May 16--One of the best episodes of IFC's wonderfully eccentric "Documentary Now!" (a series that is both an homage to and spoof of documentary tropes and filmmaking in general) was the two-part finale last fall, which focused on a '70s-era band called The Blue Jean Committee.
The series itself is the fruit of the combined efforts of "Saturday Night Live" alums Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Seth Myers, and The Blue Jean Committee episodes riffed not only on the music of Steely Dan and the Eagles (the latter of which was the subject of a massive documentary a few years ago) but also other films including the music doc "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" and the mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap."
RELATED: MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR
What few people know is that a little-known Chicago band was at least part of the inspiration as well. (Episodes from Season 1 are available on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon and via cable VOD.)
"I remember when I was in a band in Chicago," Armisen told me recently (when we spoke about a web series he is producing in Chicago; you can read about that here), "and there was a band called Bangin' on the Ryan. Like the Dan Ryan."
In the "Documentary Now!" universe that Armisen created with his collaborators, he and Hader play a pair of Chicago meatpackers-turned-70s-soft-rock-superstars. They are resolutely Chicago guys; one of the ironies of their career is that they make their fame and fortune capturing a California sound. Written in Chicago.
So while the Eagles and Steely Dan are the obvious influences, Bangin' on the Ryan was another that fueled Armisen. "I never got to see them, but I always imagined that being the band of The Blue Jean Committee -- a band that would be proud to call themselves something relating to the Dan Ryan Expressway."
Armisen was based in Chicago from 1998 to 2000 but, unlike Meyers and other "SNL" talents, he was part of the city's music scene -- playing drums in the rock band Trenchmouth -- rather than performing in the sketch-and-improv world. But Chicago, it seems, has seeped into his comedy. "Chicago then was like this embryonic version of 'Portlandia,'" he told my colleague Christopher Borrelli back in 2012.
Season 2 of "Documentary Now!" will premiere in the fall and will include episodes that are take-offs on documentaries including Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's "The War Room," as well as "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," which is being reimagined, entirely in Spanish, as "Juan Likes Chicken and Rice."
nmetz@tribpub.com
Twitter @NinaMetzNews
RELATED STORIES:
Fred Armisen producing new web series from Chicago comedy duo Dominizuela
Watch Fred Armisen pay tribute to David Bowie on 'SNL'
Steve Albini on Fred Arminsen: He 'made himself famous'
