National Lampoon Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (documentary)

It's interesting that this documentary is appearing on Netflix at the same time as the bio-pic about National Lampoon, A Stupid and Futile Gesture, as they essentially tell the same story. This doc, though, is somewhat less depressing as it does not dwell on Doug Kenney and his depression, breakdowns and death, although it does talk about these things, of course. But the fact that so much actual footage exists of the talented, crazed and somewhat cartoonish figures involved in this extremely politically incorrect magazine (which spun off into radio and movies, among other things) keeps the doc entertaining and fascinating. The early videos of what would eventually become the cast of Saturday Night Live is amazing and it's wild that someone would think to film even some of the radio shows!

Of course, the cast's defection to SNL and the departure of the two original founders meant that the zine floundered for a while before dissolving altogether.

Still, the legacy left behind is fairly amazing and this doc is a bit more light hearted and fun than the gloomy bio-pic, so I would suggest watching this first, in any case!