Who could have predicted the staying power of the comedy mockumentary? When Rob Reiner helmed the first film to label itself as such – This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – he probably didn’t figure that he was creating a genre of storytelling that would give a voice to low(er)-budget filmmakers the world over for decades to come.

He probably also didn’t know that he was establishing a template for the format that would be faithfully honoured time and again. Today we’ll be fondly recalling one such idiosyncrasy that has reared its head in the mockumentary format since the very beginning: The Inept Manager.

The latest effort to further this great tradition comes in the form of Cock’d Gunns, the first IFC Original Series. The show revolves around the Van Gunn brothers – vocalist Reggie and bassist Dick – along with novice drummer Barry Ciccarelli and first-time rock manager Keith Horvak. Horvak is a children’s soccer/hockey coach (and former Kit Kat advertising account manager) who believes that his coaching principles are relevant to artist management. Given that his first act as manager is lying to his band by telling them that he’s booked them a gig at Ozzfest, we at Sideshow think he might be able to fail with the best of ‘em.

Let’s have a chronological look back at some of the better known Inept Managers throughout mockumentary history, shall we?

Tony Hendra launched the paradigm heard ‘round the world by way of his portrayal of Inept Manager Number One, Spinal Tap’s Ian Faith, who famously bemoaned his lot in life by saying, “There's no sex and drugs for Ian. Do you know what I do? I find lost luggage. I locate mandolin strings in the middle of Austin.” Ian also made a name for himself as the guy who commissioned an 18-inch tall statue of Stonehenge for use as a set piece.

As the troubled and sycophantic Guy Friesch, manager of fictional ‘90s rap group N.W.H. in the brilliant 1994 mockumentary Fear of a Black Hat, actor Howie Gold elevated passive aggression to an art form. “Kicking the record company guy's ass was counter-productive,” he tells his disinterested clients during a post-beatdown lull. Howie Gold fans will do well to keep abreast of his busy shooting schedule by visiting his IMDb page.

Carrying the torch of ineptitude into the new millennium is Stephen Merchant’s Darren Lamb, the woefully stupid manager to Ricky Gervais’ overly ambitious hack actor Andy Millman on the BBC/HBO co-production Extras, which isn’t a mockumentary series, but owes a great deal to the genre. Never has a manager been so useless and yet so smug…

…with the possible exception of Eugene Levy’s Morley Orfkin from last year’s For Your Consideration, who mines much of the same territory as he mishandles and belittles the career of his client, Victor Allan Miller (Harry Shearer).

Azamat Bagatov, Borat’s morbidly obese manager as played by Ken Davitian, rewrote the rules to a certain extent. Granted, he’s still about as useless as can be. But Azamat and Borat love each other, and Azamat boasts a certain kind of quiet cool to which none of his other counterparts can lay claim.

 “A lot of New Zealanders come over here and they come into my office. I give them reflective vests, a map, I tell them to stay away from large crowds by going through back-alleys, yet almost everyday a New Zealander is mugged!” This year, TV viewers met Murray, the New York representative for New Zealand tourism and part-time manager for two-man Kiwi comedy-folk group Flight of the Conchords in the HBO series of the same name. Like Extras, Conchords is not a straight mockumentary – but the tenets are there. Murray only manages one band, but is unable to help them accumulate more than a single fan (in this case, a sociopath named Mel, expertly portrayed by Kristen Schaal).

So: Is Keith Horvak as useless as his forebears? Tune in to find out.

Cock’d Gunns premieres Saturday, December 1 at 9 p.m. ET on IFC. A special presentation of the premiere episode also airs on Showcase that night at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Tune in!