In a nutshell, mockumentaries are actually fictional documentaries that would mock a certain issue or a certain event. A mockumentary is actually a parody that would make use of a fictional setting and characters to depict an existing issue. These types of shows are actually quite popular because they would offer viewers a fresh perspective on certain issues unlike what regular documentaries would usually show.

Now there are usually two kinds of mockumentaries that one may be able to watch on television. The two types of mockumentaries are the comedy type as well as the drama ones. These are the two genres that one would usually see if he would watch these kinds of documentaries on television.

Now the first one, which is the comedic one, is the more common as as it is actually the more popular one because it shows real events in a very funny light that is somewhat ironic. Now the presentation would appear to be quite serious in nature but there would be a lot of funny punchlines and dialogues that would really make people laugh out loud. Now to add to the effect, there are not any laugh tracks which would make the documentary even more real that it is supposed to be.

Now the second type which is the drama type would usually have some kind of message that it would want to show to the viewers. Although it may seem real, everything in the film from the story line to the characters are purely fictional. There are a lot of drama elements that are being used in this particular type of documentary in order to capture the attention of the viewers.

Just like in a real documentary, these mocking parodies are shown with historical time lines that would talk about events that have happened in the past. Now if documentary is talking about a person, then it would depict the events that have happened to that person. There would also be an outline or a sequence of topics that would be discussed in this kind of television show.

These types of documentaries only really popularized in the eighties when director Rob Reiner who directed This Is Spinal Tap coined the term in an interview. From there, these kinds of shows took off in terms of popularity with a lot of people enjoying these types of shows. Some of which even made their way to the cinemas in some countries and in some regions.

In the comedy genre of mockumentaries, one of the most popular ones would be Borat, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Other than that, there would also be Bruno which is an extremely funny documentary about a gay man who is out of the closet. Of course there are still many more than one can find as well.

In the drama section, there would be none other than the popular Blair Witch Project which is a horror documentary. After that, many others followed like the The Last Exorcism and Paranormal Activity. There would also be action themed films like Cloverfield and Into the Storm.