Netflix Releases Four Comedy Docs Under Is a Joke Banner
Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story arrived October 23, the third of four Netflix Is a Joke documentaries out this month.
Netflix has released four documentaries under its Netflix Is a Joke comedy branding in October, the latest being Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story, which debuted on October 23. The streaming service's vice president of standup and comedy formats, Robbie Praw, described the slate as honoring four comedy icons.
The run opened on October 7 with a documentary on Martin Mull, co-directed by Neil Berkeley and Bob Saget. It continued on October 16 with Apatow's film on Norm Macdonald, and closes on October 30 with a documentary on the comedy troupe SCTV, directed by Jason Hehir.
Apatow directed the Maria Bamford film with Berkeley, and also directed the Norm Macdonald documentary. In both he appears on screen. For the Macdonald film, Apatow said he used a found-footage approach, in part because Macdonald, who died in 2021, was an unreliable narrator and the film needed a different format.
Apatow's earlier documentaries on Mel Brooks and Garry Shandling also put him on screen, and he financed the Maria Bamford film himself for years, according to hollywoodreporter.com.
A month of comedy portraits
The four films fall under the Netflix Is a Joke label, the branding the service also uses for its comedy festival. The Bamford and Macdonald titles sit alongside the Mull and SCTV projects in a single October window.
Quick answers
When did Paralyzed By Hope: The Maria Bamford Story come out on Netflix?
It was released on October 23.
Who directed the Norm Macdonald documentary?
Judd Apatow directed it, and he also appears on screen in the film.
When is the SCTV documentary released?
It is released on October 30, directed by Jason Hehir.