| Creator: | Matt Johnson Jay McCarrol |
| Director: | Matt Johnson |
| Starring: | Matt Johnson Jay McCarrol |
| Opentheme: | Various |
| Endtheme: | "Army" by Ben Folds Five |
| Country: | Canada |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 16 |
| Location: | Toronto, Ontario |
| Cinematography: | Jared Raab Andrew Appelle |
| Editor: | Robert Hyland Curt Lobb Andrew Appelle |
| Runtime: | 22 minutes |
| Company: | Zapruder Films Vice Studio Canada |
| Network: |
Nirvanna the Band the Show is a Canadian mockumentary television series based on the web series Nirvana the Band the Show, created by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, who play fictionalized versions of themselves. It premiered on February 2, 2017 on Viceland.[1]
The show stars the duo as "Nirvanna the Band," two hapless lifelong best friends and roommates, who engage in a series of complex publicity stunts around their home city of Toronto in the hopes of landing a gig at the Rivoli, despite the fact that they have never actually written or recorded a single song, nor taken any other steps to get their band ready.[2]
The main characters, Matt and Jay, are based on characters McCarrol and Johnson started developing in high school in Mississauga.[3] The title sequence for each episode is different, usually imitating the opening scenes or titles of other well-known film or television productions.[4]
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 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 (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.[5]
Originally created as web series between 2007 and 2009, it was later expanded into a full television series which premiered on Viceland on February 2, 2017.[6] [7] Three episodes were also screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival as part of its Primetime program of television projects.[8] The series was originally announced in 2016 as slated to air on City, 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 via Channel 4's on demand service, along with other Viceland shows.
A third season was filmed and partially edited but never released, as Viceland Canada shut down as a network before the season could be finished. Zapruder Films purchased the rights to the show, and intend to finish and release the third season when they are finished with the feature film. [9]
In August 2019, CBC Television officially acquired Nirvanna the Band the Show from Viceland and began airing the series, alongside streaming on CBC Gem.[10] [11]
In April 2023, Johnson announced that his next movie project would be a movie based on Nirvanna the Band the Show. The movie began filming in 2023.[12]
In September 2023, both Matt and Jay appeared in a special short for 64X, a fictional expo created by the video-game centric comedy troupe Mega64. Matt also provides the announcements for the faux convention, which is what the short revolves around.[13]
Episodes aired out of order, they are presented in the order that they should be viewed
The show has received mostly positive reviews.
Jake Howell of The Globe and Mail 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."[14]