Television mockumentary Reflexivity, satire and a call to play [Paperback]

Mockumentary is now an established part of the spectrum of television styles, with both deep roots in television history and a key part of innovations in the sitcom genre since the 1990s. Tracing the development of mockumentary series within the broader history of traditions of satire, drama and nonfiction programming, the author uses detailed discussions of popular and innovative television series from Britain, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

This is the first detailed study of the rich vein of mockumentary television programmes, covering series such as 'The Larry Sanders Show', 'The Daily Show', and the British and American versions of 'The Office' to discuss how producers have experimented with mockumentary as a distinctive approach to storytelling.

List of figures

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

I: Defining mockumentary

1. Mockumentary discourse: a call to play

2. The mockumentary across media

II: Mockumentary in televisual space

3. The televisual space

4. Television and the real: documentary traditions and hybrid forms

5. Television realism, drama-documentary and dramatic v?rit?

6. Comedic traditions: satire, sitcom and comedy v?rit?

III: Television mockumentary series

7. Experimenting with mockumentary forms

8. Surveillance and discipline: fake news and mock-reality TV

9. Mockusoaps: people and places

Conclusion

Filmography

Bibliography

Index

Craig Hight is Senior Lecturer in Screen and Media Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand