''Nirvanna the Band the Show'' is a Canadian mockumentary television series based on the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

''Nirvana the Band the Show'', created by and starring Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. It premiered on February 2, 2017 on

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

Premise

The show stars the duo as "Nirvanna the Band," two hapless lifelong best friends and roommates, who engage in a series of complex

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

s around their home city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in the hopes of landing a gig at

The Rivoli The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and mu ...

, despite the fact that they have never actually written or recorded a single song, nor taken any other steps to get their band ready.

Production

The show is a combination of scripted scenes, candid camera footage of people unaware the show is being filmed, and improvisation. Often the show is influenced by events that happen in reality. For example, in the fifth episode, "The Big Time", creators Johnson and McCarrol used the premiere of Johnson's real life movie '' Operation Avalanche'' at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi E ...

to film an episode around the concept of the character Matt sneaking a fictional movie of the same name into the festival. In the same episode, a woman unaware of the show being filmed intrudes on a scripted conversation between Johnson and

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

(appearing as himself), offering Johnson alcohol, which inspired Johnson and McCarrol to include the concept of the character of Matt discovering a love of alcohol in the episode. The show frequently blends the line between fiction and reality in ways like these, with actors breaking character and characters breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

. Originally created as web series between 2007 and 2009, it was later expanded into a full television series which premiered on

on February 2, 2017. Three episodes were also screened at the

2016 Toronto International Film Festival The 41st annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 8 to 18 September 2016. The first announcement of films to be screened at the festival took place on 26 July. Almost 400 films were shown. Awards The festival's final awards were ...

as part of its ''Primetime'' program of television projects. The series was originally announced in 2016 as slated to air on

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, but was later shifted to Viceland with City airing only the first episode as a preview special. The second season has not been picked up for broadcast outside of Canada, however is available for streaming in Australia via SBS On Demand. The show was formerly available to stream in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

via

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's streaming service

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

but has been removed as of 2021 and now lacks an official place to stream the show in the UK. In August 2019, CBC Television officially acquired ''Nirvanna the Band the Show'' from Viceland and began airing the series, alongside streaming on

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

. The main characters, Matt and Jay, are based on characters McCarrol and Johnson started developing in high school in Mississauga.

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2017–18)

Critical reception

The show has received mostly positive reviews. Jake Howell of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' praised the show, commenting "Bickering like a married couple, Matt and Jay's constant back-and-forth enabling, backstabbing and belittling of each other has thus far made for great television."

Notes

References

External links

Official Viceland site
* {{VICE Media 2010s Canadian satirical television series 2017 Canadian television series debuts Canadian mockumentary television series Canadian comedy web series Viceland original programming Citytv original programming