The “Mockumentary” aka “a fake documentary that pokes fun, or mocks, the documentary genre”, is well known to modern audiences. This is in part to the success and mainstream knowledge of such mockumentary shows such as “The Office” (UK), “The Office” (US), “Parks and Recreation”, and “Modern Family”. The mockumentary genre itself is can be seen as very clearly parody-based, with plenty of irony and satire of documentaries. The characters get into strange situations, jokes are made, but the documentary styles of moving cameras and “talking head” moments (where a character talks to the camera privately).
When the mockumentary genre first came about, it was as a way to poke fun at the large amount of weekly “reality” television shows around, and as such the audience was assumed to know all the tropes and antics of a reality show, and thus able to understand the jokes. The audience understands that while the production is similar to that of a documentary (the use of talking heads, location shootings, voice-over narration, ‘natural lighting’, scene-setting music, etc), they also know that there is a script, a fictional scenario, a use of actors, and that the action is directed and planned beforehand.
Eventually, audiences seemed to want something else in their mockumentaries, and so we got the combination of the mockumentary with the staples of the sit-com (only without a laugh track or live audience), and with that we got a bunch of our favorite shows. Most notably, abc’s “Modern Family”. There are voice-over narrations, fourth-wall acknowledgements (looking at the camera, seeking validation or empathy from the audience), and there are talking head moments. The show questions the content of reality TV and of people’s fascination with the mundane, of ordinary people doing fairly ordinary things.
With “Modern Family” entering its seventh season, we do have to wonder why it has become such a success, with millions of viewers every week, not to mention more than a couple of Emmys. The genre had been around before, and was established in the mainstream thanks to the original UK version of “The Office” and its resulting International remakes (most notably the US version, but also the Canadian, Israeli, Brazilian, French, German, and others). With the pre-established genre and style of the mockumentary already there, the show’s creators made some differences by adding some cute kids and a “nuclear family” (mum, dad, and a couple of kids in suburbia) to give it a classic sit-com vibe (another pre-established genre that an audience can quickly recognize). The show was just the right combination of classic sit-com narratives with the mockumentary style and feel to grab the audience’s interest. People kept watching for the quick jokes and generally funny scenarios and actors.
On top of this, the mockumentary comedies that exist now have something that makes them easier to create; no audience. Before, comedy shows would have a laugh track and tended to be filmed in front of a live studio audience, which meant that the show would have to be shot on a weekly basis while being shown in front of an audience (20-episode seasons for most US shows), hoping to get just the right reaction from said live audience, which no doubt would have been quite expensive to shoot as well. With the mockumentary like “Modern family”, it became easier to simply shoot the entire 20-episode season over a couple of months, working out all the kinks and issues of the lines, shots, and actions during that time on their own sets without worrying about what reaction the audience will have, which is no doubt easier (and cheaper) to shoot and edit.
The mockumentary format is generally just an interesting, fairly new format for television and the modern audience. It’s just new enough to seem nuanced and interesting, but also established enough to not seem too risky. However, as with all genres there will be a bad mockumentary series, perhaps many, to come in the future. For now, though, we as avid TV-watchers can enjoy the mockumentary style (including “Modern family”) for what it is, and interesting, fairly new and amusing genre.