How <em>Documentary Now! </em>Spoofs Male Genius

Part of the strange magic of Documentary Now! is that it’s a spoof that takes its efforts very, very seriously. The IFC series from Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers is irreverent in tone and fanatical in approach, drawing out the absurdity in classic nonfiction films such as Grey Gardens and The Thin Blue Line even as it painstakingly mimics their craft. Documentary Now! is obviously a passion project—a fanboy costume party in the archives of film history. But the show is never so enthusiastic about the medium that it can’t also poke at its flaws, or consider its more questionable hallmarks.

In Season 1, Hader, wearing sweatpants as a turban and cavorting with the camera as Little Vivvy in “Sandy Passage,” offers both a. Trundling into its third season this week, apparently unconcerned with its modest ratings and blessed by its creators’ connections, is better than it’s ever been: absurd, joyful, and characteristically precise. And the new episodes still manage to pick thoughtfully at the intentions and methods of filmmakers, particularly when it comes to portraying genius.