Cinéma vérité
Encyclopedia
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary film
making, combining naturalistic
techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.
There are subtle yet important differences among these terms. Direct Cinema
is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence. Operating within what Bill Nichols
, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode," direct cinema is essentially what is now called a fly on the wall
documentary. Many therefore see a paradox created by drawing attention away from the reality of the camera and simultaneously declaring the discovery of a cinematic truth.
Pierre Perrault
sets situations up, and then films it, for example in Pour la suite du monde
where he asked old people to fish for whale. The result is not a documentary about whale fishing; it is about memory and lineage. In this sense cinéma vérité is concerned with anthropological cinema, and with the social and political implications of what is captured on film. How a filmmaker shoots a film, what is being filmed, what to do with what was filmed, and how that film will be presented to an audience, all were very important for filmmakers of the time.
In all cases, the ethical and aesthetic analysis of documentary form of the 1950s and '60s has to be linked with a critical look at post-war propaganda analysis. The best way to describe this type of cinema is probably to say that it is concerned with notions of truth and reality in film.
As Edgar Morin
wrote: "There are two ways to conceive of the cinema of the Real: the first is to pretend that you can present reality to be seen; the second is to pose the problem of reality. In the same way, there were two ways to conceive cinéma vérité. The first was to pretend that you brought truth. The second was to pose the problem of truth."
Feminist documentary films of the 1970s often used cinéma-vérité techniques. Soon this sort of 'realism' was criticized for its deceptive pseudo-natural construction of reality. For example, in 1979 Michelle Citron
released Daughter Rite, a feminist pseudo-documentary
which deconstructs the conventions of cinéma vérité.
The techniques (if not always the spirit) of cinéma vérité can also be seen in fiction films such as The Battle of Algiers, The Blair Witch Project
, Children of Men
, Jimmy and Judy
, Cloverfield
, Diary of the Dead
, District 9
, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Battle: Los Angeles
, REC
, Saving Private Ryan
and Paranormal Activity among others.
, who broke ground with his film Faces.
The techniques of cinéma vérité were also readily adapted to use in TV fiction programs, such as Homicide: Life on the Street
, The X-Files
COPS episode, Sanctuary, Friday Night Lights
, NYPD Blue
, Hill Street Blues
, Battlestar Galactica
, The Thick Of It
, Curb Your Enthusiasm
, Lost
, Arrested Development, Reno 911!
, Trailer Park Boys
, as well as both the UK and American versions of The Office
. Documentary series are less common, but include:
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
making, combining naturalistic
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.
There are subtle yet important differences among these terms. Direct Cinema
Direct Cinema
Direct Cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962 in North America, principally in the Canadian province of Quebec and the United States...
is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence. Operating within what Bill Nichols
Bill Nichols
Bill Nichols is an American historian and theoretician of documentary film. His study Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary covers the theory of documentary film, a topic neglected by mainstream film theory...
, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode," direct cinema is essentially what is now called a fly on the wall
Fly on the wall
Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in filmmaking and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them...
documentary. Many therefore see a paradox created by drawing attention away from the reality of the camera and simultaneously declaring the discovery of a cinematic truth.
Background
Cinéma vérité can involve stylized set-ups and the interaction between the filmmaker and the subject, even to the point of provocation. Some argue that the obvious presence of the filmmaker and camera was seen by most cinéma vérité filmmakers as the best way to reveal the truth in cinema. The camera is always acknowledged, for it performs the raw act of filming real objects, people, and events in a confrontational way. The filmmaker's intention was to represent the truth in what he or she was seeing as objectively as possible, freeing people from any deceptions in how those aspects of life were formerly presented to them. From this perspective, the filmmaker should be the catalyst of a situation. Few agree on the meanings of these terms, even the filmmakers whose films are being described.Pierre Perrault
Pierre Perrault
Pierre Perrault was a Québécois documentary film director. He directed 20 films between 1963 and 1996. He was one of the most important filmmakers in Canada although largely unknown outside of Québec...
sets situations up, and then films it, for example in Pour la suite du monde
Pour la suite du monde
Pour la suite du monde is a 1963 Canadian documentary film directed by Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault. It was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival....
where he asked old people to fish for whale. The result is not a documentary about whale fishing; it is about memory and lineage. In this sense cinéma vérité is concerned with anthropological cinema, and with the social and political implications of what is captured on film. How a filmmaker shoots a film, what is being filmed, what to do with what was filmed, and how that film will be presented to an audience, all were very important for filmmakers of the time.
In all cases, the ethical and aesthetic analysis of documentary form of the 1950s and '60s has to be linked with a critical look at post-war propaganda analysis. The best way to describe this type of cinema is probably to say that it is concerned with notions of truth and reality in film.
As Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin is a French philosopher and sociologist born Edgar Nahoum in Paris on July 8, 1921. He is of Judeo-Spanish origin. He is known for the transdisciplinarity of his works.- Biography :...
wrote: "There are two ways to conceive of the cinema of the Real: the first is to pretend that you can present reality to be seen; the second is to pose the problem of reality. In the same way, there were two ways to conceive cinéma vérité. The first was to pretend that you brought truth. The second was to pose the problem of truth."
Feminist documentary films of the 1970s often used cinéma-vérité techniques. Soon this sort of 'realism' was criticized for its deceptive pseudo-natural construction of reality. For example, in 1979 Michelle Citron
Michelle Citron
Michelle Citron is a feminist film, video and multimedia producer, scholar and author. She taught at Northwestern University from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s, but recently took the position of Chairperson of the Interdisciplinary arts department at Columbia College Chicago. She grew up in...
released Daughter Rite, a feminist pseudo-documentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
which deconstructs the conventions of cinéma vérité.
Filmmakers associated with the style
- Jon AlpertJon AlpertJon Alpert is an American journalist and documentary filmmaker, known for his use of a cinéma vérité approach in his films. A native of Port Chester, New York, Alpert is a 1970 graduate of Colgate University, and has a black belt in karate....
- Joe BerlingerJoe BerlingerJoseph "Joe" Berlinger is an American documentary film-maker who, in collaboration with Bruce Sinofsky, has created such films as Paradise Lost about the West Memphis 3, Brother's Keeper, Some Kind of Monster, and Crude....
and Bruce SinofskyBruce SinofskyBruce Sinofsky is an award-winning documentary film director, who began his career at Maysles Films.Sinofsky was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As Senior Editor for Maysles, he worked on commercials and feature films until 1991, when he and Joe Berlinger formed their own production company,...
(Creative Thinking International) - Michel BraultMichel BraultMichel Brault, OQ is a Quebec cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s...
and Gilles GroulxGilles GroulxGilles Groulx was a Canadian film director. He grew up in a working-class family with 14 children. After studying business in school, he went to work in an office but found the white-collar environment too stultifying...
(Les RaquetteursLes raquetteursLes raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February of 1958...
, 1958) - Nick BroomfieldNick BroomfieldNicholas "Nick" Broomfield is an English documentary film-maker. He is the son of Maurice Broomfield, a photographer.Broomfield works with a minimal crew, recording sound himself and using one or two camera operators...
- Linda Goode BryantLinda Goode BryantLinda Goode Bryant is an American documentary filmmaker.Goode Bryant received her B.A. at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and a Masters Degree in Business from Columbia University in New York City. She co-produced and directed Flag Wars , a cinéma vérité Emmy Award-nominated documentary...
- John CassavetesJohn CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
- Robert DrewRobert DrewRobert Lincoln Drew is an American documentary filmmaker known as a pioneer of cinéma vérité, or direct cinema, in the United States....
- Tamara GoldsworthyTamara GoldsworthyTamara Goldsworthy is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer. Her most notable contributions have been in the field of documentary film making. During her career, Tamara shot many award-winning films including the 2001 Academy Award winning documentary short Big Mama.Tamara Goldsworthy has worked with...
- Claude JutraClaude JutraClaude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director and writer. The Prix Jutra are named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec....
- Amos GitaiAmos GitaiAmos Gitai , born 11 October 1950 in Haifa, Israel, is an Israeli filmmaker and director. He is mainly known for making documentaries and experimental / minimalist feature films...
- Allan KingAllan KingAllan Winton King, OC was a Canadian film director.-Life:During the Depression, King attended Henry Hudson Elementary School in Kitsilano, Vancouver...
- Louis King
- Barbara KoppleBarbara KoppleBarbara Kopple is an American film director, primarily known for her work in documentary film.-Biography:She grew up in Scarsdale, New York, the daughter of a textile executive and studied psychology at Northeastern University, after which she worked with the Maysles Brothers.Kopple has won two...
- Harmony KorineHarmony KorineThe story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
- Roman KroitorRoman KroitorRoman Kroitor is a Canadian filmmaker who is known as an early practitioner of Cinéma vérité, as co-founder of IMAX, and as creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system...
- Richard LeacockRichard LeacockRichard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema and Cinéma vérité.-Early life and career:...
- Barbara LodenBarbara LodenBarbara Loden was an American film and stage actress and film director....
- Chris MarkerChris MarkerChris Marker is a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La jetée , A Grin Without a Cat , Sans Soleil and AK , an essay film on the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa...
- John MarshallJohn Marshall (filmmaker)John Marshall was an American anthropologist and acclaimed documentary filmmaker best known for his work in Namibia recording the lives of the Ju/'hoansi tribe...
- Pau MasóPau MasóPau Masó is a Catalan film director, producer, writer, model and actor, who appeared in the films Haunted Poland, Keep the Party Going, One Minute and Who's There?.-Film career:...
- The Maysles Brothers (Albert and David MayslesAlbert and David MayslesAlbert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
) - Michael MooreMichael MooreMichael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
- D.A. Pennebaker
- David PerlovDavid PerlovDavid Perlov was an Israeli filmmaker....
- Jean RouchJean RouchJean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cinéma vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles...
- Ulrich SeidlUlrich SeidlUlrich Seidl is an Austrian film director, writer and producer.-Selected filmography:* 1990 Good News* 1992 Loss Is to Be Expected * 1995 Animal Love ...
- Ellen SpiroEllen SpiroEllen Spiro is an American documentary filmmaker. Spiro is known for making humorous social issue films for national and international television broadcasts and theatrical release....
- Bela TarrBéla Tarr-Life:Tarr was born in Pécs, but grew up in Budapest. Both of his parents were close to theatre and film: his father was a scenery designer, while his mother has been working as a prompter at a theater for more than 50 years now...
- Dziga VertovDziga VertovDavid Abelevich Kaufman , better known by his pseudonym Dziga Vertov , was a Soviet pioneer documentary film, newsreel director and cinema theorist...
- Frederick WisemanFrederick WisemanFrederick Wiseman is an American documentary filmmaker. He came to documentary filmmaking after first being trained as a lawyer...
- David Bradbury
- Jehane NoujaimJehane NoujaimJehane Noujaim is an Egyptian American documentary film director best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com and Pangea Day.- Career :Jehane Noujaim is a filmmaker, born in Washington DC and raised in Kuwait and Cairo....
Select cinéma-vérité films
- 24 ID seconde (2000)
- À Hauteur d'hommeÀ Hauteur d'hommeÀ Hauteur d'homme is a 2003 Canadian political documentary directed in 2003 by Jean-Claude Labrecque about Bernard Landry and the 2003 general election in Quebec, Canada. It won a Jutra Award for Best Documentary in 2004...
(2003) - After Life (1999)
- Bad Boys (1961)
- Billy the Kid (2007)
- The CarterThe CarterThe Carter is a 2009 documentary film about Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., also known as Lil Wayne. The film was directed by Adam Bhala Lough. The Carter documents Lil Wayne in the period before and shortly after the release of Tha Carter III and was filmed between 2007-2008...
(2009) - C'était un rendez-vousC'était un rendez-vousC'était un Rendezvous is a short film made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a high speed drive through Paris.-Exposition:...
(1976) - Chronique d'un étéChronique d'un étéChronique d'un été is a documentary film made during the summer of 1960 by sociologist Edgar Morin and anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, with the esthetic collaboration of director cameraman Michel Brault. The film begins with a discussion between Rouch and Morin on whether or not it is...
(1961) - Cocksucker BluesCocksucker BluesCocksucker Blues is an unreleased documentary film directed by the noted still photographer Robert Frank chronicling The Rolling Stones' North American tour in 1972 in support of their album Exile on Main St..-Production:...
(1972) - Crisis: Behind a Presidential CommitmentCrisis: Behind a Presidential CommitmentCrisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a 1963 cinéma vérité documentary film directed by Robert Drew. The film centers on the University of Alabama integration crisis of June 1963. Drew and the other filmmakers, such as D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock, were given access to all the key...
(1963) - Demon Lover Diary (1980)
- DistanceDistance (film)Distance is a 2001 film by Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu, starring Arata, Tadanobu Asano, Iseya Yusuke, Terajima Susumu, and Natsukawa Yui.-Plot:...
(2001) - Dont Look BackDont Look BackDont Look Back is a 1967 documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in the United Kingdom.In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically...
(1967) - Down for LifeDown for Life (film)Down for Life is a 2010 American dramatic film directed by Alan Jacobs based on the true story of a 15-year old Latino gang leader in Watts, Los Angeles. The story follows one day in her life as she struggles to break away from her gang...
(2009) - Eat the DocumentEat the DocumentEat the Document is a documentary of Bob Dylan's 1966 tour of the United Kingdom with the Hawks. It was shot under Dylan's direction by D. A. Pennebaker, whose groundbreaking documentary Dont Look Back [sic] chronicled Dylan's 1965 British tour...
(1969) - Elizabeth and Mary (1965)
- The Emperor's Naked Army Marches OnThe Emperor's Naked Army Marches Onis an award-winning 1987 documentary by director Kazuo Hara. The documentary centers on 62-year-old veteran of Japan's Second World War campaign in New Guinea, Kenzo Okuzaki, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible for the unexplained deaths of two soldiers in his old unit...
(1987) - Flag WarsFlag WarsFlag Wars is a 2003 American documentary film about the conflict between two communities during the gentrification of a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood. Filmed in a cinéma vérité style, the film is an account of the tension between the two historically oppressed communities of African-Americans and...
(2003) - Gimme ShelterGimme Shelter (documentary)Gimme Shelter is a 1970 documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour, which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from The Rolling...
(1970) - Grey GardensGrey GardensGrey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, with Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in...
(1975) - Happy Mother's Day (1964)
- High School (1968)
- Hoop DreamsHoop DreamsHoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players....
(1994) - Hospital (1970)
- Import/Export (2007)
- Iraq in FragmentsIraq in FragmentsIraq in Fragments is a documentary feature directed by James Longley. Longley shot the film in Digital Video on a Panasonic DVX100 miniDV camcorder. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film is also a part of the Iraq Media Action Project film collection. It was nominated for...
(2007) - The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's WifeThe Leader, His Driver and the Driver's WifeThe Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film set during the final days of the apartheid regime in South Africa, particularly centering on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right, white supremacist political organisation AWB. The...
(1991) - Lonely BoyLonely Boy (film)Lonely Boy is a 1962 cinema verite documentary about former teen sensation Paul Anka. The film takes its name from Anka's hit song, Lonely Boy, which he performs to screaming fans in the film...
(1962) - Moi Un Noir (1958)
- Mysterious Object at NoonMysterious Object at NoonMysterious Object at Noon is a 2000 Thai independent experimental documentary film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.-Production:The film is unscripted and uses the exquisite corpse party game as a concept, with the film crew traveling across Thailand, interviewing people and asking each...
(2000) - Near Death (1989)
- Primary (1960)
- Les RaquetteursLes raquetteursLes raquetteurs is a 1958 Direct Cinema documentary film co-directed by Michel Brault and Gilles Groulx. The film explores life in rural Quebec, at a convention of snowshoers in Sherbrooke, Quebec in February of 1958...
(1958) (French article) - Salesman (1969)
- Seventeen (1983)
- The Plaint of Steve Kreines as recorded by his younger brother Jeff (1974)
- Titicut FolliesTiticut FolliesTiticut Follies is a 1967 American documentary film directed by Frederick Wiseman, about the treatment of inmates/patients at Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, a Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The title is taken from a talent show put on by...
(1967) - WandaWanda (film)Wanda is an independent 1970 drama film that was written and directed by Barbara Loden, who also stars in the title role. It is set in the anthracite coal region of eastern Pennsylvania.-Plot:...
(1971) - WarrendaleWarrendaleWarrendale is a 1967 documentary film by Canadian filmmaker Allan King. It was originally produced for broadcast on CBC Television, but was never shown due to King's refusal to edit out the copious profanity in the footage....
(1967) - West 47th Street (2003)
- Woodstock (1970)
The techniques (if not always the spirit) of cinéma vérité can also be seen in fiction films such as The Battle of Algiers, The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...
, Children of Men
Children of Men
Children of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
, Jimmy and Judy
Jimmy and Judy
Jimmy and Judy is an 2006 independent film starring Rachael Bella as Judy and Edward Furlong as Jimmy. It is written and directed by Randall K...
, Cloverfield
Cloverfield
Cloverfield is a 2008 American disaster-monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city...
, Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead
Diary of the Dead is a 2007 American/Canadian horror film by George A. Romero...
, District 9
District 9
District 9 is a 2009 South African science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James...
, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles is a 2011 American military science fiction war film directed by Jonathan Liebesman, and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo and Michael Peña...
, REC
REC (film)
REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.The film was released in Spain in November 2007. Balaguero and Plaza previously directed the 2002 documentary OT, The Movie. REC was filmed using shaky camerawork...
, Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....
and Paranormal Activity among others.
Cinéma-vérité style films and television shows
Many film directors of the 1960s and later adopted use of the handheld camera, techniques and cinéma vérité styles for their fiction films based on screenplays and actors. They often had actors use improvisation to try to get a more spontaneous quality to the takes. Influential examples include director John CassavetesJohn Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
, who broke ground with his film Faces.
The techniques of cinéma vérité were also readily adapted to use in TV fiction programs, such as Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
COPS episode, Sanctuary, Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights (TV series)
Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team...
, NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, The Thick Of It
The Thick of It
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, Arrested Development, Reno 911!
Reno 911!
Reno 911! is an American comedy television series on Comedy Central that ran from 2003 to 2009. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically COPS, with comic actors playing the police officers. Most of the material is improvised, using a broad outline, and...
, Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys is a Canadian comedy mockumentary television series created and directed by Mike Clattenburg that focuses on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The...
, as well as both the UK and American versions of The Office
The Office
The Office is a popular mockumentary/situation comedy TV show that was first made in the UK and has now been re-made in many other countries, with overall viewership in the hundreds of millions worldwide. The original version of The Office was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It...
. Documentary series are less common, but include:
- Band of Brothers
- COPSCOPS (TV series)Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
- The Pacific
- The Real WorldThe Real WorldThe Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
- The Thick of ItThe Thick of ItThe Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
- Trauma: Life in the E.R.Trauma: Life in the E.R.Trauma: Life in the E.R. is a medical-based television reality show that formerly ran on TLC from 1997 to 2002 and reruns are currently airing on Discovery Fit & Health...
- American High
- The First 48The First 48The First 48 is an American documentary television series that airs on A&E. Filmed in various cities in the United States, the series offers an insider's look at the real-life world of homicide investigators...