's kind of a horror movie. I've been, I've had to recommended to me by a few people. It's called Savage Land.
[00:28:14] That's kind of making fun of a small Mexican town. Hmm. I've been to your point. Yeah. I mean, it, uh, mockumentaries are definitely rewatchable. If the more jokes they sneak in there, it does become a Python kind of thing where now you're looking for the other stuff that you missed the initial viewing. First of our guests ones. There's the cast and those are so great. And there's so much, they're very lived in. You, you believe these people. You've read Ward in best in show.
[00:28:44] Yeah. As the commentator. Willard. Yeah. Yeah. And there's little funny details. I said Ward. Sorry. Yep. And, um, a mighty wind. They're backstage at one point and Jay Lynch. They're getting food. Jay Lynch has his plate. Just loaded on. About this high on it. Yes. But if you, you know, if you catch it, you'll never forget it. You know, because all of them are so straight face. Yeah. You're just like, what's going on? Yeah. I noticed.
[00:29:14] I noticed that Mike, I was watching it yesterday with my wife and I'm like, man, she's really loading that spaghetti. And she's just like, it's like, it's a salad or something, you know? Yes. Yes. Well, the thing I love is Fred Willard making a comment. Like he's supposed to be Joe. It's supposed to be like based on Joe Garagiola. Cause Joe Garagiola was, was a, was a catcher for the, I think it was the Dodgers or something like that. And he, he, he knew nothing about. So they would always have him do the dog show like a couple of times. Right. The Westminster dog show.
[00:29:44] And he's like, so Fred Willard makes that one comment. He's like, he's like, and as you know, some of these dogs would be considered a delicacy in some Asian countries. Yeah. Yeah. I'm kidding. We're just, we're like, yeah. Yeah. It's like, he's like, what? What the fuck? But you're like laughing. Cause he's just so big. And like, you know, he's just so. He's dedicated to saying the worst possible. He's saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Yeah. Oh my God. You know.
[00:30:14] Oh, I think. Now, I think I have. Who's on first? Okay. Tom. All right. First of all, I have to say that I did. I tried to do a little research on mockumentaries. And let me just say Wikipedia sucks when it comes to this, because they, they list mockumentaries that are not really mockumentaries. They bring up district nine. I remember seeing that.
[00:30:42] I went to a Reddit and all they're doing is suggesting horror movies that are kind of, that just found footage. I'm like, that's, it's not the same. Here's how, here's how, and here's how bad it is. They put the Blair Witch Project as a mockumentary. What the hell? What? Maybe a parody of it, sure. But wow. You want to see a true mockumentary, you need to check out Blair Thumb. I have seen that. Oh, really? Yeah.
[00:31:08] The, Bob Odenkirk from Jimmy Neutron did a lot of thumb animations that were parodies of blockbuster movies that I saw a bunch of those back in the video store. And they animate, they animate faces on thumbs and they're running around in little costumes. Oh man. They got, they got God Thumb. Saw the Star Wars and Titanic ones billions of times. Thumb Wars. Yep. Thumb Wars. God Thumb, Bat Thumb, Frankenthumb. Comedy gold.
[00:31:34] Well, Fred Willard and a Mighty Wind almost does a little mini documentary about variety shows in the seventies. Cause he has that awful. What happened? What happened? What happened? He was going all on what they did. And you know, it's almost a, a documentary within the documentary. A mockumentary. So. But yeah. Good stuff. There's one I, there's one I stumbled on completely by accident at a, I think it was like a blockbuster or, or a, or a, one of those video movie stores that was going out
[00:32:03] of business. That held 18, 18 fingers of death. I have heard of that one. I think. Oh, wait a minute. With Bokeem Woodbine. Yeah. Why do we think? And Lorenzo Lamas. That was. That's who it was. Yep. Pat Morita. Yep. Yeah. That, that was, that was a trip.
[00:32:26] I, I, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it because it, it just, it does what, what so many others have failed to do, especially a ton of the ones that are on the Wikipedia list of mockumentaries. Yeah. The point being though, that, the thing about it is that I think the mockumentary isn't isn't as popular as it once was.
[00:32:57] Yeah. Um, you have people, um, like, um, Sasha Baron Cohen, who did like three of them. Those are good. Bruno movies. Or no, not Bruno. The Borat movies are good. Two Borat, one called Bruno. Okay. Those are. And he, he has the field down, but I don't think he has it quite yet. Whereas a movie like 18 fingers of death, they nail it and they do it in such a way that
[00:33:25] it does say, yeah, this is definitely a mockumentary. Um, but, uh, as far as like the Borat movies, um, I can kind of see it, but not necessarily. And we haven't seen a really good mockumentary outside of a guest movie that for ages. Oh, given now you've brought up that one, you kind of remind me of a similar one, which had some of the John Wick guys pre fame in it. That was called Confessions of an Action Star. Yes.
[00:33:54] Also known as Sledge the Untold Story. And that had cameos by Angelina Jolie, Eric Roberts and Carrie Ann Moss. And it was basically just making fun of all the, and his movies all sound like Roger Corman type titles, Blood Fight 2, you know? And yeah, it, it was fun. It was just, it needs some more editing tightening up. But I mean, I applaud anyone who can try all kinds of stuff like that.
[00:34:23] There was one Andy Dick did that was awful called Danny Rourke first time director, but I kept, I kept getting it recommended to me because there was just so many comedians in it. Yeah. It's tricky too, because there's a lot of movies that parody like Spaceballs parody Star Wars. That's not a mockumentary. Right. It's a parody. It's a parody of sci-fi. Documentaries, not other film genres. Yeah. But it was a, I wonder if that's what Wikipedia got lost in.
[00:34:53] Yeah. The fact that anyone can contribute. Yeah. There's a, there's a, there's a, you gotta split that, you know? There were a few other very obscure ones that had some of the who's lying guys in it. Nobody Knows Anything was one. There was a deal Scallion, which was another one and same kind of deal. Like they, they would just have people talking dumbfoundedly to the camera, you know, on a movie that's doomed. I just flashed on something that's a mockumentary.
[00:35:24] What we do in the shadows. Yes, totally. Cause I think the main clue is just they're, they're acknowledging that there's a camera and person in the room. I will say Abbott Elementary has really lived up to the hype. I, I, I think a lot of the same office guys are working on that. And I think it's just always fun. Cause they'll just at the inner city school, half the time they're teaching and same kind of deal. The teachers will turn around and say, oh, you didn't hear that. Did you?
[00:35:53] That's the one that has the growing up. Everybody hates Chris kid, right? Yes. He's in there. And half the time is like, someone will be making out and they'll see the camera and they're like, oh, damn it. Yeah. I've seen some episodes of that. Wasn't there a recent Orson Welles project that was unreleased for years? I think so. Yes. Consider a doc, a mockumentary. Would it really be? It's like he added sarcastic. F is for fake. No.
[00:36:23] Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That one, but there was another one with John Houston. That just. Oh yeah. Valley of the wind or something like that. Yeah. It was. The other side of the wind. Others. Yeah. I saw that on Netflix. That was fun, but they call it a satirical drama film. Yeah. There was definitely some sad. It was, it was kind of had a very behind the scenes feel too. So. Yeah. It was. I would call it definitely a satire less than a mockumentary.
[00:36:53] Yeah. Yeah. But it's close. Yeah. Yeah. But it is good. You get this fine line, you know? I think the reason so many of these behind the scene movies just talk so much to us is. They're good at, again, sneaking in more social commentary and other amusing stuff that way. And just show you how. I mean, that's why I like Larry Saunders a lot.
[00:37:19] It just shows you how half the time none of these poster boys know what they're really doing. They're just putting on an act even when the cameras are turned off. Yeah. And then as soon as they get off the air, then they start griping each other behind the scenes. Yeah. The film, the shaky camera watching them. Yeah. What was it? Kudos to the cameraman, because the camera is as much as a star. Sorry, I was just best.
[00:37:47] And you're talking about like characters and like misbehaving or not being right. Like I'm thinking of best in show with the people, the couple with the braces. And they have the dog. And they're pampering that dog, babying that dog and yelling constantly in front of that dog and getting really violent. Yeah. And their dog is just going off on their, you know, they get. They want to win, but they're not doing a good job prepping him for the contest. Yeah.
[00:38:17] And then, and then, you know, they show like all, all of these mockumentaries usually have like a six months later. Right. Yeah. And they're sitting in therapy talking about how their lives are much better since they got rid of that horrible dog. You know what? Screw it. I'm going to call it weird. The Al Yankovic story, a mockumentary. Yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. Because especially those last 10 minutes, he won the Oscar.
[00:38:47] Oh, he died for it. What? Oh, man. Great. Great stuff. What we do in the shadows, I do think is going to make more sci fi and horror guys experiment. Is that TV show for that still going? Or is that? Yeah. Believe it or not. Yeah. I've seen two seasons of it. I don't know how many seasons they've had or how many they're going to, you know, I didn't even know if they were still running. Oh, I mean, curb your enthusiasm.
[00:39:17] I would totally call a mockumentary because they always have those fly on the wall kind of shots. Whereas like as if he's videotaping half of these sessions and he's just looking at it trially. And Boston Legal sometimes kind of does that, especially. But then they take it a step further and they break the fourth wall and they turn to the actual viewer and say, can you believe we're going off the air? And you're like, whoa. Oh, Lisa Kudger had one on HBO called The Comeback, which I thought was pretty good.
[00:39:48] Did any of you ever see Dennis Leary's The Job? Nope. Well, he was basically that was before he did the firefighter show Rescue Me. But in that one, he was making fun of cop shows. Same kind of deal where they would make fun of the steady cam shots or something. Oh, yeah, sure. And they would even make fun of other workplace sitcoms where half the time they're picking on each other.
[00:40:16] And it's like, how sick can you be? You're an officer of the law. The Simpsons did a takeoff on Bad Cops, Bad Cops. Oh, yeah. Anyone who takes the cop styles pretty much. Yeah. Oh, they did a three part parody of summer replacement shows one time. That's not quite the same thing. Yeah. But there's parts of private parts.
[00:40:42] The Howard Stern biography were almost getting it comes up kind of that way. Yeah, especially Robins talking towards the camera. Or that stuttering guy. I can't. Oh, stuttering John. Yeah. His scenes, especially. So am I the only one that saw mascots? Mascots. That's the last Christmas documentary. I had not seen this. Whoa. It might be on Netflix. It's a year came out. It is 2016.
[00:41:12] Wow. 2016. 2016. And then, uh, uh, Corky shows up in it. Ah, as himself. So. Which is cool. Has a lot of his partners in crime. It didn't quite work, but it was, it's worth a look, you know? So. I think 30 rock had a few episodes kind of like that. Inevitably. And they're making fun of Hollywood. I remember seeing like the office when it came on TV and thinking to myself. And I didn't see the British version first.
[00:41:41] I saw the American version and I'm sitting there thinking, I love the show. I think it's funny, but I thought I didn't think it was going to last because I'm like, boy, this is uncomfortable. It almost did it. But they got saved by iTunes because their Christmas episode was given out as a freebie and it charted so fast. Everyone wanted to watch the rest of the show. Um, but the, the UK one is pretty funny. It's just two seasons and a Christmas special. And so it's two seasons. So it was like only 12 episodes. I remember. I did watch them later. In fact, I do.
[00:42:10] In fact, I recommend everyone watch the American version first, then watch the British one. Cause then you'll, you'll have fun geeking out about what pre famous British actors are on there, but then you'll be able to follow easier, which who's the gym. Who's the Pam. Who's the, you know, Correll equivalent. Yeah. They definitely got nuttier. Aren't most reality shows really mockumentaries? Yeah. I was on cheaters. So I can attest to that. They're all scripted.
[00:42:40] What's fun to do is watch one and put the subtitles on. Hey, he's off script. You know, it's like. I tried getting into troll hunter, but I did not find that. Movie funny at all. I I've never gotten into reality TV. I've, you know, checked them out here and there, but that, you know, reality TV might be more scripted than these mockumentary. It is. Yeah. And it's so funny how people go. Oh, I so unconvincing. I'm like, well, yeah. Cause they're not actors. They don't have any talent.
[00:43:11] Fine. Let's call it. America's got talent. A mockumentary. They don't go. I don't look up. The mockumentary. Ah, yes. Bottom of the barrel. Mockumentary. Dana cool. So something like a reality TV is actors that aren't actors and a show written by writers that are writers. Yes. He's pretty much nailed it. Yeah. Totally is. Yeah. I got it. I got to wonder what these mockumentaries we watch, you know, cause it does come off.
[00:43:40] Like it's very much an ad lib or a off the cuff type of thing that they're doing rather than a script. I'm sure there's gotta be a script they follow, but how much of that is script? I think the Christopher Guest was the kind of ad lib. I'm not sure. A little bit of both. Yeah. Well, the curb it. Curb is they basically have a premise and they roll with it, you know, so. Curb your enthusiasm. So. Yeah.
[00:44:10] I think we'll talk this out. That was on my call. Cam, sorry. Where'd he go? He's, he's muted. Maybe you had to step off or something. Okay. Is a, are you there JJ? He's not there either. There he is. All his screen lit up. Yeah. I'm sorry guys. I was, I'm just, um, I had a long day today. I do apologize.
[00:44:40] I've been like running back and forth all day today. So forgive me if I'm like not answering as quickly as I am. All right. No worry. Is this a mockumentary right now? I don't know, but it could be. Well, we've got to, we've got to find the, uh, we've got to find, you know, I've noticed another thing about the document, these mockumentaries is they, they always have some sort of, uh, gay guy who hasn't come out of the closet yet.
[00:45:07] Well, they did that with, uh, with, um, uh, waiting for Guffman because quirky is in that. And his character is based on a character that they did with Martin short and Harry shear where they were playing the, um, guys who were trying to get into synchronized, synchronized swimming. And, um, what happened was, was that that character kind of carried over into a Billy Crystal special,
[00:45:33] which is a mockumentary where he has, uh, it's him doing him getting ready to do this show. And one of them is, uh, quirky is working with, I think brother Theodore and somebody else. And they're doing who's on first. I mean, it's just, it's just, it's just this character that Christopher guest created. Okay. Like he's like, well, you know, we did backdraft the musical and, um, that went over pretty well, you know?
[00:46:01] Um, I mean that, that's that, that's that character, you know, that, that, that the theater caught on fire. Yeah. Um, yeah. And Corky always meant talks about his wife, but you never see her. Yeah. So he did that in a, not like Columbo who really was married. If you actually watch the show. Yeah. But, um, with the quirky character that he did, there's an episode, there was a thing Martin short did where that character is there and him and Christopher guest.
[00:46:30] And that's the character playing off each other. Um, with the, uh, the guys who were supposedly, oh, they're married, but they're, you know, are they, or aren't they? That's the thing, you know? So there, that's the thing that I've always said about that, that movie, you know, that, that, that thing is like, he has that character pop up in like a couple of, you know, a couple of those instances where he's, you know, he's playing a character. He's like, he's like, either, you know, uh, you know, a director or, uh, you know, a choreographer or something like that.
[00:46:59] You know, he put, he, he pulls that in, you know, my favorite, one of my favorite things about Guffman is Bob Balaban's character is the most, you'd hate him the most. But the music he comes up with is the best part of the play. I mean, it's, it's, it's actually really good music.
[00:47:20] And it's all these hack actors and stuff and terrible lines, like a Ned Wood production, but he actually comes up with the, with the best part of the play, you know, as a whole. That's the thing about like, I think he was doing a mighty wind. Was he in a mighty wind too? Yeah. He was the organizer. Sure. Yeah. He was the son of the guy who owned like the folk label or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, he's like, I want nothing to do with this.
[00:47:48] You know, my father owned the record store and I hated him for the record coming. I hated him for, for like having it or something like that. You know, he just, he just, he's just Bob Balaban is one of those guys. He's just, he's so hateful, but you have to laugh at the, at the, at the situation that he's in, you know? Yeah. And his character is always, yeah, he's, he's, you're talking about the character and he's always trying to look up real close at his stuff he's reading. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
[00:48:20] But yeah, I was just thinking about like, I mentioned like gay characters in the films and that cook off that I mentioned, it has Diedrich Bader in it and Gary, Gary Anthony Williams. Um, he's a black comedian who, uh, he's lost quite a bit of weight in the last few years, but when he was on this, he was still heavy. Gary Anthony Williams. Wait a minute. I know him for something. Recently he's been in the new night court show. Oh shit. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:48:50] Um, but yeah, he's playing a character who's just about getting ready to get married to a woman and the, they haven't consummated their marriage. And every time the woman brings up wanting to consummate the marriage, she's like, Oh, I, I want to get up all in that, you know? But Oh God. Oh, Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so, yeah. And then, uh, Diedrich Bader's in it too.
[00:49:16] And he's playing a, like a kind of a pick, you know, with the, you know, country vests and the, and the Hicklin diesel hats or whatever. Oh, geez. Um, Diedrich Bader was the, uh, he was in Drew. Um, Napoleon Dynamite, right? Yeah. Uh, yeah, he was. Yes, he was. Yeah. He was on Drew Carey's show and everything.
[00:49:43] Um, he was also the voice of Batman, Brave and the Bold. Yes, he was also in the Harlequin cartoon. Oh man, he's a DC guy. Um, uh, has anyone here seen Barry yet? There's so much. There's so many, but, um. There's so much to watch on TV. I can't keep up anymore. Uh, I think, I think you'd like it. Uh, there's definitely a lot of just. Did you say. Oh, you said bear. Barry.
[00:50:13] Right. Barry. Oh, Barry. No. Oh yeah. I've seen that. The guy who's a killer. Yeah. The hit man turned actor. I, I think you guys are going to like a lot of stuff. Cause there's some other cold opens where you're like, oh my God, they're making fun of these kinds of ads or recruitment. Watch. I'm writing it down. Watch Barry. All right. Four seasons, eight episodes. Barry Allen? No. Barry Manilow? Yeah. Famous people named Barry.
[00:50:43] Barry Manilow, the hit man. Barry Sonnenville. I don't know. I shoot the bullets and make the people go. Her name was Lola. Barry London. She was a target. And her head blew off like JFK on November 22nd. And there she was. Oh my God.
[00:51:07] Ray Stevens did a Barry Manilow parody single in the seventies called I need your help, Barry Manilow. So he did a really good job with the music sounded just like a Barry Manilow record, but you have to look it up. He didn't write it, but he did a good job with it. So there was a document, a mockumentary that came out a couple of years ago. Um, that was in the adult about the adult industry called Dick Ho Asian porn star.
[00:51:39] That nobody that it was like, they got all these people from the golden age of porn to be in it. Wow. It's a lot of the actresses and they basically describe this guy as probably one of the best well hung guys in the world. They don't show a lot, but it's like the stories that they have, like they got 7.4 on IMDB baby. Yeah, it's uh, they got like Kate Parker. I think. Um, I don't know any of his names.
[00:52:08] Peg, Julia Anderson. Trust me when you've watched the amount of porn I've watched. Oops, sorry. Um, I cut you kind of know the actresses. James James. No, you know, I'm just kidding. Um, we're all. Rose here. No pun. Yeah. But they get all these actors to speak about him. And it's like he's this guy that came in. He made like a whole shit load of movies and nobody knows about them.
[00:52:36] And it's like, it's like, oh God, he was one of the greatest great, you know, God, he was really, really big from what I remember. And that's the, that's the whole joke about it because you know, supposedly, you know, Asian guys are not that. Um, BBC has got competition. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. So, uh, yeah. You can't say that. That's racist. You just made me think of something with porn actors in it called Flesh Gordon. Oh yeah.
[00:53:06] Oh yeah. Yeah. It's a parody. Full stop. Yeah. I was trying to think if the fire sign theater ever did. Um, it might have. They did that. They did that hot shorts thing where they. Yeah. Is that where they take a short and they take the sound out? They put their own like old movie cereals. And they, and they do their own dialogue over it. Yeah. Kind of like what's up. What's up. What's up. Yes.
[00:53:35] That kind of went into the mad movies with the LA connection. Remember that? Yeah. Nickelodeon. Yep. And it's like, much like MST3K, they would have little skits before the actual feature. So yeah, it is. Well, once the camera's on, it's never off. That's basically it. Well then fire, fire and stand theater did Nick danger, which was a parody of 40s radio. Mm. Well, I remember.
[00:54:01] I remember the one, the one sketch I loved is a high school, high school madness with where they do. They take. Mudhead. Archie and Jughead. No, I don't get back then. So they're seventies. But I love, I love, I love when they do this. This is, this is a, what's the joke? He says, okay, dad, I'm 40, I'm 48. Yeah. Pass the 40 weight mom.
[00:54:26] It's like, he's like, um, he's like, okay, when dad, how's that, how's that, how's that how's that bridge going? Going good. And like, it's just a lot of when they do the, the, the, um, the speech at the school and the kids go, the kids going, hi kids. As most of you know, you suck. You suck at all. You know, we got, we stuff speeches like that. And I always wanted to like, do that during the speech. Like when somebody was up, you know, like the captain of the football team and just like
[00:54:56] start yelling that shit out. You know, and then he goes, rah, rah, rah. Like walking off stage, the principal's fuck you too. The audience. Oh, I got hot shorts. Like a Mounties catch herpes. Yeah. Sperm bank hold up. Yes. Revenge of the non-smokers. That's where they had butt buster. Oh my God. Nancy diet doctors.
[00:55:26] Clause two. Olympic confidential. The last handgun on earth. And I can't read the other one. Oh my God. There was a really. It was on Tubi or something. A Tubi where you find all the goodies. Yeah. There's a really bad. Sci fi series that like one minute it's for real. Then the next minute it's a mockumentary. It had. Everybody from sci fi. It had. Christopher judge. You know, tilt from Stargate. It had check off himself. It had.
[00:55:55] All kinds of people, but they would keep talking to the camera, but it. It was just. Really badly directed. It was called nobility. I was just like, man. You know what was. There was something with Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner. It came from Hollywood. It came from Hollywood. Precursor to mystery science theater. Hmm. There you go. It came off as. It came off as kind of like a documentary, but then they were sitting in front of movies
[00:56:25] and making fun of them. Yeah. It's true. They did. They did. They did a whole segment about Ed Wood. Yes. Then. Then they did. The one I love is when. Dan Aykroyd does teenage rebellion and he comes in like Roger Crawford from Highly Patrol. Therefore, therefore, get some backup. Get some backup. He opens the lock. He shoots the locker. You know, he says. So film clips. They wouldn't show the whole movie.
[00:56:55] Yeah. Yeah. They show film clips. And there's one part where they're doing. What is it? What movie was it? Shit. It was. I'm looking it up. There was. There was one movie they did that was sort of like. It was also done in mystery science theater about the teenage teenage girl gang or something. Yeah. Yeah. And I can't remember who it is doing. I think it's Dan Aykroyd. But like girls shoot out the window at cops laughing at people shows up in there, too.
[00:57:23] They did do the giant claw in a bunch of other movies that were. Yeah. No. What was the one they did where it says all schools. However, any Dan Aykroyd says all schools will be closed except. However, parochial school schools will stay open. And these people like running across the bridge. It was Reptilicus. Oh, my God. It was Reptilicus. Did they do Reptilicus in that? In mystery science theater? Yeah. But they did that. Yeah. Season 11. Yeah.
[00:57:53] Wow. They do the scene where they're running across the bridge. And like, you know, all schools will be. However, some parochial schools will remain open. Yeah. Aykroyd and Belushi show up in the ruttles as well. Yeah. That's true. Aykroyd plays Brian Thigh. The Deca guy that turned the Beatles down. He's like, you turned the Beatles down. And he's like, yeah. Yeah.
[00:58:22] It's like, you basically like turned away all those millions of dollars. Yeah. Yeah. And Eric Isle just is one of the best. He's like, what's it like to be such an asshole? Yeah. Yeah. I don't think made the cut on NBC when they aired it. Yeah. Probably not. Well, they said, they said in the NBC cuts like what it's like to be such a jerk. Okay. Oh, it doesn't have the same meaning. And then he did Belushi's part. He's supposed to be Ron.
[00:58:52] Supposed to be Rhonda Klein, which is supposed to be Alan Klein. Alan Klein. Yeah. So they come in. He comes into the office like, Ron DeKlein. A man so tough. People would commit suicide not to meet him. You know, and he's coming. He's like, people just getting the shit kicked out and stuff like that. And there's a guy hanging himself in an office. Yeah. Oh my word. And then it's like, and then it's like, it's like, he's like talking. He's like, listen, I'm not good with facts or figures, but if you need the money, I'll
[00:59:22] get you the money. Okay. All right. All I got to do is I got to just get the money for you. That's all. That's all. You know, I was never good with math. And then the camera pans back and you see him. He's talking into a mirror. Wow. We'll return after these messages. If you like small town mystery, crazy news and wild history, then the Florida men on Florida man podcast is for you.
[00:59:51] Each week, Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty bring you the absolute best Florida has to offer. So if you're looking for a show that's safe for the family, but funny enough to help you escape everyday life, then listen to the Florida men on Florida man podcast. That's Florida men plural on Florida man podcast. Hey, it's Brent Pope, the host of breakfast with Brent Pope. You've seen me on some of your favorite TV shows saying things like give it up, Jimmy. You got to sink this put to win on breakfast with Brent Pope.
[01:00:19] I sit down with guests for the entertainment world and we do it all over breakfast. Or should I say breakfast every week on breakfast? You get inside Hollywood info and tips, great breakfast, Rex and booty debates. Most of all, you get the most delightful 30 minutes of your week. So dig in. It's breakfast time. Listen at Brentfist.com, Apple podcasts, or wherever fine podcasts are found. They also did a, they parodied the Beatles anthology albums in the nineties too. They did a CD. Yeah. Which I ordered.
[01:00:48] I didn't even know they did that. I got it. I'm going to listen to it eventually. So. It's not really. It was called archeology. Yeah. I haven't heard of it. So I don't go. No spoilers. Okay. Does anybody know of like a documentary type film where they're using like old footage of like maybe even atomic war stuff or anything, and then they're just doing the whole dialogue
[01:01:18] over the top of it. That sounds familiar. It sounds familiar. Oh, atomic, atomic cafe. Atomic cafe. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was sort of a mockumentary, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. I was making fun of the, since the over sincerity of. Civil defense stuff back in the. Yeah. 50s.
[01:01:45] About how nuclear rate, you know, was safe to just duck and cover is another one, you know. I think that we're being there. I remember being. You know, if the bomb goes off and you're in school, just go into the desk, you're fine. You know. Robert Klein used to do a great bit about that. No talking. And if you know, it would be like siren blasts. You know, there'd be three if they were over Omaha. Two if they were over like Chicago. One, you better, you know, one, if they were in New York, if you know, if you heard the propellers coming, you know, you were screwed, you know.
[01:02:15] And they gave you dog and they gave you dog tags back then, which, which, you know, were like resistant to a certain amount of heat. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And he said you could really screw around and play handball for half an hour because you know he had stolen two hours. The thing I love, it's like if you watch those old movies about civil defense, it's like, it's like Johnny's riding his bike, but he sees the flash. What does he do? He hides in a sewer ditch.
[01:02:44] And like this, like this drainage ditch is only like maybe about six inches from the ground. And this kid's like covered up. And I'm thinking to myself, if it's a nuclear bomb, he's going to be evaporated. You know. I can remember in the seventies even being taught a little bit about duck and cover, like watching the films even. And they were from the fifties or whatever, but yeah. Remember the Russians have the bomb.
[01:03:11] The Russians didn't have the, the Russians had like, you know, I can remember a lot of that stuff, you know, just being like propaganda. Even my father was like, you know, every five years they have a five year plan. He wasn't a fool. That's good. You know, I think there's a happy days envelope. Envelope episode where Mr. Seabill. The envelope blues. There should be one on the Oscars. I mean, the player you could probably say. It's kind of.
[01:03:42] It's more Bob Roberts. Bob Roberts is the satire. There you go. Yeah. Bob Robyn guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was, it was Tanner Tanner Tanner. That was Tanner was the one that he did. Um, before he just remember, he, he had kind of a couple like lean years. And when he did Tanner 88. Um, that was, that was, who was it? Michael. Shit. He was, he played. Michael Murphy.
[01:04:12] Michael Murphy played Tanner. And he was just like, he's supposed to be like this, like, like this, like, they don't know what, so they made up this whole thing about him. Oh, and there's parts of him here. This. Yeah. And there's parts with him, like, you know, meeting Gary Hart and Walter Mondale and all this shit. Mm hmm. And people were like going, is this guy for real? You know, people were like, is he, is he real? Can't what party is he with? You know?
[01:04:38] Um, and that kind of bloomed into what Bob Roberts was going to be. Yeah. How about, how about the, with, uh, Julian? Yes. Perfect example. Yeah. Gary Cole's in there. Um, the, the one that got me. He was Martin Mulls, the history of white people in America. Rest in peace. I remember hearing about it. I never saw it. Is it worth checking out? It is. It is. There's, there's some, there's some good parts, you know, there's some good things
[01:05:06] that he did, you know, that were, and he just passed away like a week ago. So, um, here's where to date the episode, you know, that's staying. Burnwood tonight was kind of a precursor to Larry Sanders show too. Yeah. Yeah. It was. Yeah. And I think I. With Fred Willard. Yeah. Yep. Yep. And Martin Mull, of course. I swear there's some other mockument with Jim Carrey though. I was trying to think.
[01:05:35] Doing time on Maple drive. No. No, that was a good drama though. No. No. No. No. No, no, no, no. Nevermind. No, no, no, no. No, no, no. You're right. You're right. The one, uh, the Truman show. I, I, I was thinking of someone else, but I mean, no, I wasn't thinking of that or any one where he's being filmed. He doesn't know it.
[01:06:03] I mean, that, that is, but that wasn't what I was thinking. I just was wondering if there was some obscure one, but it's all good. He is. Here's something. Here's something that I should have been aware of considering it's one of my favorite subjects, but apparently there was one called comic book, the movie. Yeah. Kevin Smith. Yes. 2004, Kevin Smith, Mark Hamill. There's a whole bunch of people. That's the one I was trying to remember. Donna D'Erico was in it and they were trying, it was supposed to be a relaunch of a old school superhero.
[01:06:33] Yep. And it was the fans and everybody who's like, you know, for, I remember what I remember reading about that. And I didn't really, did it come out? I knew it says 2004. Yeah. I'll be watching tomorrow. All right. I'm going to have to grab a look at that. Fun. Yeah.
[01:06:58] It's got Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill, Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman. There's a lot of people. Chase Masterson. Wow. Yes. Yep. Oh, David. Mm hmm. A lot of comic book writers actually. Yeah. So I know what I'll be watching tomorrow. Yeah. What do you think is the perfect mockumentary? Oh, that's so hard.
[01:07:29] Oh, I think Spinal Tap's the one that he really got attention to it. I think Spinal Tap is for me. Oh, I got one for you. Yeah. Trailer Park Boys. I haven't watched those. Is there more? I think there's more than one. Ivan Reitman even produced their movie. It's all in Canada. 2001 to 2016. And. You'll fall instantly in love with these guys because they even put up their.
[01:07:58] Short film that started it all in the same kind of deal, like they just were all these Canadian comedians and they just would talk to the camera and you'll get some Harvey Bourbon shades every once in a while, just the whole inability to defend themselves. It's just. I was kind of wondering about those like best in show and waiting for Guffman and stuff because I could have swore I saw quite a few actors in those that looked like they were primarily Canadian actors. So it made me wonder if those were filmed in Canada.
[01:08:28] The, you know. I think, I think the thing with, with spinal tap is that's been the gold standard for mockumentaries because look who's in the cast. You know, you got Michael McKeon, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest. You've got Howard Hessman in it, Paul Benedict, Fran Drescher, Billy Crystal's in it with. Um, Dana Carvey.
[01:08:59] Dana Carvey. And the blonde lady from V, which I can't think of her name. Yeah. Bruno, Bruno Kirby's in it. Yep. Ed Begley Jr. is in it. Ed Begley Jr. is in it. Fred Willard's in it. Who's the one who is? Frank Drescher's in it. Yeah. Did I say Frank Drescher was it? Yeah, I said Frank Drescher was it, right? Yeah, you did. Um, you know, Patrick McNeigh. What's it called again? Yes. You know. What's it called again?
[01:09:28] Who, uh, wait, who is it? You were talking about Spinal Tap. Yeah. Yeah. Um, Haskins in it. Okay. Uh, Zane Busby is in it. That's right. You may not, who you may not remember. She was always, she was in a couple of Cheech and Chong movies. Um, I'm trying to think who the hell else was in that. Bruno Kirby, did you mention? Bruno Kirby's in that movie. Yeah. He plays the limo driver. He's like. They shut the window on him. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:09:57] Oh, here's a perfect one for you. Craig Ferguson's the big tease. Oh, yes. That was one. I forgot about that one. It's an obscure one. I don't know why it doesn't get played all that much. It would kill if you put it on comedy central every Saturday. I think, I think real life. Albert Brooks is really good too, because he actually. And I don't know why his movies are more obscure. Camera crew. Yeah. There's all these films that. Would just be perfect and they just don't get replayed all that much.
[01:10:27] And you just makes you wonder they're affordable, easy to replay. Why? Why doesn't someone put them on? Real life is because. Because you have to have the 50th showing of you. Don't mess with the Zohan. Yeah. Maybe it's about what they commit the easiest rights to. But that's what I'm saying. These are pretty low budget. Like they. They're pretty easy to afford. Like they're. What. They'd be peanuts at this point. The camera crew in real life. They actually have. Helmets over their heads.
[01:10:58] Inside of it, which is a. A mockumentary of camera crews, you know, within the. Within the documentary, you know, it's just. It. There's. There's a lot going on in that movie. I think it's. I think it's underappreciated. And I'll say there's. I'll say there's a great mockumentary that I don't think is meant to be a mockumentary. I'm not there. Oh, but. The what about. Oh, yeah. The one. Yeah. Produced by Soderbergh. Yeah. That one. I think. I think that's.
[01:11:26] That's amazing to watch, you know, because they have like five or six different actors portraying Dylan. I think that's why it kind of came and went as it did. It was just very hard to kind of market like. That almost. That almost sounds like a scene or a L with five bonds, you know? Yeah. Yeah. If we want to go even further back, you can even find most of these episodes on Daily Motion. It's Gary Shanlin show. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:11:54] And back when he was on Showtime, just people at a sitcom and he keeps just looking at the camera like, can you see these idiots? They're laughing at me. Yeah. Well, they would. They would break the fourth wall. Right. Well, Deadpool's kind of doing mockumentary stuff, but it's more just fourth wall breaking. Well, Gary Shanlin show was so funny because I can remember watching that and just like going like you just turn to the camera and they'd be so oblivious to him turning to the camera. Yeah. Is that Larry Sanders show that Gary Shanlin did?
[01:12:24] Yeah. Later on. Yeah. But this where Gary, Larry Sanders came after it's Gary. Shanlin show. Yeah. Okay. It was like, it was like one of those shows you had to watch if you got the humor of it and it was him and Alan's Y bell, who was a writer on Saturday Night Live. Yeah. And they had the theme like this is the theme to Gary show the opening theme to Gary show. This is the song that you hear as I play the credits.
[01:12:54] I'm almost just finished. How do you like it so far? How do you like the theme to Gary show? You know, it's just it had like a theme song, but the guy would like just like would like tell you what's going on on the theme song, you know? Yeah. Making fun of how it's not. It's barely a theme song. It's really not that funny. It's that one up on Fox too. I think they syndicated it. Yeah. And edited for me. Um, I would call. I think so. They moved it to Fox and I think 80.
[01:13:24] Eight, 89. And it kind of like just fizzled out. The Showtime run was hilarious. You know, the Showtime run. He had, you know, he had so many people on that show. You know, I'll share some video clips of it later for sure. Yeah. We're forgetting the SCTV too. They did some SCTV. SCTV. Mark Maron's show was kind of like that where he's having mock interviews with celebrities playing asshole versions of themselves. Kind of.
[01:13:56] I think the thing I love is watching Zach Galifianakis between two ferns. Oh man. Oh, that, that is the definition of funny or die that, that, that show right there. Just where. Well, I don't know that I've. He did a movie where he's trying to do a thing about two ferns. Yeah. Yeah. It was basically a compilation of unused stuff, but it was funny. And Conan O'Brien must go is kind of in this vein too. It absolutely is.
[01:14:26] I mean, I love that. I, I won't say. I mean, before that had a recurring skit where he would have famous people playing a. Asshole version of himself. Like he, he did have Carrie come in and he did have other people. And it was like, this is the R rated Conan O'Brien biography. You were not meant to see. And. And. Uh, they would do a one recurring skit with Jeff Goldblum, which no one seems to want to talk about much, which is just funny where he would just be just
[01:14:54] randomly throwing shit at people and tripping them in the hall. Behind the scenes. And you're like. Well, I can remember SNL. Like the first couple of years they would have that Schiller's real. Tom Schiller. I think. Yeah. And he did. He did a couple. He did like one that was like really like screwy. And I can remember watching it. Like, you know, there was about a guy was like basically experimenting with genetics and stuff like that.
[01:15:25] And how, how this guy was like trying to trail him down to like South America or something like that. And then they did, he did one called the Dolce Gilda. Where it was. Um, yes. Gilda Radger. It was like the Dolce Vita. And they had. Ackroyd was playing. The. The part of Marcello Mastriani. Oh yeah. And. It's it kind of takes this weird surreal turn. And then.
[01:15:56] At the end. And she's like, don't follow me, you know. And they played it. I think like a couple of weeks after she passed away. Oh, it says. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's heartbreaking at the end, you know. They brought it back from the original one. Yeah. Yeah. Here's. You know, I've got the first five seasons on DVD. I'm going to watch those again. This one. James. A lot of. A lot of treasures. Here's one for you, James. Portlandia. Portlandia.
[01:16:25] Oh God. I loved Portlandia. That. Every comedy troupe I ever went to. They. They could not get enough of it. They're like, when's it coming back? When's it coming back? And he. And the one I loved was. Mike Nessmith appeared on an episode. Yes. I mean. It makes sense. Carrie Brownstein had so many connections to so many musicians. But the thing that cracked up. He. They played the parents of the mayor. Him in this woman played the parents of the mayor. Of.
[01:16:55] Of. Of Kyle McLaughlin's character. Yeah. The correctness. Kyle McLaughlin was like, you know. Here. You know. Dune. Blue Velvet. You know. Yeah. Yeah. And he's playing like this complete. They're serious. Of a. Of a mayor. You know. You know. Has anyone. This came out in 1980 and had a sequel in 89. Um. Um. I didn't really think of it as a documentary in a way. But it says it was done in the style of a nature documentary. The gods must be crazy. 19. That is absolutely a mockumentary.
[01:17:25] My folks raised me on that one. I saw both of them. Sure. The gods must be crazy too. Mm hmm. Yep. The gods. The gods must be crazy. I think. Was released 1980 and then it got released here in like 85. 86. Yeah. It was a word of mouth kind of movie. And then. It just. Kept. It was one of those things I caught late night. Uh. You know. Late 80s. Early 90s. That was on. One of the movie things like HBO or something. But.
[01:17:55] It still occasionally shows on Showtime. Believe it or not. But yeah. I can remember. If I remember right. The gods must be crazy. It's about. It's a. You know. It's like an African native finding a Coke bottle kind of thing or something. Yeah. And what he has to do is he has to go to the edge of the edge of the earth. And throw the Coke bottle back into. You know. The oblivion. Yeah. Because the Coke bottle has basically corrupted the village. It was very much like. Life of Brian. Just kind of making fun of that religious. Secrecy and. Well. Culture. Yeah.
[01:18:25] There's a. There's like. A couple of subplots. There's a. A woman who's basically trying to become a school teacher for a bunch of kids. In the area. And she hires this guy who's a complete inept idiot to be. The guy to take her. And there's also like a bunch of rebels that are trying to overthrow the government. And. Yeah. You know. It's all. And this. This guy. I forgot his name. This guy. This guy. Who's actually a Bushman. From the. From the area.
[01:18:55] Basically. Like. It's like. Just like. Basically comes into these situations as time goes along. You know. Yeah. It's a good. You know. I just remember being. You know. Kind of a weird one to watch it. Like. Midnight or something. Yeah. Yeah. To me. Remember the one about what the animals are people to. Is that the name of the movie? The movie animals are people to.
[01:19:25] Anybody remember that one? I can't recall that one. It was about. The guy was. There reading a film about all the natural wildlife and the Kalahari or something like that. Yeah. Nobody remembers that. Unfortunately not. There's a lot of stuff. And. That's kind of my earlier point. I'm like. I don't know why it falls into obscurity. It's easy to afford. It's easy to replay. It totally. Many of these movies are totally in the same mindset. And.
[01:19:55] Would even kill even more today because if there's anything consumers want, they want stuff that's similar to what they're watching now. So. They want to see what inspired it and all that. I don't know why. Yeah. People are afraid. It's like you really. If they're easy to afford. Then it's easy to play. You're going to get your money back. Yeah. I think the one thing that gets me the most is. With a mockumentary, you have to have. I think I said it before. You have to know the subject you're doing. You have to have the love of the subject you're doing.
[01:20:24] And then you got to flip it over. And be like, okay. Do this part here. And played in the morning hours. People are totally looking at that same kind of adult swim. Kind of what the hell did I just watch kind of felt. Yeah. They are. They are in that mindset. So they are open to. Oh my God. Did you see what I saw last night? That was. That was creative. That was clever. That's a mystery science theater. They don't really mock these movies. They have fun with them. And there's a difference there. Bingo.
[01:20:53] They appreciate the effort they try to make. And it doesn't work. But, you know, they like them in spite of themselves. You know. Not always. There's a few that they actually. Not always. There's some that broke them. Where would you throw? Anybody see Koyana Scotsi? Koyana Scotsi? Koyana Scotsi. It's all. Philip Glass did the soundtrack. And it's all visual. Why does that sound familiar? Yeah. Koyana Scotsi.
[01:21:24] And it shows nature for the first half, I think. And then cities for the next half. But there's no dialogue. And that almost sounds like a mockumentary in itself. You know. I don't think they've ever heard of it later. Because, yeah. It's hard to. Well, I think it's. It didn't do well because of the titles. Pads. Who's in it? There's nobody in it. It's. Nobody in it. It's. It's part of the joke.
[01:21:53] It's a 1982 American non-narrative documentary film. Directed by Godfrey Reggio. Philip Glass did the music. Wow. Cinematography. Yeah. Man. But there's no stars. There's no dialogue. It's just. Wikipedia has it. Here's one for you guys. When cars attack. Attack. It was just random police chases. Richard Belzer was the host and just.
[01:22:23] Letting out. Doing his usual shit talk. I always go back to detect a bunch at the end of the day. But. It was a big ABC special back in 97. It's just. You said when cars attack. When cars attack. When cars attack. Oh my God. America thought with John Ritter and meatloaf is I think he is even in it. I think so. Yes. Oh America thought. I remember that. Yeah. That was big on HBO. That was like when HBO was half a day. We've watched. I'd watch America thought.
[01:22:53] I remember that was. Wow. The country runs out of money because we're. Making fun of teleathons. Yeah. And they're. Yeah. They're doing. They're doing a tele. Yeah. Teleathon type thing and they're using up the last of the gas they have to do these shows. They should still play that. Like. That is an easy to watch kind of movie like. Harvey Corman is in it. So was Elvis Costello. Elvis Costello. You know. There's one movie called get crazy which is kind of a.
[01:23:25] Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. Our. The해야 ă.зя. Ai. My.
[01:23:56] Our. Our. Our. Our. My. Our. Our. Our. I mean, that's, that's a, that's, but you know, to watch get crazy, which is kind of like, you know, the, the way he's viewing it, you know, as him being this kid, who's working under this promoter played by Alan Garfield, you know, and having all these people show up, you know, it was, you know,
[01:24:26] it's just a one of a kind of experience. Like those would be awesome to watch in the theater. Cause he would just be like, man, you know, JJ was talking about, you know, knowing the subject of like some of these mockumentaries or, you know, documentary type things like, and I'm thinking about the cast for Spinal Tap, you know, you got Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy and Harry Shearer in Spinal Tap. And then they turn around and they do, you know, decades later, but,
[01:24:54] you know, A Mighty Wind. Eugene Levy was in Spinal Tap. It was Michael McKeon. Well, I mean, Eugene was in. Oh yeah. No, Eugene Levy's in A Mighty Wind. But they're in A Mighty Wind. Cause they're doing two different types of music and they're showing their chops by being able to play, you know, like the hard rock stuff. And Spinal Tap. And then they're turning around doing the folk music stuff in A Mighty Wind.
[01:25:22] The same three guys. And like I said, they did live shows and they opened themselves as the folks. There's some episodes of Psych that kind of become a mockumentary, especially when they're at conventions or what have you. Maybe parts of UHF I can say are mockumentary, but they're, it's primarily a parody. I think, I think the one thing that got me about A Mighty Wind was that they had like, you could tell like who was,
[01:25:50] who was what in that because the, the job title and yeah. The folksmen are supposed to be like the Kingston trio. Yeah. Oh yeah. Um, Mike, the, the Eugene Levy and, uh, Catherine O'Hara. Yeah. Yeah. They're supposed to be like, I think probably Ian and Sylvia. Oh yeah. Who were like, who were like a folk duo. And then the, the big congregation group is supposed to be like,
[01:26:20] now I'm trying to put this. Well, they were, they were a congregation group that was like, they weren't the original members though. No. But they were supposed to be like, I'm trying to think who was the group that in the sixties, they had like everybody, everybody who was a folky, who was in their left. And they would like, like, like Steven Stills was in it. And freaking. Oh, Kenny Rogers was in it too. I think. Um,
[01:26:50] yeah. Shit. Who was it? Not, not, not the Chad Mitchell trio. No, it was, it was somebody, a group of people and they'd play like folk, folk festivals and stuff. Oh. And people would leave and go, but the one guy was there. And I'm trying to think who the hell it was. It was a cute. Yeah. The new Christie minstrels, maybe. That's yes. That's who it was. Was, was in that first before, um, first edition.
[01:27:20] Yeah. Fun that he got to be part of the experience. And plus pretty much Lawrence Welk. Yeah. So it is a take up on that. That too, you know, a version of that type of band or my, my mom, my mom had a great idea. If he was to do another movie, Christopher guest, it should be like a Lawrence Welk show kind of thing. Yeah. Where it's like, you know, this guy who's like, like a band leader who had like a TV, you know, he,
[01:27:49] he leaves under auspicious circumstances, but they're going to do a revival show. And it's all the people that are like, who are on his show, who's he's asking back, who have left under like, you know, really bad circumstances, you know, like, you know, and my mom thought this up and I was like, you know, that's a great idea. And, you know, unfortunately you never, you know, it never came to pass. So, you know, he has. So they got into heavy drugs or they committed murder. Yeah. You know, or, you know, they showed,
[01:28:17] they showed drunk or they found out that one of them post for playboy or something like that, you know, just like, you know, just to like, you know, he's like some band, you know, he's like, yes, we had five seasons on the air and then we went to, you know, it would be like a big piss off on, on wealth, you know, which I, which I thought would be great, you know, because I think a lot of people like, didn't like Lawrence Welk, you know, as a kid, I certainly didn't. Oh God.
[01:28:46] Going on spending time at my grandmother's house and they'd be watching Lawrence Welk. I'd be like, come on, please. Anything else. Does PBS still run those reruns on Saturday nights? Like they did for decades. It's like, why? I don't know if they do. I'm not sure they do anymore. I will say absolutely not. They'll do Ed Sullivan. Once the blue moon. I think, I think somebody to call the PBS was like, you show this shit again. I'm not sending you any more money.
[01:29:15] I will shoot you and defund you. Yeah. That's funny. I worked at phone bank for our local PBS station one time. And somebody on the phone said, somebody just called in and said that Lawrence Welk last night was the worst ever. It's like, aren't they all? Aren't they all? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Now let's hear it for the boys in the band. Each one a bitching brother's own right now. Let's hear Kate Smith. Do her take off on the doors with the light of my fire baby. I worked at one night.
[01:29:44] He's a monotone Casey Kasem. Yeah. I worked at one night to the pledge drive where they did an Elvis special and Elvis kept calling me. I can't get it. This guy would call me great Elvis impression. And then hang up and then call back. He kept getting me. It was really weird. Priscilla come over and say hello to the young man. You know, it was, it was, it was bizarre. All right. And so you see me on TV laughing and, you know, no one knew. Was he grabbing more ass than Bob Barker? What was that?
[01:30:14] Was he grabbing more ass than Bob Barker? Mike, can you do me a favor? Does your, does your film bank have a harem scaram on there? I think it was JJ. Were you calling Grant? It was me. It was me. I was calling you up the whole time. We got the Iowa. We found out his prank caller. I knew it. Damn it. Hey, ma'am. Do me a favor. Can you put on a, the trouble with girls and then Frankie and Johnny and then do a spin out and then. Yeah. I want to,
[01:30:43] I want to watch these movies. You know, I really do, man. Surely there's got to be an Elvis mockery somewhere. Oh, I don't think there would be, but you know, as a state can't take a joke. Well, there's. Yeah. Andy Kaufman. Yes. In and of himself. That was a very dramatic. Shatner is. Yes. One that I think you guys would like.
[01:31:12] I know Gil's familiar with it is my name is Bruce. Oh God. We're just that Bruce Campbell's playing a B movie actor. He's like, I think you got me mistaken for that evil dead guy. Yeah. He's playing a really jackass version of himself. Yeah. Yeah. As he does. And it's so funny how he's filming horror movies. He'd even directed the damn thing. So kudos to him. I, my, my buddy Humphrey went to go see him and, like, you know,
[01:31:42] he was doing something. He says, this guy stands up and says, okay, can I ask you a question? Campbell's like, yeah. He's like, who do you think would win in the fight? Ash or Dracula? Bruce Campbell takes a moment. He goes, what kind of fucking question is that? Briscoe County junior versus Ash should be the question. Oh God. Yeah. He came to Des Moines. He did some,
[01:32:08] he did a live show a year or two back where he's like, did a kind of a game show kind of thing going on. Um, Oh, that's right. Yeah. He was even hosting the recent version of Ripley's believer or not. He was doing like, he did a game show type thing for an hour. And then he showed like one of his movies, which was army of darkness. Oh, God. That'd be fun. Can I say,
[01:32:37] I love that movie because Malachi Thorne is in that movie and I got to meet Malachi Thorne. Oh, sweet. Who was, who was, who was false face in Batman and also played, um, the guy who was, he was, uh, Robert Wagner's, uh, superior in, uh, Oh, heart to heart. Was it actually one of the guys who dubbed in the villain and the Hercules movies. Oh, yeah. But, uh,
[01:33:06] who did he play with Robert Wagner? Was it heart to heart or was it? Uh, no, it was, yeah. Robert Wagner was doing, it takes a thief, which I love. Um, and he played his boss in the show. Oh, geez. Oh man. Uh, my, I had a cousin who got married, uh, I want to say 2016 at a giant castle and everyone was for whatever reason, getting a zombie vibe saying, this is like walking dead. And I said, no,
[01:33:36] this is like army of darkness. Yeah. I started gut busting and laughing because I'm making dead eye noises. It was like, you got one chance. You have Jack squat. Jack just left two minutes ago. You got two things. Jack is Jack and Jack and squat. Yeah. What people need to lift town, Jack left town. Uh, well, when people need to quote, uh, when they're playing a video game is good, bad.
[01:34:06] I'm the guy with a gun. I'm the guy with a gun. I like those ones where he's like fighting himself. Oh yeah. Stop fighting yourself. Stop fighting yourself. He's fighting little versions of himself. Then he's fighting an evil twin version of himself. Yeah. And then he even does that same thing in Xena or something. I think Xena or Hercules. Yeah. I think. Oh, and we can't forget when he did the burn notice, uh,
[01:34:36] TV prequel movie, how he, at one point he just randomly just gets up and chainsaw and just throws it at the cartel guys. Just no reason at all. Like, it was like, why would that even be here? It doesn't matter. It's all camp. All I'm going to say is thank God he got rid of Jack of all trades. I like that one. No, I'm just kidding with you. I don't know. I like that one. Jeez. Okay. So here's one for you. And despite it having a infamous actor, I think you guys would like,
[01:35:06] uh, Oh, what's his name? He does all these bizarre parodies, but he always has a camera on. So I want to call it a part, at least a quarter of a mockumentary. Have you ever seen pool boy drowning out the fury? No, it's pretty much making fun of all those shitty, like made in the Philippines movies. But yeah, Ross Patterson is the guy who's, who does them. And that one had Danny Trejo. Uh, he's since done other wacky ones like FDR,
[01:35:34] American badass with Barry Boswick range. Yes. Which is the zombie. Okay. So now I'm my, my favorite one that he did that was really straight to the internet was Helen Keller versus werewolves. Oh, Jesus Christ. But yeah, Ross Patterson is the guy who does it. And each time you watch his movies, you're like, good God, how does he get away with this politically incorrect? Oh God. Oh, and, and she's the hero. She's killing him at all points.
[01:36:02] So he just has a very demented sense of humor. Anybody remember Dr. Katz professional therapist? Yes. Yes. As a matter of fact, I was just guest starring on a podcast to talk about home movies. And okay. That's a good. That is that kind of a mockumentary. I call it. Yeah. I mean, the guy's playing a fictional voiceover. Yeah. No, he was, he was, I think he was a therapist.
[01:36:32] He was a therapist, but all his patients are fictional in this. Yeah. That's what I can remember. He's real, but he's, you know, it would be like if Tom Cruise, God forbid, did a sitcom playing Tom Cruise, you know, it's just, I'm trying to remember that was like squiggly line art or something. Wasn't it? Yeah. Squiggly. It was kind of like, yes, it was kind of like squiggly line. It was part of the comedy central lineup. And all I remember is like, he had, he would have famous people. Like he had David Duchovny on one time.
[01:37:01] And he had like, he would have like Judy Canuta on. And like, reminds me, some of those same people were on Queer Doc, which was kind of similar. It didn't have the square version, but it had the same kind of. And he had his son, Ben, who was a complete and utter moron. Like, like he, like Ben buys a new car. And he's driving. He has his foot on the gas and the brake at the same time. He has. He had two celebrities on each episode.
[01:37:31] It was 22 minutes. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. I think Dana Gould did one. Ray Romano. Ray Romano was on a lot. I'm looking. Ray Romano's who you get for anything. Who was the guy that did the voice of Dr. Katz? Dr. Katz. Jonathan Katz. Jonathan Katz. Yep. Yeah. Promise. I'm not being a smartass. I probably would know him if I saw him, but. He literally looks just like the dude. The dude. Playing the dude disguised as another dude,
[01:38:00] which brings me to Tropic Thunder. Is. That's not a mockumentary. Okay. I'm just. I'm just waiting for your verdict. It's a parody. It's a sad tire, obviously. I love that movie. I think it's funny, but. I want to do a double feature of that with you, HF one day. No, especially with. What's it? Tony.
[01:38:30] Junior. Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. Jr. His character. His character. It was over the top. Trying to play a black character. And then he got an actual Oscar nomin. You're like, you guys just don't get the joke. Do you? And then. Oh, yeah. And then Tom Cruise's character in that too. Yeah. So. God, he's playing. Yeah. Based off. I was laughing hysterical. I'm like,
[01:39:00] how the hell did they get him to do this? Well, then what's funny is Ben Stiller said in a Howard Stern interview in recent years, how he went to the premiere and Tom Cruise was there, but you know, since he was so often only he saw him on set and makeup, he totally spaced on the fact that he was actually in the movie. Yeah. He had to wear a whole suit and everything in that. Yeah. I think it was. What was he? Who was he based on? He was based on Joel Silver and the now canceled producer,
[01:39:30] Scott Rudin, but there was a bit of Weinstein in there. He's the whole. No, no, no. It was somebody else. It was somebody else. Joel Silver. No, no. The guy, the guy who died. Oh, well, that, that, that breaks it down. What is he known for? it was Finn and Jerry Bruckheimer.
[01:39:59] That's the first I've ever heard of. I just, well, he was the guy that teamed up with Bruckheimer. Okay. Cause I know the diet Coke. Yeah. Yeah. He was the guy that. Oh yes, you're right. Don Simpson. Don Simpson. Yes. Don Simpson. Yeah. Don was known for being a douche at meetings and having hookers and smelling a booze. But yeah, the, the diet, the diet Coke was the silver reference and just the overall, the angry, you're doing a good job. Now get out. That was Scott Rudin.
[01:40:28] the dismissing while complimenting you just so you don't sue him. It's like, my God, just chill it. And it's just even funnier. Cause he's technically the main villain of the movie. Oh, I, you know, I just, I was actually, that was the first time I took McConaughey seriously. Cause he's the only guy who's like, something's wrong. I think that was like, that's kind of like a. Mockumentary, but it's not a mockumentary. Yeah.
[01:40:58] It's a satire, but yeah, just, but the fake trailers, I would at least say are part parody, part mockumentary. Cause they, God damn, they did such a good job making them look legit. Like I'll never forget when we first rented it and we were like, did we get the wrong movie? So you're treated to free short trailers and you're like, what the hell is going on? Jack Black's in a movie making fun of Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler type gross out movies.
[01:41:25] Has there ever been a Ken Burns mockumentary? I mean, no, but there should have been, but there should have been. So, I mean, I love his, I love his documentaries. Don't get me wrong. Mindy Kalin kind of does some mockery stuff on her show, the Mindy project, but there was one episode where she just randomly just had Ken Burns on at a documentary movie premiere. They did one on Saturday night live.
[01:41:53] And all I remember is they were cutting to like people who didn't know Jack's squad about what was going on. And Chris Farley is doing this one person. Then all of a sudden Darth Vader showed up and he started cutting people down. And I'm like, it's like, it's like, yes. And that, and you just heard Ken Burns as much goes. Yes. And that happened. You know, it was just, it was just no off the wall. Oh my God. You know, I just remember that. Like he's playing like some drunk frat boy. But yeah, I would love.
[01:42:22] I'm sorry. Ken Burns shows up as himself as on the Simpsons making fun of himself. At least. I'm serious. Yeah. And I, I think of the commentary track on that episode, they said, why did he have, he didn't like his baseball documentary. Really? Yeah. And he says, why didn't he have Doris Kearns on there? You know, but I don't know. I love baseball. The documentary. I like it too.
[01:42:52] I like, I watched it. I watched it. It was on. I got into baseball. It's on MLB. Baseball fan until that movie. It's on MLB. Every weekend. Yeah. Oh, network. Yeah. Yeah. But the thing. I'm sorry. Actually on the. And, uh, as we found out, it's still in the first running. Really? Ooh. What? They're so long. It's the joke. Oh,
[01:43:25] he does. My wife's complaining about this too. The first couple of chapters that he said, it goes way too far back and just, it's way too. Obscure and to keep your interest. But, uh, I, I, I don't know. I kind of like learning stuff. I didn't know about before though. So I don't, I'm not explaining that very well, but you know, country music. We didn't like the first couple of chapters because it was so great way back and country music. It's great. Well, the thing that cracked me up was like,
[01:43:54] we had two, we used to have Mike and the mad dog here in New York. And of course, you know, mad dog, Chris Russo's going, you know, no, no. Woodrow Wilson didn't throw out the pitch on that day. It was somebody I'm like, Jesus Christ. Just get over it, pal. Yeah. Over it. Yeah. Speaking of wedge, speaking of mad dog, Morgan, there was a, what was the Dennis Hopper mockumentary that he did back in the day that didn't get released for the longest time? Oh, the last movie. I think so. Yeah.
[01:44:22] That was supposed to be a satire slash mockumentary in front of the movie industry, but. It never got released. They had a small camera that wasn't a real camera that they filmed. Did it ever finally get released, but it was like in 2016 or some shit? Yeah. I think it did. Okay. I still have always wanted to see it, but it was one of those. I'm like, does it even exist? Yeah. Oh, I miss those days though. Just the,
[01:44:49] the folklore is like where you just would hear about these movies. You're like, where do I find them? Wikipedia calls the last movie. It'll be a meta fictional drama film. Oh, okay. I'll take meta as mocking. Mockumentary. Metafiction. I think he does, he does easy rider. Right. Mm-hmm. And then he comes with the last picture show and everybody's going to like, what the hell is this? The last movie. Last picture. The last movie. Yeah. The last movie. Yeah. Although,
[01:45:18] didn't Badonavich do a mockumentary? Uh, he did the last picture show. Right. That's what I was thinking. That's a segue. I'm trying to rescue this, Mike. Help me. Did he direct Nickelodeon? Yes, he did. Yeah. Nickelodeon was a big, was a kind of a send up of a lot of things. Singing in the rain is a sad tire, but there are moments where you're like, it could be kind of a meta. Yeah. Yeah.
[01:45:47] That's why I like him more is like, everyone else goes, what a great movie. And then people like us rewatch them is like, Oh, that's making fun of Jack Warner. That's making fun of these technicolor movies. It's, it's, it's kind of like, I don't know how they look like they have her with the voice. Like what's the matter with my voice. Oh, a couple of years later, Sid Caesar was doing a thing where he was like a Rudolph Valentino character in the bathtub. And he comes, he comes, the director comes and says,
[01:46:16] but you know, isn't that great? Isn't that great? They're going to do sound pictures, sound pictures. How do you feel about that? And like, he just turns to this. I think it's a great idea. Yeah. I remember that. Real quick. You can, you can watch, you can stream the last movie for four bucks. Oh, really? Buying, buying now. Yeah. I'm not trying to do an ad here, but yeah. So if you do want to do an ad, we can, we're perfectly willing to do the,
[01:46:46] the voiceover work. Sorry to this. Hopper. Yeah. Oh man. I think we've talked about every mockumentary. Yeah. No, we haven't. We have. There's more. Once upon a time in Hollywood. I don't know. Yeah. Oh, burn Hollywood burn. I was going to say that. Oh my God. And. Yeah. It may not be a good movie.
[01:47:16] It's not obviously, but don't you love just the hysterical, like. Just life imitates art. The Eric idol and the director fucking hated each other. So then the director used the fictional Alan Smithy alias for real. Yeah. Next thing, you know, is like the director skills, like fine, fuck it. You can use it. That was that film. That was the film where they retired. And then Walter Hill does the disastrous, uh, supernova, that awful.
[01:47:46] Uh, erotic, uh, space terror movie. And he's not allowed to use Alan Smithy. So then he's like, fuck it. I guess I'll just go by Thomas, Yeah. Questions. And I remember. I remember seeing that movie and, and hearing the director calling himself Alan Smithy in that. That's that's, that's a fake doc doc director name, you know? Yeah. And there's a, and it's so funny. I thought that was part of the joke when it, you know, when it came out, I thought, Oh, it's like last action hero. It's not funny,
[01:48:15] but it, I think people mainly just remember the opening where there's a fake action movie and it's got whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Chan, and Stallone all saying, don't. Yeah. And then, and then there's the part where it cuts to, um, uh, which we'll call it. The, uh, Robert Shapiro. Is that a basketball game? You hear people going, you hear people going to the back. Yeah. He's guilty. Hey Shapiro. He was guilty.
[01:48:45] I think the screenplay was by Joe Esther house. Who is, you know, trying to actually make fun of Hollywood instead of do another. Sleazy movie. Yeah. There's a little in joke when he's, when Eric, I was looking at the cut of the movies, like Jesus, it's worse than show girls. He's not wrong. Um, he's not wrong at all. Um, Jesus. Yeah.
[01:49:14] And I'm so glad you mentioned that. Cause I was thinking of it before and then it just slipped me. Cause you guys were mentioning better, one better picks. Yeah. Uh, that see, but man, I, it's, it shouldn't be as obscure as it is, but it is also a shame. Cause I feel like there is a better movie in there somewhere. Like someone should just take all the best gags and just put them on YouTube. Oh, well. Yeah. I get that. It's hard.
[01:49:43] And kudos to anyone who can actually study a documentary and then just say, Hey, I actually want to tackle a subject and play with people's minds, you know? And then just throw them for a loop and stage it so well to where it's not over scripted. It's not overacted. It's people. I think the hardest part is taking actors who can take it seriously, but not having them laugh at their jokes as they're telling it, you know, you know, one. Yeah. Trying to get into character as those people.
[01:50:13] Yeah. Anybody ever see living in oblivion? Oh, yes. Yeah. Movie within a movie. Yeah. Yeah. I saw that. And it fits the bill. I think you're right. Cause there's several times where he's looking at the camera and saying, God, this movie shoot is so damn hard. Yeah. Well, there's, there's a part I love when they're talking about how to film the scene with the apple. And supposedly that's, that's based on the, whoever did that. Who's the guy who directed that?
[01:50:43] Cause I, I watched it in film class. The apple. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The guy who directed living in oblivion, Tom, Tom to sell. Tom to sell. And he did a movie called Johnny handsome. Remember that? Oh, wow. Mickey Rourke or no, no, I think. Oh no, no. I know the one near Johnny dangerously. No, no, no, no. No, no, no.
[01:51:13] it was Johnny. Johnny, Johnny Swade. Johnny Swade. Okay. Okay. That one was funny. Yes. He had trouble doing that movie. So this was his way of pissing on the whole thing when, you know, the, he's got the temperamental leading man. He's got, it was a Miramax film. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing I love about that at the end is Peter Dinklage is in that movie. Yes, he is. One of the first things. Erwin Solomon. I can remember watching that movie going like this guy's basically just pissing on Hollywood.
[01:51:44] You know, you're made, you're, you're told to make a movie and you can't make what you want. You know, you know what? Screw it. Gremlins too. Oh, cause that is Joe Dante's F you to Hollywood. Oh yeah. Yeah. Ironically. That was the, he only got really sick of it by the time he did Looney Tunes back in action, but he was ahead of the, well, the thing about Dante is he does that little like F you to Batman.
[01:52:13] At the beginning. Yes. Oh my God. Well, they did a lot of movie references in that one. Yeah. And they're all earned. That's why last action here, you can kind of say is a mild documentary. Cause the real world stuff, not, not so much the rest of the movie. Well, the part I love in last action here is they're walking out of the, walking into the police station and Robert Patrick's walking out the other way. Yes. Sharon stones in another scene, just randomly smoking.
[01:52:42] Oh man. I love it. I show up in the last action hero. Who? Death. Death. Oh yeah. He's in the car and everything. I think he does. he does. Oh my God. Edward Bergman. What's this doing in this movie? That was just, yeah. And it's weird. That was weird. And it's, it's an hour after we see the Schwarzenegger character in a movie. That's basically a violent version of him. Well, I mean,
[01:53:11] they had cartoon characters showing up in that movie. Yes, they did. That was kind of where it got again. That's where it got Roger Rabbit ish. I have the blu-ray. It has a good commentary track and everything, but I love the part where like, I think he's, uh, uh, like there's a bunch of other action stars playing themselves at the premiere and they're like, Oh my God, I wish I could be like this guy or something. Just making fun of their egos. But believe it or not, to make it even more meta, Damon Wayans is playing himself at the Hollywood premiere party and he's wearing a blank man t-shirt.
[01:53:42] Oh Jesus. Nice. I don't think the filmmakers intended that at all, but he snuck it in there. And so jokes on them. Yeah. Well, it's better than meteor, man. Um, it totally is. Oh my God. What's that? Townsend guy or something. Robert Townsend. Robert Townsend. Now he did the five heartbeats and Hollywood shuffle. I think he, he does. Hollywood shuffle is one of his best movies. Yeah. He did plenty of same kind of deal where he was getting tired of Hollywood giving him notes. And so,
[01:54:12] and especially being harder on him because he was a person of color. So he, well, he fired back. Hollywood shuffle to me is probably the, the, the best representation of how to, you know, being a person of color and then just having these, you know, the little fantasies that he has in between being real life is kind of like a big, you know, like, you know, when he plays the guy who's escaping, he says, hi, do you want to, do you want to learn how to talk black? You know, I mean,
[01:54:42] I can remember him doing that in his standup act and laughing my head off, you know, I bet. Yeah. It, it was way better than the big picture, which is worth a watch, but. Well, that's the kind of a missing Christopher guest. That was a guest. He was, he was firing on a half a cylinder. He was almost there. Yeah. I feel like they were too busy. I feel like Kevin Bacon just wasn't ready to do that kind of dry. Mocking. How many yet? the TV show,
[01:55:12] the closer does have a bunch of mock documentary episodes and it helps that GW Bailey from police academies and all that show. So. I, I did like the thing with in big picture with Michael McKeon and Kevin Bacon, where they, he's a strange from them. They, by the end, it's kind of like spinal tap by the end of the movie. No, that was actually kind of touching, you know? Yeah. He did the same thing in spinal tap with him and. Christopher guy. Yeah. A funny. Wait,
[01:55:42] I just want you to know. It's a hit. Top, uh, top 10 in Japan. And we even asked the tour over there. It's like, really? He's like, yeah. And they come back on stage and they're doing a, tonight. We're going to rock you. And he comes back. He's like, I think the one thing I love about spinal tap is there. It's like, you know, they're, they're, they're not selling as much as they are, you know, with the houses and stuff. Yeah. They come to a park. It's just,
[01:56:12] you know, chill puppet show and spinal tap. Yeah. Wow. Well, the mighty wind. They're playing at a car. I mean, some part to the, the, the, yeah, that's the six month later thing where they're showing. Yes. Like the big group. It goes by in the middle of the set, you know? Yeah. They're singing, but the rollercoaster going by drowning them out. Yep. Yeah. I really do hope the spinal tap sequel lives up to the name, but we'll see. I hope so too. I don't, I don't want to,
[01:56:42] I don't want to have a, you know, don't want to read. You don't want homage, you know, there's always this element of it's not fresh anymore because you, you know, you've established it. Well, how long has it been since they did the mockumentary? When was it? It was like 2004 or five or something like that. Yeah. Definitely early two thousands. They did some other stuff and performing in character. I'm talking about like the mighty wind and all that stuff. I'm not sure when that came out. So if his last one was in 2016,
[01:57:11] but mighty wind was so free. I mean, yeah, I might be getting a little rusty, but we'll see. And not many people from those other movies are in mascots. So yeah, worst comes to worst. It'll just get an extended Blu-ray of the original movie. So, well, the thing I've always loved about spinal tap is they played, uh, the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 92. Yes, they did. Oh, that's all. I remember is,
[01:57:41] you're supposedly like Michael McKee's just hello, Cleveland like that. And they're like, you know, what the, what the, what, you know, like, you know, that's the joke, you know, with them, you know, but I, that's the thing I love about that movie is like, there's certain parts of spinal tap that I love, but I love when it's, it's a Nigel tough, Nigel tough. No talking about his guitars. It's like, don't, don't even, no, don't even, don't even point at it. Don't even look at it.
[01:58:11] All right. Don't know. Just move away from it. And then they come on to the amps, the amplifier with the 11 on it. And he's like, well, you just make 10 the loudest. And he says, but these got to 11. And the thing I love is like later, Marshall would actually put out an amplifier that had 11 on the settings. You're, I brought this up. We discussed it a little bit after the end of last show. Yeah. That we did.
[01:58:41] But like I was watching one of those new Harlequin cartoon episodes and they show her pointing at a speaker and you can see 11 on the speaker. Yeah. Yeah. Homage. Homage. You know what, the Mighty Wind DVD, the bonus features have several music videos from the folks that are not in the movie. Like,
[01:59:09] like a psychedelic one from the late sixties that they actually, acid folk. It's worth checking out. There's a couple in there. I think one of the songs was Children of the Sun, not the Billy Thorpe song, but yeah. But they're pretty spot on. They just probably just couldn't fit them into the movie. So. I think the thing that cracks me up is the one, the bass player who's got the beard all transitions into a woman. Oh yeah. That's, that's very sure. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's very sure.
[01:59:39] You know, that, that's the very end of the movie. Yeah. They pan over to him as the, you know, Michael McKeon's talking or yeah, Michael McKeon's talking and the camera pans over and you just see him and drag it. I'm like, Oh shit. I didn't expect that. Yeah. That's the big surprise, you know, but I love the, uh, eat at O's. Yeah. I mean that. Oh yeah. He's, he's like, transitioned into a woman, but he's doing the deep voice of the group. Yes.
[02:00:09] And in the EO's, they have to point out that there's a smelly Indian blanket. That's in the lyrics. I think. Oh Jesus. No detail untouched. Ah, ah, boy. Now we covered a lot of ground here. Yeah, we did. Yeah. I was going to say, I was, I don't know if Cameron's still there. Cause he's got on mute,
[02:00:39] but Cameron, Cameron. Cameron. Cameron. Cam. But I guess we can still talk, I guess. Yeah. I hope he didn't like drown out or something. Guys, I'm sorry. I, I kind of phased out before. I don't mean to. I was just, it kind of just hit me. And I came back into the conversation. He said, I was up early this morning, even on my day off.
[02:01:10] And, you know, I do a lot of stuff in the morning. So it's like, it was just like kind of hitting me today. So sorry about that. Plus I cooked tonight. I did the, I did the, I went to the in-laws and made ribs and burgers and hot dogs and all that stuff. Grilled out. Yeah. Grilled out. Yeah. Grilled out. So. I cut, I cut our lawn for two hours and 10 minutes. It's in the 80 degree humidity.
[02:01:39] At least. Oh, Jesus. At least we had a clock. It's a good way to lose weight. I just sat at home and watched a few doc mockumentary movies. Yeah. I was gonna, but I just didn't get to it today. So. What did you, what did you do today? Uh, Gil. Uh, I watched mockumentary movies. I, you know, like that cook off I told you about with, uh, was one of them. But yeah, and I bought the other three yesterday. I hadn't seen them before. You know,
[02:02:08] spinal tap was pretty much the only one I'd seen with those guys. So I thought I should check out the other ones. And so I, I bought three of them yesterday. Oh, it was hilarious. Cause Eugene Levy's character has two left feet. Yeah. Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Yeah. And he's got to walk the dog around the thing. There's a heart to those movies. You kind of feel for the characters. It's, it's cool when they, they win because they were kind of the member. They didn't have,
[02:02:37] they had to stay in the broom closet at the hotel. Cause it could. Oh God. Yeah. I remember that. You kind of feel bad for them. And then they, they win the thing at the end. And we, we all, we always love a fun underdog story. There's another movie. There he is. Yes. Sorry. Getting ready. Uh, there, there, there's also Spike Lee's bamboozled. Yeah. That's kind of a, that's kind of a dark, dark movie. Very hard.
[02:03:07] but yeah, 2000 was just kind of that lightning in a bottle year. You know, we're just making fun of just so many things and all these hard to market movies. But I, well, you know, I think TV has got a lot more mileage out of the mockumentary style than, than the movie. Which is why you hate it when something gets canceled and you're like, well, they were just finding their mark. Hmm. Well, it's like I said, I didn't know about, uh, what we do in the shadows,
[02:03:35] but they transitioned from the movie to TV show. And I saw that, like I said, the first two seasons, I didn't know if they'd done any others. Yep. I think you'll dig where it's gone now. Um, I felt like we have pretty much, we've wiped the floor guys. We successfully summed up a hard to define sub genre. What is a mockumentary? What's the definition? Good evening. Yes. How did you find a mockumentary?
[02:04:04] Let's find out. Yeah, there you go. Gotta, yeah. And you gotta have someone who just looks like Hitchcock. Yeah. Yeah. Follow us on the web on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The podcast is available on Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Anchor, Apple, and anywhere else podcasts are available. Feel free to review our show and leave comments on any of those sites.
[02:04:34] Thanks a million for listening.