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35-486: He directed a semi-autobiographical mockumentary film, Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003). Shore was born Paul Montgomery Shore, the son of Sammy Shore and Mitzi Shore (née Saidel). Sammy Shore was a comedian. He and Mitzi co-founded The Comedy Store with Rudy De Luca . After Sammy and Mitzi Shore divorced, Mitzi owned and operated the Comedy Store as part of the divorce settlement from 1974 until her death. Shore

70-713: A redneck whose world view was shattered when he learned that Shore had willingly put his own fans through the ordeal of thinking he was dead. Shore survives the attack, which causes him to realize that even though he was no longer as famous as he once was, he still had fans who loved him. Shore and Bucky have a heart-to-heart about the nature of celebrity, and Shore decides to start his career over. After getting out of prison, Shore sets about making Pauly Shore Is Dead to chronicle his own rise and fall, using information he has gathered from years in Hollywood to blackmail various B-list celebrities into appearing in cameos; he reserves

105-513: A kind of transcendent fingernails-on-the-blackboard effect." In 1997, Shore starred in the eponymous TV show Pauly , which was cancelled after five episodes aired. Shore made a cameo appearance in the American rock band Limp Bizkit music video " N 2 Gether Now " as a pizza deliveryman and a briefer appearance in " Break Stuff ". The Golden Raspberry Awards has recognized Shore's film performances several times, awarding him Worst New Star of

140-470: A long-term liberal incumbent played by Gore Vidal . Man Bites Dog is a 1992 Belgian black comedy crime mockumentary written, produced, and directed by Rémy Belvaux , André Bonzel , and Benoît Poelvoorde . In 1995, Peter Jackson and Costa Botes directed Forgotten Silver , which claimed New Zealand "director" Colin McKenzie was a pioneer in filmmaking. When the film was later revealed to be

175-463: A mockumentary about the survival of the megalodon . The Canadian series Trailer Park Boys and its films (1998–present) were one of the first mainstream examples of Canadian mockumentaries. Popular examples in the US include sitcoms The Office (2005–2013), Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), and Modern Family (2009–2020); the American improv comedy Reno 911! (2003–2009); Derek (2012–2014);

210-415: A mockumentary refers to films, while the term comedy verite refers to TV series, though term is widely used here. The series Documentary Now! (2015–present) on IFC , created by Saturday Night Live alumni Bill Hader , Fred Armisen , and Seth Meyers , spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style and subject of each documentary. Hight argues that television is a natural medium for

245-456: A mockumentary, Jackson received criticism for tricking viewers. Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan from 2006, and its 2020 sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm , are two controversial yet successful films that use this style, as does Brüno , a similar film from 2009 also starring Sacha Baron Cohen . Sony Pictures Animation released their second animated feature, Surf's Up in 2007, which

280-449: A mockumentary, as it provides for "extraordinarily rich sources of appropriation and commentary". In 2018, the BBC released the series Cunk on Britain created by Charlie Brooker and starring Diane Morgan about British history with Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer, asking various experts ridiculous questions. The follow-up Cunk on Earth featuring

315-411: Is a 1978 television film in mockumentary style about The Rutles , a fictional band that parodies The Beatles . The Beatles' own 1964 feature film debut, A Hard Day's Night , was itself filmed in mockumentary style; it ostensibly documents a few typical (and highly fictionalized) days in the life of the band as they travel from Liverpool to London for a television appearance. Since the beginning of

350-703: Is a Cold-War era American "mockumentary" film that made use of archival government footage from the 1950s. Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig stars Allen as a curiously nondescript enigma who is discovered for his remarkable ability to transform himself to resemble anyone he is near, and Allen is edited into historical archive footage. In 1984, Christopher Guest co-wrote and starred in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap , directed by Rob Reiner . Guest went on to write and direct other mockumentaries including Waiting for Guffman , Best in Show , and A Mighty Wind , all written with costar Eugene Levy . In Central Europe,

385-412: Is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary. The term originated in the 1960s but was popularized in the mid-1990s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues in a satirical way by using a fictional setting, or to parody

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420-541: Is ultimately reduced to living in his mother's attic and watching BackDoor Sluts 9 starring his ex-girlfriend, who will no longer see him. He spends his last $ 84 on a hooker—who does almost nothing for him and his life simply gets worse and worse. One night, Shore is visited by the ghost of his mentor, comic Sam Kinison , who encourages Shore to fake his own death as a means of revitalizing popularity in Pauly Shore films and merchandise. Shore decides to go through with

455-461: The 1950s when archival film footage became available. A very early example was a short piece on the " Swiss Spaghetti Harvest " that appeared as an April Fools' prank on the British television program Panorama in 1957. Mockumentaries can be partly or wholly improvised . Early work, including Luis Buñuel 's 1933 Land Without Bread , Orson Welles 's 1938 radio broadcast of The War of

490-405: The 1980s, the mockumentary format has gained considerable attention. The 1980 South African film The Gods Must be Crazy (along with its 1989 sequel ) is presented in the manner of a nature documentary , with documentary narrator Paddy O'Byrne describing the events of the film in the manner of a biologist or anthropologist presenting scientific knowledge to viewers. In 1982, The Atomic Cafe

525-455: The Army Now (1994), Jury Duty (1995), and Bio-Dome (1996). All five films received sharply negative reviews, with the last three each holding a rating below 10% at Rotten Tomatoes . In addition, each of the films grossed less at the box office than the one before. Describing Shore's performances in these films, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Shore bypasses all categories to achieve

560-501: The Money and Run (1969), The Clowns (1970) by Federico Fellini (a peculiar hybrid of documentary and fiction , a docufiction), Smile (1975) , Carlos Mayolo 's The Vampires of Poverty (1977) and All You Need Is Cash (1978). Albert Brooks was also an early popularizer of the mockumentary style with his film Real Life , 1979, a spoof of the 1973 reality television series An American Family . Woody Allen 's Take

595-427: The Money and Run is presented in documentary style with Allen playing a fictional criminal, Virgil Starkwell, whose crime exploits are "explored" throughout the film. Jackson Beck , who used to narrate documentaries in the 1940s, provides the voice-over narration. Fictional interviews are inter-spliced throughout, especially those of Starkwell's parents who wear Groucho Marx noses and mustaches. The style of this film

630-580: The Store . In 2010, Shore starred in Adopted , which sees him traveling to Africa to adopt a child. In March 2018, Shore appeared as himself in episode 10 of the TV series Alone Together . In January 2024, following a fan campaign, Shore revealed a teaser for a short film, starring himself as Richard Simmons titled The Court Jester . Simmons released a statement revealing that he did not give permission for

665-489: The World ". The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour (1970–1971) also featured mockumentary pieces that interspersed both scripted and real-life man-in-the-street interviews, the most famous likely being "The Puck Crisis" in which hockey pucks were claimed to have become infected with a form of Dutch elm disease . All You Need Is Cash , developed from an early series of sketches in the comedy series Rutland Weekend Television ,

700-551: The Worlds , various April Fools' Day news reports, and vérité -style film and television during the 1960s and 1970s, served as precursor to the genre. Early examples of mock-documentaries include various films by Peter Watkins , such as The War Game (1965), Privilege (1967), and the dystopic Punishment Park (1971). Further examples are " The Connection " (1961), A Hard Day's Night (1964), David Holzman's Diary (1967), Pat Paulsen for President (1968), Take

735-632: The Year for Encino Man , Worst Actor of the Year for Bio-Dome , and Worst New Star of the Decade for the 1990s, and nominating him for Worst Actor of the Century (which he lost to Sylvester Stallone ). In 2003, Shore produced, wrote, directed and starred in Pauly Shore Is Dead , a semi-autobiographical mockumentary , and in 2005, starred in the short-lived reality television series Minding

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770-634: The comedy series The Muppets (2015); People Just Do Nothing (2011–2018) and the Australian Chris Lilley shows Angry Boys , Summer Heights High , We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year , Ja'mie: Private School Girl , Jonah from Tonga and Lunatics . Shows currently running in this format include What We Do in the Shadows (2019–present) and Abbott Elementary (2021–present). Strictly speaking,

805-664: The documentary form itself. While mockumentaries are usually comedic , pseudo-documentaries are their dramatic equivalents. However, pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama , a fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with documentary elements to depict real events. Nor should either of those be confused with docufiction , a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with fictional elements. They are often presented as historical documentaries, with B roll and talking heads discussing past events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go through various events. Examples emerged during

840-699: The fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission in the run-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics ), and W1A , which follows the main characters of Twenty Twelve as they start work at the BBC, as well as The Office (2001) and its many international offshoots , and Come Fly with Me (2010), which follows the activity at a fictional airport and its variety of staff and passengers. British comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French often presented short mockumentaries as extended sketches in their TV show French & Saunders . Discovery Channel opened its annual Shark Week on 4 Aug 2013 with Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives ,

875-527: The film (David Koechner, Eric Roberts, Chaz Bono, Ed Begley Jr.), performing arts (Ja Rule, Billy Morrison), and TV (Lindsey Shaw, Pierson Fode, Johnny Bananas) to play fictional versions of themselves. In television, the most notable mockumentaries in the 2000s have been ABC Australia 's The Games (1998–2000), the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys (1999–present), the British shows Marion and Geoff (2000), Twenty Twelve (2011–2012) (which follows

910-485: The first time that viewers were exposed to mockumentary was in 1988 when the Czechoslovakian short film Oil Gobblers was shown. For two weeks, TV viewers believed that the oil-eating animals really existed. Tim Robbins ' 1992 film Bob Roberts was a mockumentary centered around the senatorial campaign of a right-wing stock trader and folksinger, and the unsavory connections and dirty tricks used to defeat

945-722: The height of his MTV fame, Shore had his own show, Totally Pauly , serving as a host on MTV's annual Spring Break parties. He also released a music video, "Lisa, Lisa, the One I Adore". In 1999, Shore reprised his role as the host of MTV's spring break when he guest starred on an episode of King of the Hill . In 1992, Shore starred in Encino Man , which was a modest hit. The film's success propelled Shore to star in additional films, albeit increasingly less successful: Son in Law (1993), In

980-746: The information he has on A-list celebrities for the planned sequel. As Themselves Pauly Shore Is Dead received mixed reviews, with a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes , a notably higher rating than his oft-panned '90s films. It was a box office bomb , however, earning just $ 11,000 after a very limited release to theaters in Sacramento, California . It won the Audience Choice Award from the Slamdunk Film Festival (for Shore's direction). Mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of mock and documentary )

1015-435: The plan, which initially works: Once word of his "death" breaks, celebrities eager for the residual publicity begin appearing on television in large numbers to declare Shore a comic genius and lament his early death. Shore, eager to bask in the publicity, begins appearing in public wearing a disguise; he is quickly outed, arrested, and sent to prison. In prison, Shore is attacked by one of his former fans, "Bucky from Kentucky,"

1050-555: The short. Pauly Shore Is Dead Pauly Shore Is Dead is a 2003 American mockumentary comedy film directed, produced, co-written by, and starring Pauly Shore . The film is depicted as a semi-autobiographical retelling of Shore's early success and dwindling popularity in the late 1990s, after which it documents Shore's (fictional) attempt to fake his own death in order to drum up popularity for his films. It features many cameos . The film begins as an autobiographical look at Shore's early professional successes on MTV and as

1085-468: The star of a series of '90s comedies. Shore's film career leads to his taking a starring role in a vehicle on the Fox Network , in which he plays the slacker son of a millionaire. The pilot of the series turns out to be a commercial and critical failure, and Shore becomes a pariah virtually overnight, with his friends distancing themselves from him for fear that it will tarnish their own careers. Shore

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1120-437: Was mentored by Sam Kinison and opened several of his sets. While touring the comedy club circuit, Shore cultivated an alter ego persona called "The Weasel". "The Weasel" involved Shore speaking in a surfer parlance , heavily peppered with dudespeak slang such as "edged", "melons" and "grinding" as well as his catchphrase , "Hey, BU-DDY." Shore's big break came as an on-air MTV VJ , a position he held from 1989 to 1994. At

1155-598: Was raised Jewish and grew up in Beverly Hills, California . He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1986. Inspired by his parents' work in comedy and show business , a 17-year-old Shore made his stand-up debut at the Alley Cat Bistro in Culver City . "Everyone else in school was filling out their SAT applications, but I just passed mine back. I knew I wasn't going to go to college." Shore

1190-563: Was the first of its kind to incorporate the mockumentary style into animation. REC , a 2007 Spanish film by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, uses journalism aesthetics to approach a horror universe set up in a real building in Barcelona . The film was remade in the United States as the 2008 film Quarantine . Ivo Raza's 2020 mockumentary Reboot Camp is a comedy about a fake cult that uses an ensemble cast of celebrities from

1225-408: Was widely appropriated by others and revisited by Allen himself in films such as Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971), Zelig (1983) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Early use of the mockumentary format in television comedy can be seen in several sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974), such as " Hell's Grannies ", " Piranha Brothers ", and " The Funniest Joke in

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