Top Ten TV Comedy Mockumentaries of the 21st Century
The mockumentary has been around for a long time. Films like A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984) toyed with the form. In television comedy, it popped up in Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969–1974) and was used to full effect in shows like Operation Good Guys and People Like Us.
It’s arguably the 2000s where the format truly took off. Time for another list - the top ten mockumentary TV comedies of the 21st century!
1. The Office (UK)
The OG. The Office wasn’t the first mockumentary, but it redefined the format for TV comedy. What started as a budget-saving technique - single-camera setups, natural lighting, handheld shots - became the style that made it feel real and painfully funny. Proof you don’t need big money to create iconic television; you just need it to be brilliant.
2. Parks and Recreation
I’m skipping the US version of The Office. It feels too obvious. I’m going straight to Parks and Recreation, the follow-up from much of the same creative team. It’s not set in The Office universe (two of the characters would look too familiar), but it follows the same sharp, character-driven mockumentary format, blending optimism with comic chaos.
3. Modern Family
Modern Family took the mockumentary device - side-eyes to the camera, talking heads, awkward pauses - and brought it to the family sitcom. It turned what could have been a typical family show into something fresh, self-aware, and endlessly quotable.
4. Twenty Twelve
Twenty Twelve perfectly captured the absurdity of bureaucratic life, following the Olympic Deliverance Commission as they bumbled their way through preparations for the London 2012 Olympics. The same characters (with new titles) returned later in W1A when they moved to the BBC to "manage values." Dry, deadpan brilliance.
5. People Just Do Nothing
A BAFTA-winning gem that ran from 2014 to 2018. It follows a group of hopeless but lovable MCs running a failing pirate radio station, Kurupt FM, out of West London. Full of quotable lines, painfully awkward situations, and genuine heart. Just watch it. You’ll be quoting Grindah and Beats in no time.
6. This Country
Written by siblings Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper, This Country paints a hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking portrait of small-town life in rural England (specifically, the Cotswolds). Through cousins Kerry and Kurtan, we see the epic triviality of everyday life. Seemingly mundane — but often laugh-out-loud funny.
7. What We Do in the Shadows
Based on the 2014 film of the same name, the TV version follows four vampires and their human familiar as they try (and often fail) to adapt to life in modern-day Staten Island. Perfectly cast, deliciously silly, and full of endlessly quotable moments. If you’re not saying “bat!” after watching, did you even watch it?
8. Jury Duty
Jury Duty was the ultimate sleeper hit. It follows an ordinary guy, Ronald Gladden, who believes he’s participating in a documentary about jury duty - except everyone else, including James Marsden playing a hilarious version of himself, is an actor, and the trial is entirely fake. A perfectly planned and executed comedy experiment, made even better because Gladden turned out to be a genuinely kind human being.
9. Abbott Elementary
Abbott Elementary is a love letter to teachers everywhere. It chronicles the daily struggles and triumphs of a group of educators and their self-obsessed principal in an underfunded Philadelphia public school. It feels fresh yet comfortingly familiar, with its warm heart and sharp, observational humour.
10. Cunk on Earth
Diane Morgan’s Philomena Cunk is pure comedy genius. In Cunk on Earth, she tackles the entire history of civilization, badly. Deadpan, clueless, and gloriously wrong, Cunk asks the world’s leading experts the most ridiculous questions imaginable. You can also find her earlier appearances in Cunk on Britain and Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe. The character appeared on screen some 17 years after unrelated Belgium techno anthem Pump Up the Jam.
Did I miss an obvious one?
Tell me in the comments below. You won't be judged (unless you suggest The Office US).
Thank you!
