Must-Watch Mockumentaries You Don't Want To Miss

For years, documentaries — whether they're presented on the big or small screen — have been seen as entirely serious works that cover potentially difficult or heavy subject material. However, that doesn't have to be the case. If you're willing to delve into a fictional world through a documentary, you can always queue up a "mockumentary," a term that gained notoriety in the 1980s thanks to director Rob Reiner.

Whether or not you're familiar with mockumentaries by name alone, you've almost certainly come across this particular brand of comedy, both in film and television, where they've gotten more and more popular over the years. Along with pioneers like Reiner and collaborator Christopher Guest, creators like Michael Schur, Taika Waititi, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Andy Samberg have added to the mockumentary genre, resulting in some pretty fantastic — and incredibly popular — projects. From hit TV comedies to pop music parodies, here's a list of must-watch mockumentaries you definitely won't want to miss.

If This Is Spinal Tap is the gold standard for movie mockumentaries, The Office is its television equivalent. Adapted from the British sitcom of the same name — which also follows the same faux-documentary format — The Office was reshaped for American television by King of the Hill veteran Greg Daniels, and thanks to an excellent writer's room and an outstanding cast, it immediately became one of the most beloved television shows in recent memory.

For nine seasons, a (mostly) unseen documentary crew brings their cameras to the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, a mid-size paper company, which is led by regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell). A buffoon with a heart of gold, Michael tries to be best friends with his employees, like wisecracking Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), and weirdo Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), and though he often fails, it's pretty incredible to watch him try. Carell ultimately left the show two seasons before its finale, but despite a lackluster journey to the finish line, The Office closed out its run by making the documentary itself part of the story, providing a clever twist. For televised mockumentaries, The Office is the goalpost every show that followed wanted to hit, and ultimately, it set an incredibly high bar.

After working on (and occasionally appearing on) The Office for its entire run, writer Michael Schur branched out as his time at Dunder Mifflin drew to a close, ultimately going on to create Parks and Recreation. Though the series was initially conceived as a direct spinoff of The Office, it eventually gained a life of its own, telling the story of local government bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), whose sunny, can-do attitude is both inspiring and extremely irritating as far as her colleagues are concerned.

Poehler created a defining character in Leslie, and the bureaucrat's supporting cast is stacked with incredible supporting players, including deadpan but lovable Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), sarcastic yet sensitive April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), utter goofball Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), and bombastic wannabe businessman Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari). Unlike The Office, Parks and Recreation never directly confronts its documentary premise, but its hilarious direct-to-camera confessionals and realistic reactions from its characters keep the framework from feeling forced or artificial. If you ever need a pick-me-up, you'll definitely want to start — or re-watch — Parks and Recreation.

After earning fame and acclaim for their signature Digital Shorts, including "Lazy Sunday" and "D*** in a Box," on Saturday Night Live, the trio known as the Lonely Island — made up of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer — went on to conquer the mockumentary genre with 2016's Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. A fully insane parody of modern pop stardom, the film tells the story of Conner (Samberg), who starts out with his best friends Owen (Taccone) and Lawrence (Schaffer) as a part of the three-man group known as the "Style Boyz," but ultimately, Conner leaves the group to launch his solo career as Conner4Real. Despite Conner's rise to international stardom, his sophomore album flops on impact, putting his entire career on the line.

Samberg, Taccone, and Schaffer's unique sense of humor takes brutal aim at the pop music scene. Plus, we've to praise the supporting cast, which is rounded out by comedy stars like Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, Will Arnett, Sarah Silverman, and Chris Redd, as well as cameos from real-life music heavyweights like Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Questlove, DJ Khaled, Carrie Underwood, and even Ringo Starr. With that stacked cast and its insane sense of humor, it's no wonder that many fans and critics have labeled it one of the funniest underrated films ever. If you want to laugh through a movie from start to finish, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is definitely the right choice.

If you love real sports documentaries, you'll definitely love HBO's sports mockumentary 7 Days in Hell. This 2015 spoof casts Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg and Game of Thrones' Kit Harington as bad boy Aaron Williams and British drip Charles Poole, respectively, two tennis players locked in a record-breaking seven-day match at Wimbledon. Aaron Williams, America's favorite tennis star, is desperate to win the match to prove his worth, while hapless Charles, a puppet of the British monarchy, keeps receiving threatening messages from the Queen herself (voiced by June Squibb) regarding his progress. As the match progresses, the conditions get more and more ridiculous — complete with cameos from real-life tennis stars like John McEnroe and Venus and Serena Williams — and even non-tennis fans can find something to like about this film.

Perhaps the best part of 7 Days in Hell is its breakneck pacing. After detailing each day of the match, along with background for both Aaron and Charles, the movie ends after only 45 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time to tell this truly insane story. By approaching this mockumentary with all the seriousness of a real sports documentary, director Jake Szymanski and writer Murray Miller perfected the form in 7 Days in Hell.

After honing his chops on HBO's Da Ali G Show, where he played a variety of wild and weird characters, Sacha Baron Cohen created a cultural phenomenon with Borat, which bore the truly insane subtitle Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Based around one of his original characters, Borat put Cohen in an ill-fitting tan suit and fake mustache and sent him throughout the United States as he crushed cultural norms simply by pretending to be a complete outsider from Kazakhstan, getting in plenty of trouble along the way.

Over the years, few comedies have been quite as influential as Borat, whether it's spawning catchphrases like "my wife!" or causing controversy in the real country of Kazakhstan. Beyond that, the film was also, amazingly, nominated for major awards, including multiple Golden Globe awards and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Years later, Cohen announced a sequel, proving that the story of Borat, the ultimate outsider, will never truly be finished.

No list of mockumentaries would be complete without Bob Roberts. Based on Tim Robbins' classic Saturday Night Live character, the film is also directed and written by Robbins himself, as he parodies the American political process. In the film, which is also Robbins' directorial debut, his character Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr. experiences a meteoric rise as he runs for Senate, and though he's dogged by his shady financial past, his candidacy is buoyed by his talent for playing folk music, which he uses to uphold conservative values. While Bob runs for senator in Pennsylvania in the 1990s as a Republican against Democratic opponent Brickley Paiste (Gore Vidal), he undergoes a life-changing event, which ends up turning the tide in Bob's favor.

Flanked by supporting actors like Giancarlo Esposito, John Cusack, Peter Gallagher, Susan Sarandon, and Alan Rickman, Robbins shines in Bob Roberts. Despite the fact that it's one of the most ridiculous political mockumentaries ever made, Bob Roberts is a perfect choice for movie night, as well as an endlessly rewatchable ride.