History Series / DocumentaryNow

* InformedPoverty: Invoked and exaggerated by Kyle and John who, at Manuel Bautista's house, warn about the appaling extreme poverty of his house, like the fact that they have a ''first generation'' UsefulNotes/PlayStation and hallways so small that they can't even extend their whole arms in them.

* {{Retraux}}: A fake UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem game based on the the PBL is briefly shown, and makes a return appearance during the credits.

* ArtisticLicense: Lorna, wife of Gunnar Brynjarsson (the reigning Al Capone lookalike winner) is identified on screen during a TalkingHeads segment as "Lorna Brynjarsson" as if Brynjarsson is her husband's last name that she took after marriage. In reality, Iceland uses patrynomics rather than traditional surnames, so she would be identified as "Lorna [father's name]sdóttir".

* ArtisticLicense: Lorna, wife of Gunnar Brynjarsson (the reigning Al Capone lookalike winner) is identified on screen during a TalkingHead segment as "Lorna Brynjarsson" as if Brynjarsson is her husband's last name that she took after marriage. In reality, Iceland uses patrynomics rather than traditional surnames, so she would be identified as "Lorna [father's name]sdóttir".

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: [[invoked]] Very much the philosophy of Lee Smith. He once engaged in a project where he married different objects to prove "the banality of marriage", finally marrying Anita, who happened to be Mark's ex-girlfriend.

* JerkAss: Lee Smith seems to go out of his way to give Mark a hard time. Despite Mark writing several songs, Lee only allowed one to be recorded. Before they play it in the concert, Lee has an extended intro describing how people reviewed Mark's vocals negatively, and then near the end of the song he tells the audience it's almost over.

* TwistEnding: At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:we see three people sitting at a table across from Gail, who have apparently been listening to him this whole time. They're the parole board, and it turns out he's in prison for burning down the Stereo City that was built at the site of his former apartment. Unsurprisingly, his application is denied]]

Parody of the Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Wild_Country Wild Wild Country]]'', with some material inspired by the theatrical documentaries ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Source_Family The Source Family]]'' and ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Hell_(film) Holy Hell]]''.\\\

* ShowWithinAShow: ''Kunuk'' is a mockumentary within a mockumentary within a show within a show.

* SitcomArchNemesis: Karl Richter, a Pinnacle atlas salesman (posited as the natural enemy of globe salesmen, as a house doesn't need both a globe and an atlas), keeps swooping in and stealing sales from under the guys, making harassing German phone calls to them while they stay at motels, and leaving dog shit on their pillows with his business card. [[spoiler:They eventually corner him in a gas station bathroom, beat him with a tire iron, and leave him for dead.]]

* OfficiallyShortenedTitle: The opening sequence includes logos featuring the abbreviated title ''Doc Now''.

* MarijuanaIsLSD: Parker talks about a wild nine-hour experience after taking one puff of a joint that (he says) offered to him by a prospective landlord, but was actually, we learn from the landlord, one Parker had on himself and smoked in the bathroom.

* BlackSheepHit [[invoked]]: While Lee was the FaceOfTheBand, dominating Test Pattern with his artsy songs, their biggest hit was "Save Time for Me", a poppy ballad written and sung by Anita (played by Creator/MayaRudolph). In true [[TheEighties '80s]] fashion, it was also a BreakawayPopHit, from ''Sun Warriors'' (apparently some sort of HeroicFantasy movie, judging from the projections on the screen behind them while they play it).

* LongTitle: Sawyer brags that his previous hit musical ''Has Anyone Ever Told You You'd Look Better as a Brunette?'' was the longest title in Broadway history.

* ItsAllAboutMe: In spite of his overearnest qualities, Benjamin is also extremely self-involved and narcissistic; not only does he believe a series of scam emails just because they say nice things about his movie, but the episode also implies that, contrary to his belief that she's become "difficult" and can't understand his work, she grew to hate him for being a neglectful father and husband. When decoding what he thinks is Lulu's sign language, he subconsciously translates her gestures into Lulu praising his talents -- "artist", "risk-taker", "I want to see your films", etc.

* ItsAllAboutMe: In spite of his overearnest qualities, Benjamin is also extremely self-involved and narcissistic; not only does he believe a series of scam emails just because they praise his movie, but the episode also implies that, contrary to his belief that she's become "difficult" and can't understand his work, she grew to hate him for being a neglectful father and husband. When decoding what he thinks is Lulu's sign language, he subconsciously translates her gestures into Lulu praising his talents -- "artist", "risk-taker", "I want to see your films", etc.