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Lorne Michaels Project Reveals Targets, Inspirations for Next Fall

Apr 21, 2016  •  Post A Comment

A project executive produced by “SNL” guru Lorne Michaels with a lineup of “SNL” veterans on board unveiled details today on its second season, which launches this fall.

The project is “Documentary Now!,” airing on IFC. Season two of the series, from Broadway Video, is set for a seven-episode run. The comedy series, which spoofs documentaries, was created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers and Rhys Thomas.

Meyers talked about the upcoming season at today’s IFC upfront presentation. “Meyers revealed the inspiration and plots of three upcoming episodes, ‘The Bunker,’ ‘Juan likes Rice and Chicken,’ and ‘Globesmen.'” IFC said in an announcement.

Here are the details, from the IFC announcement:

“The Bunker” is inspired by the heart-racing 1993 political documentary “The War Room” with James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. It follows two scheming and cocky campaign managers (Hader and Armisen) working on the heated race for the Governor of Ohio. Lies will be told, death threats will be made, and questionable ’90s fashion choices will surface, all in the camcorder-documented fight to get their underdog candidate to the top.

Shot in Colombia, “Juan likes Rice and Chicken” is a colorful food-centric homage to the 2011 documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” Young chef Arturo (Armisen) and his brother learn the tricks of the trade from their stern, no-nonsense father Juan who runs a highly-acclaimed restaurant that only serves one dish made with painstaking precision — chicken and buttered rice. Who wouldn’t travel thousands of miles for the world’s best plate of rice?

A tribute to the 1968 Maysles documentary “Salesman” that followed a wearied quartet of door-to-door Bible salesmen, “Globesmen” shares a similar story about four hard-working business men trying their best to sell globes to a community of people who find them too expensive and ultimately prefer atlases. Feeling pressure from their regional manager, and dealing with the constant rejection from customers, the salesmen do anything they can to reinvent the globe as a need-to-have household item.

Said IFC president Jennifer Caserta: “An important part of the magic of ‘Documentary Now!,’ beyond the incredible talent on both sides of the camera with Bill, Fred, Seth, Rhys, Alex and Andrew, is that every well-crafted episode is based on one of the most popular and noteworthy documentaries of our time. This series was an instant hit with IFC viewers in its first season, and we think we have a real opportunity in season two to turn every episode into a major event celebrating ‘Documentary Now!’ and the real-world documentaries that provided such rich comedic material for this remarkable creative talent to work with.”

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