At IFC's press upfront event, Seth Meyers shared new details on season two of DOCUMENTARY NOW!, the critically acclaimed comedy series that lovingly pays homage to the world of documentaries, co-created by Meyers, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Rhys Thomas. Meyers revealed the inspiration and plots of three upcoming episodes, "The Bunker," "Juan likes Rice and Chicken," and "Globesmen." Executive produced by Lorne Michaels and produced by Broadway Video, DOCUMENTARY NOW! returns to IFC this fall with seven new episodes for its sophomore season.
"The Bunker" is inspired by the heart-racing 1993 political documentary "The War Room" with James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. It follows two scheming and cocky campaign managers (Hader and Armisen) working on the heated race for the Governor of Ohio. Lies will be told, death threats will be made, and questionable '90s fashion choices will surface, all in the camcorder-documented fight to get their underdog candidate to the top.
Shot in Colombia, "Juan likes Rice and Chicken" is a colorful food-centric homage to the 2011 documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." Young chef Arturo (Armisen) and his brother learn the tricks of the trade from their stern, no-nonsense father Juan who runs a highly-acclaimed restaurant that only serves one dish made with painstaking precision --- chicken and buttered rice. Who wouldn't travel thousands of miles for the world's best plate of rice?
A tribute to the 1968 Maysles documentary "Salesman" that followed a wearied quartet of door-to-door Bible salesmen, "Globesmen" shares a similar story about four hard-working business men trying their best to sell globes to a community of people who find them too expensive and ultimately prefer atlases. Feeling pressure from their regional manager, and dealing with the constant rejection from customers, the salesmen do anything they can to reinvent the globe as a need-to-have household item.
"An important part of the magic of Documentary Now!, beyond the incredible talent on both sides of the camera with Bill, Fred, Seth, Rhys, Alex and Andrew, is that every well-crafted episode is based on one of the most popular and noteworthy documentaries of our time," said
IFC president Jennifer Caserta. "This series was an instant hit with
IFC viewers in its first season, and we think we have a real opportunity in season two to turn every episode into a major event celebrating
DOCUMENTARY NOW! and the real-world documentaries that provided such rich comedic material for this remarkable creative talent to work with."
Debuting last summer to rave reviews from critics,
DOCUMENTARY NOW! quickly became a fan favorite thanks to its insightful comedic take on the most well-known documentary films. Each episode, delightfully hosted by Dame Helen Mirren, starred Armisen and Hader as they took us back in time to honor a specific documentary and share a captivating (if completely untrue) story inspired by these timeless films. Guest stars last year included Jack Black, John Slattery, Mike O'Brien, Tim Robinson and Aidy Bryant.
In addition to Armisen, Hader, Meyers, Thomas and Michaels,
DOCUMENTARY NOW! is also executive produced by Alex Buono and Broadway Video's Andrew Singer. SNL's Thomas and Buono serve as the show's directors. John
MULANEY (Mulaney, SNL) serves as co-executive producer and Erik Kenward (SNL) is consulting producer.
Catch up on the entire first season of Documentary Now!, available now on
Netflix and iTunes.
Image courtesy of IFC
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