Documentary Now! is one of the cleverest shows running, spoofing famous, landmark documentaries in hour-long formats. While the incoming season 4 of Documentary Now! won’t feature Bill Hader due to his involvement with his HBO series Barry, it again pulls in Fred Armisen (Our Flag Means Death, Saturday Night Live), returning comedian John Mulaney (Saturday Night Live, Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers), and multitalented comedy writer Seth Meyers (Saturday Night Live, Late Night).
The past three seasons of Documentary Now! have starred Armisen and Hader in each episode in various roles, except for season 3, which was also missing Hader. Their characters include millennial journalists, 1940s transatlantic globe salesmen, and feuding 1970s California soft-rock musicians. Together, Armisen and Hader made the dream team of accents, mustaches, jean jackets, cuffed pants, and any other trap or trimming that complimented their wildly entertaining characters.
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Highlights so far include “Batsh*t Valley,” a riff on the documentary Wild Wild Country. It follows Owen Wilson (The French Dispatch, Loki) fake guru named Father Ra-Shawbard. He is financed by a special FBI team headed by a chracter played by Michael Keaton (Batman, Spider-Man: Homecoming) to see how many people they can dupe into joining an increasingly violent, baseless cult called the Rajneeshpuram in a kind of sadistic experiment. This episode also starred Necar Zadegan (Mayor of Kingstown, NCIS: New Orleans) as Ra Sharir, a Squeaky-Frome type of lieutenant who runs the experiment right off the rails.
Another top-rated episode stars Cate Blanchett (Don’t Look Up, Thor: Ragnarok) as an eccentric performance artist in a spoof of The Artist is Present called “Waiting for the Artist.” It culminates in the artist exacting epically satisfying revenge on her philandering ex-husband. Finally is the episode “Co-Op,” which followed the 24-hour cast recording and documentation process of a failed Broadway show and starred real Broadway actors and John Mulaney. The episode has an immensely popular Spotify soundtrack and cult following. It was apparently born from Mulaney’s dislike of Broadway, and it overuses many of the stereotypical Broadway tropes that get under his skin to great effect.
Documentary Now! is a show with a lot of wit and heart, and we are so excited that it is finally marching on with a fresh season with even wackier narratives and characters. Here is everything we know about the episode lineup and its talented artists!
Documentary Now! Season 4: The Plot
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Documentary Now! has a special ability to simulate reality so well that you forget that what you are watching is utter ridiculousness. Again to be hosted by the iconic Dame Helen Mirren, so-called season 54, also known as season 4, will include spoofs of the fashion documentaries 3 Salons at the Seaside and The September Issue. The films will be parodied in an episode titled “2 Hairdressers in Bagglyport.”
Also anticipated is a spoof of the sports documentary When We Were Kings titled “How They Threw Rocks” will follow “Field Rock,” or, the Welsh sport of Craig Maes. Finally, Documentary Now! season 4 will feature an episode about a filmmaker out in the wild titled “My Monkey Grifter.” It will parody the extremely popular nature documentary called My Octopus Teacher.
Documentary Now! Season 4: The Cast
Previous seasons have starred Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Michael Keaton, Natasha Lyonne, Bobby Moynihan, Deb Hiett, Gary Kraus, Paul Bright, and John Mulaney. The legendary Broadway spoof episode featured singers Richard Kind, Alex Brightman, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell, and James Urbaniak. The show has also featured recording artists and producers Irving Azoff, Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates, and director and rock journalist Cameron Crowe to spoof the documentary about The Eagles, The Blue Jean Committee.
